Petaluma Community Guild Compost Forum: Presentation Slides

Our Petaluma Community Guild hosted another successful public forum on the heels of Earth Day. Compost in the North Bay: A Public Forum & Solution Showcase was held on April 27, 2016 at the beautiful Petaluma Historic Museum.

The event drew a full house of farmers and gardeners to learn about the future of compost and organics diversion in Sonoma County. In addition to our panel of soil experts, we were grateful to have several soil suppliers and partners like Sonoma County Compost Coalition, Farmers Guild, and

A big thanks to our speakers — Leslie Lukacs (SCS Engineers, Sonoma County Compost Coalition), Will Bakx (Sonoma Compost, Sonoma County Compost Coalition), Rick Kaye (Puma Springs Vineyard, Sonoma County Compost Club), and Joshua Beniston (SRJC Sustainable Agriculture Program).

Additional thanks to our sponsors — Grab n’ Grow, West Marin Compost, Mass Wiggle, and Cold Creek Compost, and to the Petaluma Museum for hosting us!

We promised to post each of our speakers’ presentation slides, so here we go:

Leslie Lukacs spoke about organic material collection in Sonoma County, its future, and the impact of last year’s closure of Sonoma Compost

Will Bakx focused on Carbon Farming as a necessary solution for rebuilding soil, reversing climate change and working in place to address soil health on your farm or in your backyard.

Rick Kaye gave an awesome overview of how the Compost Club of Sonoma County has brought composting and vermiculture to communities and organizations of every size around the North Bay. Worms are an easy way to build soil for your space!

 And Joshua Beniston rounded out the evening with a great primer of soil structure, the anatomy of carbon and water storage in soil, and examples of several no-till agriculture practices that have proven to dramatically improve soil health.

We really appreciate everyone’s participation in the forum. If you’re interested in receiving news and updates about future Petaluma Community Guild events, sign up for our newsletter at petalumaguild.org.

Jaimey Walking Bear
Jaimey Walking Bear
Deep Time Midwife

Jaimey Walking Bear's resume is highlighted with more than 20 years’ leadership in marketing, training and development, and event production in the retail and technology sectors. He finds peace and solace as a soil nerd and lover of wide open spaces. He’s also uber-passionate about Veterans issues, music, and SF Giants baseball. Jaimey holds a BA in Environmental Education from Sonoma State University. He is former Board Member of Friends of the Petaluma River and is a founding Board Member of the Petaluma Music Festival.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *