Each year the Sustainable Living Association (SLA) hosts a grand fair in Fort Collins, Colorado.  Food, music, and family fun, are always part of the event, but there are also many exhibitions and workshops containing a great deal of information about the many different ways to live sustainably on our planet Earth.  This year, we at Soil Stewardship got to officially be a part of all the action—and in more ways than one! We were approached by a member of the SLA committee and asked to give a presentation about vermicomposting in urban settings.  We had a great time explaining the in’s and out’s of composting with worms, and the audience asked some really great questions.  As a bonus, we got to present in CSU’s Powerhouse Building, which is really, really cool.

We also had a booth at the event where we showed people our worms and talked with them about composting and how worms can be eager helpers.  People from all over Colorado talked with us why they are or are not composting.  They also shared some of their various composting issues.  Some people’s compost was too dry, some found that it smelled, and others began having issues with unwanted vermin.  We were able to give them the correct tools and information in order to deal with these problems and to continue forward with a successful composting system.  Afterwards, we always tried to make sure that people left our tent with a delicious gummy worm in hand.  (Who says you can’t eat worms?)

In addition to all of this, we had Soil Stewardship food waste collection barrels dispersed throughout the fair.  We wanted to make sure that we did our part to make sure that the fair could be even more sustainable.  Instead of sending the food waste created at the fair to the landfill, it was brought back to our farm and mixed into a new pile of compost.  This way, the nutrients from the food will one day be returned to the soil and used again by growing plants to continue nourishing us.

Overall, the fair was a great success.  We talked with many people, and we enjoyed spreading our knowledge about composting and vermicomposting.  We are hopeful that next year we will be invited back again! Thank you, Fort Collins Sustainable Living Association, for organizing this amazing event and for giving us such neat red T shirts for participating.