As with any new endeavor, when you start composting for the first time, it is normal to have many questions. Where can you get supplies in your area? Where can you get free compost ingredients? What kind of pests should you be on the lookout for? If you are lucky, there will be an established group of composters in your town that can give you answers. But if you cannot locate like-minded folks, you can always turn to the Internet. You can research every detail of composting and read scientific articles about it. You can also socialize with other composters.
This Appendix provides two lists. One is a list of informational sites where you can learn all the basics of composting and glean some of the more esoteric facts about it, and the other is a list of garden-related message boards and online forums. These groups form a community of compost enthusiasts from all over the world. If reading dry scientific information is not giving you the information and interactivity that you need, you can turn to these forums and ask your questions of people who are active and experienced in composting.
Informational Sites
Each U.S. state and territory has a branch of the Cooperative Extension System. This system is responsible for non-credit educational and outreach activities in the communities it serves. One thing that most extension services provide is agricultural information specific to your state. Following is a list of the extension services sorted by state that provide information on composting and gardening. Each site may also have their information broken down by county.
Alabama: www.aces.edu/counties
Alaska: www.uaf.edu/ces
American Samoa: www.amsamoa.edu
Arizona: http://extension.arizona.edu
Arkansas: www.uaex.edu/findus/county_offices.htm
California: http://ucanr.org
Colorado: www.ext.colostate.edu/cedirectory/countylist.cfm
Connecticut: www.extension.uconn.edu
Delaware: http://ag.udel.edu/extension/index.php
District of Columbia: www.udc.edu/cooperative_extension/coop_ext.htm
Florida: http://solutionsforyourlife.ufl.edu
Georgia: www.caes.uga.edu/extension/office.cfm
Guam: www.uog.edu
Hawaii: www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/ctahr2001/Counties/offices.asp
Idaho: www.uidaho.edu/ag/extension
Illinois: http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/state/findoffice.html
Indiana: www.ces.purdue.edu/counties.htm
Iowa: www.extension.iastate.edu/Counties/state.html
Kansas: www.ksre.ksu.edu/map.aspx
Kentucky: www.ca.uky.edu/county
Louisiana: www.lsuagcenter.com/en/our_offices/parishes
Maine: http://extension.umaine.edu
Maryland: http://extension.umd.edu/gardening/index.cfm
Massachusetts: www.umassextension.org/index.php/in-your-community
Michigan: www.msue.msu.edu/portal/default.cfm?pageset_id=25744&page_id=25770&msue_portal_id=25643
Micronesia-Kolonia: www.comfsm.fm
Minnesota: www.extension.umn.edu/offices
Mississippi: http://msucares.com/counties/index.html
Missouri: http://extension.missouri.edu/regions
Montana: http://extn.msu.montana.edu/localoffices.asp
Nebraska: www.extension.unl.edu/web/Extension/officeslist
Nevada: www.unce.unr.edu
New Hampshire: http://ceinfo.unh.edu/Counties/Counties.htm
New Jersey: www.rcre.rutgers.edu/county
New Mexico: www.cahe.nmsu.edu/county
New York: www.ilr.cornell.edu/extension/locations.html
North Carolina: www.ag.ncat.edu/extension/locations.htm
North Dakota: www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/ctyweb.htm
Northern Marianas: www.nmcnet.edu
Ohio: http://extension.osu.edu/counties.php
Oklahoma: http://countyext.okstate.edu
Oregon: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/locations.php
Pennsylvania: http://extension.psu.edu/
Puerto Rico: www.uprm.edu/agricultura/sea/newmap.html
Rhode Island: http://cels.uri.edu/ce
South Carolina: www.clemson.edu/extension
South Dakota: http://sdces.sdstate.edu/ces_website/county_offices_bottom.cfm
Tennessee: www.utextension.utk.edu/offices/default.asp
Texas: http://county-tx.tamu.edu
Utah: http://extension.usu.edu/cooperative/index.cfm/cid.256
Vermont: www.uvm.edu/~uvmext
Virgin Islands: http://rps.uvi.edu/CES/index.html
Virginia: www.ext.vt.edu/offices
Washington: http://ext.wsu.edu/locations/countyMap.html
West Virginia: www.wvu.edu/%7Eexten/depts/county.htm
Wisconsin: www.uwex.edu/ces/cty
Wyoming: http://ces.uwyo.edu
The U.S. Composting Council, whose website can be found at www.compostingcouncil.org, is a national, non-profit trade and professional organization that promotes recycling organic materials using composts. The council has an educational arm and an online forum. You must apply to become a member.
Community Sites
As with every other hobby or interest, chances are you can find composters on the Internet. They can be found in places as diverse as LinkedIn (www.LinkedIn.com), the social networking site for professionals; Facebook (www.facebook.com), the social networking for everyone from teenagers to grandmas; and dedicated gardening forums. Below is a list of forums where composting enthusiasts gather to discuss different strategies for getting the most compost for the least amount of effort. They often discuss other green issues, such as recycling, re-use of materials, and a wide variety of related topics.
If you have never used an online forum before, it is a good idea to familiarize yourself with the rules of each forum. Here are some general guidelines to follow for any online forum site:
• Lurk for awhile before diving in. “Lurking” on a forum means reading several posts and getting a feel for the place. Some forums are very formal in nature and have a lot of rules about what you can and cannot post, while some are more free-wheeling. Take a few minutes, or preferably a few hours, to read over a selection of posts before composing your own.
• Read the “sticky” posts. Most online forums have items called “stickies.” These posts are always visible at the top of a given forum. They usually contain the forum rules and guidelines and often contain a list of frequently asked questions. Sometimes you can find your answer in the sticky without bothering anyone with a question that has been asked several times.
• Most forums have FAQs, or frequently asked question lists. Always scan this list to see if anyone else has answered your question.
• Introduce yourself. Most forums have a thread that is designated specifically for people to introduce themselves. This helps the other members get to know you and provides a way for new members to scan the interests and knowledge of existing members.
• If you have knowledge, do not be shy about chiming in. A forum is a community, and a community grows richer if everyone participates. You may be new to composting, but if you have read this book, you already know a lot more than the average newbie. So, go ahead and offer an opinion or start a discussion. It could lead to a completely new group of friends.
The forums below were active as of July 2010.
• Facebook (www.facebook.com) is a social networking site with millions of users. Although most people use Facebook for socializing, there are informational groups on Facebook, including a few that are made up of folks interesting in composting. You must join Facebook and set up a profile in order to visit these groups. They include groups such as Garden Organic Master Composters, Compost toilets are the future, and others. A group search on “composting” should turn up several groups.
• Garden Web, found at www.gardenweb.com, bills itself as “The Internet’s Home and Garden Community.” The site provides information on every aspect of gardening and runs a host of different discussion forums, including one specifically for the discussion of compost, soil, and mulch, which can be found at http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/soil.
• Helpful Gardener Gardening Forum, found at www.helpfulgardener.com, hosts a wide variety of gardening-related forums. The compost forum can be found at www.helpfulgardener.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=35.
• How to Compost, found at www.howtocompost.org, has a stated goal of becoming “the best resource on the Internet for composting information.” While this site does not host a discussion forum, it does offer a wide selection of links on various aspects of composting and vermicomposting.
• LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com) is a professional social networking site designed to connect people based on whom they have worked with and know professionally. In order to access the groups on LinkedIn, you must join and set up a profile. Once you are logged into LinkedIn, you can do a search for groups related to composting. As of this writing, there are eight different compost-related groups including Compost Network, Food Waste Recycling, Compost Tahoe, and Buy Compost.
• The Dirt Doctor is the website of Howard Garrett. Garrett is a landscape architect, author, columnist, and radio host. The website has an active composting forum at www.dirtdoctor.com/newforum/root/composting-forum-f1.html.
• The Garden of Oz is a vermicomposting and regular composting forum on the Ning network. Ning is an online service that lets anyone create their own social network. There are Ning networks for almost any interest. You can find Garden of Oz at www.gardenofoz.org/forum.
• Vermi Forum is a forum all about vermicomposting and can be found at http://vermiforum.com.
• The Holistic Agriculture Library is a website that provides an extensive list of books on composting and gardening. www.soilandhealth.org/01aglibrary/01aglibwelcome.html