Has this summer’s intense heat wilted your dreams of a lush backyard garden? There is a simple magic elixir that could revive your spirits while it improves and enriches the garden’s soil. Boost your tired garden with a batch of homemade compost, nature’s black gold.  

Discover the recipe and simple steps to composting from UGA Professor Dr. George Boyhan at the next Lunchbag Landscape Lecture, “Composting: Bins of Gold”, on Tuesday, Sept. 27 from 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.  Greene County Master Gardeners and Greene County Extension Service are the sponsors of this free program at 1180 Weldon Smith Drive. Participants can buy a lunch at the lecture or bring their own.

Dr. George Boyhan, University of Georgia Horticulture expert, will discuss the ways and whys of composting, from bin building to soil amending. The program will focus on the materials and requirements for efficient composting, design and construction of inexpensive backyard structures, tips for preparing and maintaining the compost pile, and bin location. He will dispel composting myths and present details about aeration, moisture and temperature requirements.

Dr. Boyhan is UGA’s expert on sustainable vegetable production and organic gardening.  An authority on Vidalia onion production, he worked for many years in Southeast Georgia before joining UGA’s Athens campus. Dr. Boyhan has a BA degree in Botany from Rutgers State University and a doctorate in Horticultural Science from Auburn University.

For more information about the free Lunchbag Landscape Series, the Bins of Gold Composting lecture, or a question about your personal landscape, contact the Greene County Cooperative Extension Service at (706) 453-2083.

Information about the Georgia Master Gardener program, a volunteer group that works with the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension, can be found at the Georgia Master Gardener website, www.georgiamastergardeners.org.