The Acorn
March 28, 2025
By David Goldstein
Composting, a form of organics recycling, has taken on greater importance with the state’s recent push to reduce the amount of food waste going to landfills—where it is known to release deadly methane gas—and turn the organics into a nutrient-rich soil amendment that helps yards and plants grow.
Through composting, the valuable nutrients and carbon derived from food scraps are returned to the earth to improve soil quality, support plant growth, and improve local ecosystems.
Before you decide where to pick up a load of compost for your latest outdoor project, the first question is whether your garden or field needs compost or mulch.
Compost is fully decomposed organic material, and gardeners usually use it as a soil amendment, working it into existing soil to help plants grow. Some mulch may be extracted from compost piles where time and temperature kill pathogens, but the pieces comprising the mulch are still recognizable as bits of wood, not the fully decomposed material that compost is.
Mulch is usually placed on top of soil to reduce erosion, stop weeds, retain soil moisture and moderate soil temperature.
Both mulch and compost can help prevent erosion following fires, during droughts, and from heavy rain or from other causes. Mulch on soil surface works immediately after being applied correctly, reducing the impact of rain, slowing the flow of runoff from a wet surface, or buffeting wind on a dry surface.
Compost, which is actually incorporated into soil, works long after being applied by promoting the growth of soil-holding roots.
The County of Ventura and some cities provide not only mulch and compost for use at public schools, but also subsidize the cost of delivery.
Where to obtain
Few urban homes and businesses do their own composting, but they are able to obtain material from various sources across the region, often for free.
Unincorporated Ventura County customers served by Harrison Industries, and residents of some cities, can pick up material at Agromin horticultural locations free of charge, or they may pay a fee for delivery. The maximum available per customer is 75 cubic yards of compost and 100 cubic yards of mulch per year. Instructions and order forms can be found at ejharrison.com/free-compost-mulchprogram.
An Athens Services program for residential customers outside cities offers free compost at the Athens Santa Paula yard, or customers may pay a fee for home delivery of up to 10 bags or ten cubic yards of compost.
Athens also provides free compost at some annual neighborhood clean-up events in some unincorporated communities. For more information and to schedule a pickup or delivery, customers outside cities should call (805) 856-0113.
Athens also provides free compost to residents of the city of Thousand Oaks. Athens will offer free compost to residents at the city’s Arbor Earth Day event, on Sat., April 19, 2025.
Additionally, subject to availability, Thousand Oaks’ Public Works Landscaping Division provides free mulch to residents at a site located between the Goebel Adult Community Center and the Grant Brimhall Library children’s entrance, 1385 East Janss Road.
WM, formerly Waste Management, offers mulch and compost to residents in the cities of Simi Valley and Moorpark. Contact those cities’ recycling coordinators for more information, or qualified residents can find out more by entering their address on WM.com.
Buying compost and mulch from local sources helps both the environment and economy. Obtaining the material from local sources also reduces disposal costs, cuts transportation pollution, supports local businesses, and creates jobs.
Ventura County sources that charge for compost and mulch include:
Agromin: (805) 485-9200, www.agromin.com
American Organics (Athens Services): (760) 246-7946, https://athensservices.com/american-organics
C&M Topsoil: (805) 578-0052, www.cmtopsoils.com
Ojai Valley Organics: (805) 738-3750. www.ojaivalleyorganics.com
Peach Hill Soils: (805) 529-6164, peachhillsoils.com.
In west Los Angeles County, residents and landscapers can take advantage of the free soil amendment giveway Monday through Saturday at the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District Composting Facility. Customers should bring their own container such as a plastic storage bin with a lid, sturdy plastic bag, or pickup truck or trailer with cover to secure the load in place.
Bulk loading is not provided on Saturdays at the site, located at the corner of Las Virgenes and Lost Hills roads in Calabasas. For questions about the Rancho Las Virgenes compost contact Karen Norman at (818) 251-2312
David Goldstein, Environmental Resource Analyst with the Ventura County Public Works Agency, may be reached at david.goldstein@ventura.org or (805) 658-4312.
https://www.theacorn.com/articles/understanding-the-nitty-gritty-of-composting/
