Porter County – The Valparaiso compost site, 2150 W. Lincolnway, and the Boone Grove site, 400 West 550 South, will open for the season April 1, to give Porter County residents the opportunity to drop off yard waste from their spring cleanups.

Regular hours for the Valparaiso compost site will be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays. Currently, the Valparaiso compost site is open Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. through March 30. Regular hours for the Boone Grove site will be from noon to 5 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays. Currently the site is closed.

Materials accepted at either site include organic yard waste, leaves, garden clippings, household plants, brush, limbs, logs and firewood. Treated wood or lumber is not accepted at either site. Grass is not accepted at the Valparaiso site. Compost and mulch will be available at both locations for residents to take, while supplies last.

Other materials accepted at the compost sites for proper disposal include old or unusable electronics (anything with an electrical cord or powered by batteries); cell phones; compact and tube fluorescent light bulbs; household batteries; toner cartridges; and old media, such as cassette and VCR tapes, CDs, etc.

These large scale municipal composting operations allow the Recycling and Waste Reduction District of Porter County and select municipalities to manage organic material, composting yard waste and grinding organic wood waste to create large amounts of finished compost and mulch. The resulting compost and mulch are also available for public use.

The Recycling and Waste Reduction District of Porter County is an agency dedicated to improving the environment and quality of life for Porter County residents by providing convenient, voluntary waste reduction services.

For more information about public compost sites in Porter County, visit the District’s website, www.ItMeansTheWorld.org, or call 465-3694.

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Peter Kesheimer congratulates Ron Jones. [Photo provided]

On April 10, 2013,  the Purdue Master Gardener Program in Lake County with the master gardeners association will celebrate countless hours volunteers spend helping others grow with gardening and landscaping at the annual spring banquet at Sts. Peter and Paul Macedonian Orthodox Church, 9660 Broadway in Crown Point, IN. With a social for guests at 6:30 pm and dinner at 7 pm, the banquet provides an opportunity for Lake County Master Gardeners to exchange ideas, continuing to learn. LCMG have an chance to purchase tickets for themselves and guests for $20 each, making sure Purdue Extension secretary, Diana Cook, 219-755-3240, receives the total amount prior to April 1st as the event manager, Jasmina Bishop, needs to know the exact number attending to provide a palatable feast. Peter Kesheimer, Scholarship Committee Chairperson, will announce the six recipients receiving donations at the banquet for the 2013-2014 school year at Indiana universities. Nikky Witkowski, Lake County Purdue Extension Educator/Coordinator of the MG program will speak on food safety in community gardens. Certified Master Gardener Awards go to Denise Harris and Dawn Vanzo. Jim Colias, Pat Dunham, Elaine Hough, and Ron Jones receive the Advanced Master Gardener awards. Bronze Badge recipients include:  David Gottneid, Marlene Gransinger, Ray Norder, Joanne Stratton, and Fangling Yu. Sheila O'Toole earned the Silver Badge while Joanne Gruber attains the Gold Badge. Hostess Committee Chairperson Gloria Smederovac will meet with committee members to create favors for the banquet.

News Release/Recycling and Waste Reduction District of Porter County – The Valparaiso compost site, 2150 W. Lincolnway, will begin Saturday off-season hours Jan. 5, for Porter County residents to dispose of their once live Christmas trees, wreaths and other organic holiday decorations. The 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday hours will continue through April when the site will open for the season.

Ornaments and lights should be removed before disposal. Other organic materials accepted at this site include yard waste, leaves, garden clippings, household plants, brush, limbs, logs and firewood. No grass or treated wood or lumber will be accepted.

Residents who received new electronics for Christmas can also recycle their unwanted electronics and electrical items at the compost site. Accepted items include: computers, monitors, televisions, typewriters, copiers, PDAs, VCRs, fax machines, microwaves, scanners, gaming machines, and anything with an electrical cord or run by batteries. Christmas light strands are also accepted.

Besides electronics and organic materials, residents can recycle other items at the compost sites, including household batteries, fluorescent light bulbs (tubes and CFLs), toner cartridges, media (CDs, video cassettes, etc.) and cell phones.

The site is owned and operated by the City of Valparaiso with assistance from the Recycling and Waste Reduction District of Porter County.

The Boone Grove compost site, 546 S. 400 W, will remain closed through April and is owned and operated by the District.

The Recycling and Waste Reduction District of Porter County is an agency dedicated to improving the environment and quality of life for Porter County residents by providing convenient, voluntary waste reduction services.

For more information on the public compost sites, visit the District’s website, www.itmeanstheworld.org, or call 219-465-3694

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From Lake County Master Gardeners Association, Inc.:

Open to the public and free of charge, the LCMGA Speaker’s Bureau begins a new garden series at Tri Town Safety Village meeting room in Schererville the second Tuesday each month from September to April at 3 pm to 4 pm on seasonal garden topics. Tri Town Safety Village is located at 1350 Eagle Ridge Drive, Schererville, IN.  The series is offered in cooperation with Bill Jarvis, Executive Director of Tri Town. Check the schedule below, and plan to attend one or more of the meetings to increase gardening knowledge. Programs are subject to change. Check the Lake County Master Gardener Association website for updates at  http://lakenetnwi.org/member/lcmastergardeners/index.html.  For information email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it "> This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . The LCMGA Speaker’s Bureau provides educational speakers free of charge to garden clubs, libraries and community groups. To obtain a list of speakers and topics, contact Purdue Cooperative Extension Office at (219) 755-3240

Tuesday, September 11:  Bulbs. Jennifer & Bill Tobin

Tuesday, October 9:  Putting Your Beds to Bed, Dolly Foster

Tuesday, November 13:  Houseplants 101, Linda Knoll

Tuesday, December 11:  Winter Sowing, Victoria Jostes

Tuesday, January 8:  Gardening Through the Ages, A History of Plants, Sherry Kubiak

Tuesday, February 12:  Roses: History and Symbolism, Susan Radovich

Tuesday, March 12:  Organic Vegetable Gardening, Bill Tobin

Tuesday, April 9:  Landscaping with Native Plants for Four Seasons of Color, Kathy Kick



MG Dian Fruth discusses hummingbird habits at the Lowell Public Library [photo provided]

Monthly meetings, lots of special events for 2012

Read more: Miller Garden Club Mar-Oct

Here's what it looks like

Read more: Raisin' the [Green] Roof in LS