Don't trash those food scraps! Even a city slicker can compost to create nutrient-rich fertilizer for urban gardens. Here's how

I envision twining climbers and container-grown edibles on the deck, with hardy, colorful perennials below.

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Jessica Walliser and Doug Oster, The Organic Gardeners, offer tips for keeping your garden debris and disease free. Learn to boost soil by adding plenty of organic matter (compost) and using preventatives such as lime-sulfur or baking soda sprays. Discover the importance of mulching to keep soil-borne diseases off foliage as well as how to spot the early signs of disease.

Danny Seo explains backyard composting.

Got questions about composting? Good. Our blogger just answered a whole bunch at a local coop.

Finished compost in weeks? Or years? The route to botanical bliss depends on the balance of browns and greens, hot and cold.

Our intrepid blogger discovers the remarkable universe of creatures in the compost bin.

Is becoming a DIY home composter as hard as you think? Jeremy Lehrer shares his metamorphosis from ordinary mortal into composting connoisseur.

I’ve loved the Oregon Zoo since I was a child—the groovy mosaic and sculpture of turtles outside signaling excitement that was inside. The zoo has transformed in the last thirty years, that two-turnstile mosaic entryway giving way to a massive entrance for the most attended paid tourist attraction in Oregon. I’ve gone from funky bell-bottoms to organic Mom clothes, trying to spend my money on things that reflect a more concerned, careful way of living. Already sold on the vastly improved habitats and the mission of the zoo, I was astounded to learn just how passionate the people who run it are.

Back when I lived in an apartment, I used to cringe during the food-prep phase of every dinner party I threw. With each soufflé or pistou or rellenos con crema, I was throwing away entire garbage bags full of carrot butts, peanut shells and grapefruit rinds.

Sure, you can turn a lot of that stuff into stock — but even after all the simmering, that's still a lot of biomass headed for the landfill. (According to the EPA, over 27 million tons of food waste was generated in 2003.) Alas, if only someone had told me about in-kitchen vermicomposting.