Composting For Beginners

4 Dallas classes for composting your way to a better backyard

Microbe-rich compost acts like probiotics for your plants.

Photo by Marshall Hinsley

As the weather cools down for fall (or so we hope), venturing outside to garden, plant, and water the yard doesn’t sound so dreadful. It's also the perfect time to try your hand at composting, which makes great use of all that organic matter and food waste you usually toss in the garbage.

Not sure where to begin? Try enrolling in one of these upcoming composting classes, and you'll learn all you need to know.

Apartment dwellers or those who make little food waste can learn how to vermicompost — compost with worms, that is — at theTexas Worm Ranch in Garland. Red wiggler worms munch food scraps and turn it into microbe-rich compost that acts like probiotics for your plants. During a two-hour class held about twice per month, an instructor teaches you all about your new wigglers and sends you home with all the supplies needed to get started. Register online for the $50 class.

A few times a year, Trinity Haymarket in the Design District hosts a free 90-minute seminar for beginners or anyone who has questions about backyard composting. An instructor teaches different methodologies, backyard basics, covers what supplies you’ll need (you can buy them all Trinity Haymarket after the class), and answers troubleshooting questions. The next class is November 12 at 10:30 am. Check online for details and additional classes.

Confused about the difference between grasscycling and leafcycling? Unsure if vermicomposting or trench composting works best for your gardening needs? The City of Plano hosts an All About Composting class on November 17, as well as a couple of other times throughout the year, for those looking to up their gardening game. Register online for the free program and keep an eye out for other waste, gardening, and composting classes throughout the year.

Master the fundamentals at the City of Irving’s Backyard Composting Basics class on October 18 from 10 am to noon. An instructor covers all the usual types of composting such as hot and cold composting, vermicomposting, and the uses for completed compost. This class is free and open to the public. Check online for additional composting classes, including a Compost Varieties class on November 15 and frequent Master Composting Training Courses.

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Swedish Fish News

Popular Ikea furniture chain to open 4th Dallas store in Rockwall

IKEA

Ikea sign - instantly recognizable

Dallas-Fort Worth is getting a new Ikea store in Rockwall. Located at Stodghill Road and I-30, it'll be the third Ikea in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and is due to open in December 2025.

Ikea is the world's largest furniture retailer, founded in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad, and known for its simple, modern approach to interior design at an affordable price, its ready-to-assemble furniture, and its amusement-park-like stores.

Ikea will be the anchor in a 65-plus acre mixed-use development with a location chosen for its accessibility not only to the east side of DFW but also to major highways that connect to faraway towns like Texarkana and Little Rock. Rockwall to Texarkana is 155 miles or a 2-hour-and-22-minute drive — surely doable if you're hot to get a great quality mattress at a good price or stock up on Swedish gummy red fish.

According to a release, the store represents Ikea's intention to become more accessible, affordable, and convenient for the many here in the U.S., even those who live in places like Casa View and Mesquite, and the store will offer a new way of reaching customers both in-store and digitally.

The store's footprint is 108,000 square feet — almost a third smaller than the existing locations in Frisco and Grand Prairie, which both span 293,000-plus square feet (although Grand Prairie is one story while Frisco is two-story). There's also a pickup-style store in Southlake that's 10,809 square feet.

“Our expansion goal is simple. We will be where people are, whenever and however they want to experience Ikea," says Ikea U.S. Ceo and Chief Sustainability Officer Javier Quiñones. “We have been testing different store formats to increase customer convenience, make home delivery more cost-efficient, and reach our customers where they live, work, and socialize. IKEA Rockwall represents a key milestone in this ongoing journey.”

Though smaller than the other area behemoths, Rockwall will nonetheless be serving Ikea's trademark meatballs at a new Swedish Deli concept, a Swedish cafe to enjoy meals onsite, and a Swedish Bistro for quick takeaway items that can be enjoyed in the outdoor seating area or at home.

The space will include multiple fully furnished room settings that showcase “local living” solutions reflecting the unique needs of the residents of the local community. Rockwall embroidered pillows, maybe?

Additionally, Ikea Rockwall’s design will include features for improved sustainability, specifically solar power, LEED certified construction, EV chargers, onsite recycling and native plant materials to reduce water consumption.

“We are strongly committed to the communities in which we operate. IKEA Rockwall provides an even more seamless omnichannel shopping experience throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area, and we look forward to welcoming residents and surrounding neighbors to this new Ikea experience,” says Ikea U.S. Area Market Manager Rob Parsons.

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