‘autumn mums’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

One way to make your houseplants or garden look healthy and lush like this — and not like mine, all spindly — is to enrich your soil.

And one way to do that is to make compost, known as black gold, from your kitchen scraps and yard clippings. Composting also keeps those potato peels and faded blooms out of landfills, incinerators, and wastewater treatment plants, so it’s good for the planet.

And yes, you can do it even if you don’t have a big backyard. Next Monday at 7 p.m., you can learn the secrets at How to Compost in the City, held in Shaw, by CarbonfreeDC.