No yard? You can still help
Healthier soil is a shared project, and most of it happens outside any one person's property. You can take part whether you own land, rent, live in an apartment, or only have a pot on a step. Pick one thing. Start there.
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A few hours, once
Join a volunteer day
Local projects need hands: planting, mulching, building beds, spreading compost. You do not need experience, and you will learn by doing it next to people who know the ground here.
See projects that need volunteersUpcoming workshops and events
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A short visit
Get a plot at a community garden
A community garden gives you soil to work without owning any. Visit, ask how plots are given out, and meet the people who garden there.
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About 3 minutes to set up
Grow something in a pot
A balcony, a step or a sunny windowsill counts. Add it to My Soil as a container, and the app will give you a short plan for it and a place to note what you see.
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A little each week
Keep leaves and scraps out of the trash
Leaves, grass and kitchen scraps are food for soil. Give them to a neighbor who needs them, take what you need, or use the city yard waste site.
Not sure where compost or wood chips came from? Grow a few bean or pea seedlings in a pot of it first, before using it in a garden. Some compost has been found to contain herbicide residue that harms garden plants.
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A course, then about 20 hours a year
Become a Master Gardener
SDSU Extension trains volunteers with online and in-person classes and an exam. You then volunteer 40 hours in your first year, and 20 service hours and 10 training hours a year after that. In Rapid City, Master Gardeners answer questions at the farmers market and look after demonstration gardens.
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An evening, twice a month or once
Help shape a greener Rapid City
The Rapid City Sustainability Committee meets in public on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of each month at 5 pm, in the Circle of Friends Community Room on the 2nd floor of City Hall (300 6th Street), or by Zoom. It works on waste, water, landscaping and food, and holds an Earth Day Expo.
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An evening
Watch, talk, and bring a friend
Most change starts with a conversation. Watch a soil film with a friend or a group, and use the questions on the page to start talking about what it means for where we live.
Want to do more?
An account lets you sign up for projects, post on the Exchange, and, if you have a place to grow, get a short plan for it. Your email is never shown to other members.