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Compost Demonstration Area

Posted by cahnrs.webteam | December 20, 2013

Highlights

  • 4-bin cinder block composting area
  • A variety of commercial bins for composting
  • Stockpiles of organic matter being held for composting
  • Mural on Vegetable Garden side of cinder block bins

Take an audio tour:

 

In this area the Master Gardeners make compost, which is the outcome of the decomposition of organic material. The organic materials come from vegetation culled from the different theme gardens and also rabbit manure. The vegetation is put through a chipper because smaller, shredded pieces of material decompose more quickly and more completely. The shredded vegetation and the rabbit manure are layered into a three sided cinder block pen about four feet by four feet by four feet. A layer of vegetation is put down, then a layer of manure, then more vegetation, more manure, and so on until the pen is filled to the top. In between these layers we add water. Then the magic begins.

Microbes (mainly bacteria, protozoa, and fungi), insects, and eventually worms feed on the vegetation and manure, breaking it down and turning it into humus. Within the first 48 to 72 hours the compost pile we just built will reach temperatures in exceed of 170° F. This is useful because it kills unwanted pathogens and sterilizes any seeds. The high temperatures also accelerate the decomposition process. After three weeks we turn the compost material out of one pen and into a similar neighboring pen. This is because oxygen is also essential to the decomposition process. These turn-outs are done twice more and then we have the finished product, a compost rich in plant nutrients and active microbes and insects. The other theme gardens then use the compost to enrich their soils to promote strong, health plant growth.

Go back to see the other gardens

 

Location

1620 S. Union
Kennewick, Washington

(In Kennewick’s Grange Park behind the Mid-Columbia Library)

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Donations

Your donation will help the Demonstration Garden stay beautiful.

Donations are tax deductible and are made to the Benton-Franklin Master Gardener Foundation, a 501(c)3 organization.

Donations of any size are appreciated. Donations of $100 – $499 are recognized with an engraved bronze plaque to be placed in the brick pathway at the entrance to the Demonstration Garden. Plaques are engraved with your name or a 54 character message of your choice. Consider donating “a brick” in celebration of a child’s birth, a special occasion

Donations of $500 or more are recognized with your name posted on the donor board in the Pergola at the entrance.

Donation Form