Composting Education Hub workshop

In celebration of World Soils Day (Dec. 5, 2024), we are excited to invite you to the Montgomery County Composting Education Hub (CEH)’s first workshop on composting food waste for on-farm use (details below). The CEH is a project of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and the Montgomery County Office of Agriculture, made possible by support from the University of Maryland Extension Master Gardeners, ECO City Farms, Manna Food Center, and others. You can learn more about the CEH here.

Date: Saturday, December 7th, 2024

Time: 9 am to 12 pm (snacks will be provided)

Location: Agricultural History Farm Park, 18410 Muncaster Road, Derwood

This free workshop is designed for farmers, gardeners, and anyone interested in learning how to properly and efficiently compost food waste at a medium (e.g. small farm) scale. When farms serve as a site where clean food waste from the surrounding community is brought in to be composted (either by the farm staff or a composting company/partner), they play an important role in helping divert nutrients from incinerators and landfills and in turn receive a high-quality soil amendment and fertilizer.

 

The CEH consists of a 4’x12′ three-bin Compost Knox composting system with solar-powered blowers. Thomas Fazio, Compost Manager at ECO City Farms, will be leading the workshop and doing a hands-on demonstration of how to load the three-bin system and manage the composting process. Attendees will also learn about:

·  Core principles of composting

·  Feedstock ratios

·  Components and functioning of a solar-powered blower aerated Compost Knox system

·  Composting at smaller and larger scales than with a three-bin Compost Knox system

If you would like to attend, please register here by Sunday, December 1. If you would like to be removed from this mailing list, please let me know.