Open house to demonstrate large-scale composting techniques

An upcoming open house aims to spread awareness about large-scale composting, which can lead to an array of health and environmental benefits.

Open to the public, the open house will be held on Friday, August 2 and Saturday, August 3 from noon until 4 p.m. each day. It will take place at 3469 Haynie Road in Blaine.

Organizer Sasha Hatton, a Tai Chi instructor at the Blaine Senior Center, has been gardening on the property for six years, but has 35 years’ gardening experience. Working one wheelbarrow at a time, she has produced 5,000 square feet of topsoil, two to three feet deep. Using this soil, she has grown a vast quantity of produce, which she sells and gives away to neighbors, friends, churchgoers and senior center members.

“I literally have hundreds of pounds of produce,” she said. “We’re hoping to eventually have a stand so we can earn money to buy fruit trees.”

Hatton said the goal of the open house is to attract volunteers and to inspire other people to use large-scale composting techniques, which she said can make the world a better place. She calls it a “sustainable permaculture” project to create “new world gardens” in Whatcom County and beyond.

“This way, people don’t have to use chemical fertilizers” which contribute to methane gas in the environment, she said. “It also ensures that we can have local food production, and we don’t have to worry about an emergency where the trucks and trains are not bringing us food.”

She said the vegetables she grows using composted soil are even better than organic produce from a grocery store. “It’s all about what you put in your mouth,” she said. “If you grow your own food, you know exactly what you are putting in your mouth and the mouths of your family.”

In addition, she said there are physical benefits to large-scale composting. “It requires hard physical work which is, actually, the best way to get fit,” she said. “Exercising in the gym doesn’t produce dinner.”

Composting is the deterioration of organic matter, which turns into fertilizer for plants. Hatton said that her own procedure involves putting down layers of cardboard, seaweed, sticks, branches, food waste, horse manure, leaves, forest waste, grass clippings, unpainted lumber, weeds, natural fabrics, eggshells, paper and other organic materials.

In order for these things to properly decompose, water is needed. When the climate is rainy, the decomposition process takes about two months, whereas in the dry summer months it can take longer. Eventually, the organic material turns into dirt which can be used to grow plants and vegetables.

“People don’t realize what you can do with waste,” said Hatton. “With a little bit of physical labor, which is good for us, you can have all your own fresh vegetables and plenty to give away.”

For the open house, Hatton said she will be providing beverages as well as some shady spots for people to sit down. She also plans to provide each attendee with a bag of produce to take home with them.