The Watchmen organization has a community garden space of roughly 1/2 acre. We'll be using this grant to share compost with the community and create up educational opportunities about reducing the amount of waste going to landfills, and how composting diverts food and yard waste while improving soil quality.
Food waste is a large category of material in municipal landfills, where it creates methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. By composting our food waste we can greatly reduce the amounts of methane produced. In addition, the compost produced can reduce the need for chemical fertilizers and produce higher-yielding crops.
As soon as we receive funding, we will
purchase compost to be used in the garden as well as be available to community members.
purchase composters or raw materials to build composters to create a compost demonstration plot showing various methods of composting.
develop an educational program for a community event on April 24.
use the seed money to apply for a larger grant to be used to purchase home composters to sell to the community at a reduced cost.
While we can meet remotely, the plan is that many of our discussions will be held outside at the community garden following CDC guidelines (masks and social distancing).
The Watchmen organization has a community garden space of roughly 1/2 acre. We'll be using this grant to share compost with the community and create up educational opportunities about reducing the amount of waste going to landfills, and how composting diverts food and yard waste while improving soil quality.
Food waste is a large category of material in municipal landfills, where it creates methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. By composting our food waste we can greatly reduce the amounts of methane produced. In addition, the compost produced can reduce the need for chemical fertilizers and produce higher-yielding crops.
As soon as we receive funding, we will
purchase compost to be used in the garden as well as be available to community members.
purchase composters or raw materials to build composters to create a compost demonstration plot showing various methods of composting.
develop an educational program for a community event on April 24.
use the seed money to apply for a larger grant to be used to purchase home composters to sell to the community at a reduced cost.
While we can meet remotely, the plan is that many of our discussions will be held outside at the community garden following CDC guidelines (masks and social distancing).
On Saturday, May 8 Watchmen Operations is giving free vegetable plants from 10-12 at their office at 2723 Euclid Avenue. We will be handing out compost and planting instructions to go with the plants.
Please join me Wednesday, May 5 at 5 PM at the community garden to fill 100 lunch sacks with compost. The garden is on Hickman Rd at about 27th St: 2714 Hickman Rd, Des Moines,
We will also talk about creating compost bin kits to sell at cost, what we want to do for Compost Day in July, compost education, and other compost-centric topics!
Along with the Watchmen leadership, we are working on a proposed budget and schedule for events. We are going to jumpstart the composting process by purchasing finished compost to give away to community members with free garden plants. Instructions on using compost in the garden will be given at pickup. Compost will be distributed at other events also.
Last year the garden built a number of composters from recycled materials.
We have a team! Our plan is to demonstrate and educate on how composting provides a good basis for gardening success, and also helps divert waste from landfills.
We'll set up the demonstration area, schedule training, and bring in compost for the community garden.
We collect tons of leaves from the community.