Junior Garden Club students receive composting lessons

By Sharon Robinson : Driftwood Garden Club welcomed Susan Platt from the North Myrtle Beach Historical Preservation Society at the Driftwood/Riverside Elementary Junior Garden Club meeting on January 8, 2020.   Susan donated a garden composter to the Junior Garden Club and shared her valuable knowledge of composting with the children. 

After explaining what can and can’t be composted, the children were arranged in groups to play a game. The object of the game was to separate trash, compostable material and recyclable material into three separate piles using items she brought and waste from the children’s snack.

Following the game, everyone went outside to the garden where the children learned how to start compost in a liter bottle.  The children were divided into six teams and given a diagram and instructions on how to layer materials in a liter bottle. The children layered fresh fruit, vegetables, pine straw, newspaper, leaves and soil dug from the garden; spraying the layers with water to moisten.

The bottles were labeled with the children’s names and will be returned to them in March so they can see how it decomposed. They will be ready to add to the school garden soil.

Riverside Elementary will be adding materials to the donated composter from time-to-time as part of an ongoing project.