Presenters: Melanie Files and Rick Lowman

PVMN Re-Cert Eligible

Melanie and Rick, certified Master Naturalists, Master Gardeners and Master Composters, are excited to bring their years of experience and knowledge to the PVAS community.

This presentation aims to help shred the myths about composting and provide answers to composting myths and common problems. In addition, Rick and Melanie will touch on ways to successfully build an aesthetically pleasing compost pile.

Melanie Files and Rick Lowman have been active gardeners and recyclers for over 30 years. Composting has been a large part of their gardening practice. Melanie has been a Master Gardener since 2004, Rick since 2017. Both Melanie and Rick received their Master Composter certification in 2012. They worked with the Berkeley County Solid Waste Authority to start a Composter training program in the Eastern Panhandle area. The most recent class was in June 2018. A 2019 class is planned for June. Melanie and Rick are both graduates of WVU, and teach composting to garden clubs, elementary/high school students, master gardeners, and other groups such as Garden of Promise.

This program is free and everyone is welcome to attend.

Directions:

Hospice of the Panhandle, 330 Hospice Lane, Kearneysville, WV 25430

GPS location is Shop and Save, 50 Coast Guard Drive, Kearneysville

www.hospiceotp.org

From WV Route 9, take the Short Road exit. If traveling east, take a left off the exit. If traveling west, take a right off the exit. Follow to the stop light at Sheetz. Turn right. Take the next left across from the old Shop-n-Save onto Hospice Lane. Follow the road back.

The Education Center will be on your left (the inpatient facility will be on your right). The door to enter for the PVAS Program is to the right of the main office door. Look for the yellow Audubon signs.

Please contact Krista Hawley at adultprograms@potomacaudubon.org or 681-252-1387 with any questions you may have.

**A follow-up, hands-on composting workshop will be held on Saturday, April 27 at Cool Spring Preserve. This workshop will dig deeper in to the ‘how-to’ of composting, educating beyond the myths and finding best solutions for individual situations. Registration for this workshop can be found here: