Training the next generation of growers at Marietta Middle School - MDJ
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Huddled over a black, plastic compost tower, Marietta Middle School students churned dirt inside a vessel with a crank, aerating the soil to help the organisms move around and break down the muck.
Nestled between buildings and trees, the school garden and compost area is a short walk from the cafeteria.
“I like to see how the compost affects the growth in the garden,” said Jake Carter, a seventh grader who has been helping compost for a month.
Compost is a mixture of decomposing plant and food waste which creates a soil rich in nutrients to benefit crops, said Cobb Master Gardener Michelle Gambon, a volunteer who directs the Compost Connectors program at the school.
Gambon is a 14-year volunteer and self-described “compost lady” for the district. She works on a contract basis with Food Well Alliance where she built Compost Connectors, a program which gets students to participate and understand the role of urban agriculture.
