Composting at Bloedel Reserve

New Technology, New Design, More Compost

With 140 acres of gardens, forests, meadows and trails, we have a never-ending supply of leaves, grass clippings, branches, and other ‘green waste’ that we return to the land as hyper local soil amendments and mulch. At Bloedel Reserve, we strive to use sustainable and environmentally friendly horticultural practices throughout the landscape. Composting allows us to significantly reduce our carbon footprint and our reliance on pesticides, chemical fertilizers, and other imported soil amendments.

Bloedel Reserve has been composting for several decades but ramped up our program in a major way in 2021, with the completion of our Compost Facility. Thanks to the generosity of our community, we were able to build a state-of-the-art covered structure to take our composting program to the next level. This facility creates a controlled environment protected from the elements to maintain precise temperature and moisture levels throughout the composting process.

Our compost facility is the first on Bainbridge Island to make use of Aerated Static Pile (ASP) technology for its temperature-controlled composting bins. Small fans force air through buried pipes into the composting materials and sensors make sure the mixture is ‘cooking’ at optimal temperatures. ASP technology allows our composting process to occur nearly three times as fast as the open pile method, which we used previously.

This ASP technology, along with a more efficient building design, were two innovations spearheaded by Michael Bryan-Brown, president of Green Mountain Technologies and a former Bloedel Reserve Trustee. Fairbank Construction built the structure, setting up the Reserve to be a national leader in sustainable horticulture.

Next time you are walking the grounds, take a moment to appreciate the cycle of life on display in each flower, leaf, branch and bud. As the lead donor of the Compost Facility project stated at the dedication site, ‘Composting is proof that there is life after death.’ The profuse blooms you encounter on a magnolia in spring might be the rebirth of autumn maples leaves.

Check out the videos below to learn more: