The Beltsville Garden Club will welcome Dr. Gary Felton of the University of Maryland, on Wednesday, February 24, at 7:30 pm for his presentation of “Yours vs Theirs”, a virtual talk about compost, via Zoom.  When asked if he would be willing to speak to us about this area of his expertise he cheerfully responded: “Yes, I can talk about compost all day.”  We appreciate his generosity and enthusiasm and look forward to hearing how commercial compost is different from backyard compost, things you can do to enhance your compost pile, and cautions when using compost.

Dr.Gary Felton is Director of Extension for the Environmental Science and Technology department at the University of Maryland.  He earned a BS and MS in Agricultural Engineering at the U. MD, and a PhD from Texas A&M University, also in Agricultural Engineering.

Dr. Felton has been working in non-point source pollution, focusing on nutrients, since 1978. He has included work on composting since 2004, which also involved organizing and teaching at the Mid-Atlantic Better Composting School.  He has been an instructor and an organizer for some US Composting Council Compost Operators Training Courses. He organizes and teaches Large Animal composting short courses and Poultry Mortality Composting short courses in Maryland.

Dr. Felton has served as the Extension Water Quality Specialist at the University of Maryland and works on poultry litter management, biosolids, and urban nutrients.  He has taught Master Gardeners homeowner turfgrass care and management since 1997 and has researched fate and transport of nitrogen from suburban settings as part of that work.  He is Chair of the Urban Nutrient Management Work Group (an advisory group to Maryland Dept. of Agriculture)  and author of the Maryland Professional Lawn Care guide.

A Zoom invitation will be sent to members before the event.