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news&Notes Bruce Blessing’s compost enriches local farms, golf courses, and many more sites. PHOTO PROVIDED BY BLESSING GREENHOUSES
The King of Compost MILFORD’S BRUCE BLESSING GROWS TASTIER VEGETABLES, ENRICHES THE SOIL AND ENVIRONMENT BY JACK HOBAN
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Whoever said you can’t turn chicken manure into chicken salad never met Bruce Blessing. Blessing, owner of Blessing Greenhouses and Compost Facility in Milford, turned a sea of chicken waste into premium, earth-friendly compost. Blessing’s operation produces nutri-
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ent-rich compost that winds up on golf courses and farms. He sells his retail products to gardeners and landscapers from his Milford flower stand. “So far, the response from our customers has been great,” says Blessing, who earned an Organics Material Review Institute certification for his compost.
For decades, nitrogen pollution—primarily from chicken manure—has been the Chesapeake and Delaware Bay’s number one polluter. When it rains, nitrogen from manure runs off the land into nearby waterways or drains into the water table. Composted land handles rain differcontinued on 11
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