Kyle Mathison Orchards makes compost cheaply from various waste materials that are available in the vicinity. Stemilt Hill orchardist Kyle Mathison has been able to reduce his fertilizer costs dramatically by making his own compost out of local materials. His 750-acre orchard near Wenatchee, Washington, is planted with cherries, apples, pears, and apricots, along with some wine grapes and blueberries. About 280 acres are organic, though the plan is for the whole orchard to be organic within ten years, said orchard manager Efrain Reyes. When Mathison started growing cherries organically, he applied chicken manure as fertilizer, at a rate […]