Garden walks, biodegradable mulch, and soil health were all features of WSU’s 2024 Congressional and Legislative Staff Tour opening day. The annual event is organized by WSU’s Office of External Affairs and Government Relations and hosts a mix of congressional and state legislative staffers alongside external Washington state partners, showcasing a variety of WSU education, research, and service efforts throughout the state.
The tour navigates the Greater Puget Sound this year, taking a deep dive into WSU’s presence and impact in Western Washington.
Monday was spent at the WSU Mount Vernon Research and Extension Center, where the group visited a research plot that is part of a multi-agency collaboration known as the Washington State Soil Health Initiative. Participants heard from researchers Gabriel LaHue, Assistant Professor of Soil Science, and Deidre Griffin LaHue, Assistant Professor of Soil Health and Sustainable Soil Management, who are working to develop regionally specific best management practices to promote both environmental and economic success through creating long-term agroecological research and extension sites.
Innovative research on soil-biodegradable mulches, a collaborative effort between WSU and USDA, was also showcased at the Center. Lead researcher Lisa DeVetter, Associate Professor for WSU’s Department of Horticulture, shared her work focused on studying biodegradable mulch in test strawberry fields. This work also explores innovative recycling methods that could help reduce the estimated 2.5 million tons of plastic mulch dumped into landfills, tilled into soil, or burned each year.
The visit concluded with a walking tour of the Discovery Garden, a demonstration garden cultivated by the WSU Skagit County Master Gardeners, where tour guests had a chance to taste strawberry shortcake topped with locally-grown berries and cider produced from apples grown at the station.
The tour then headed South on Tuesday and Wednesday with stops in Everett and Snohomish County and Puyallup and Pierce County.