By Jamie Sapp | Editor-in-ChiefAUGUSTA, Ga. - Sibley Soilworks is hosting a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Augusta for the grand opening of a new community composting project.The ceremony begins today at the Veggie Park Farmers Market on 109 Eve Street at 4:30 p.m.Sibley Soilworks is non-profit community project in partnership with the Augusta Canal Authority. According to the Sibley Soilworks website, the project focuses on using composting plant matter as a soil amendment for vegetable gardens in Harrisburg. In Harrisburg, the invasive aquatic plant called water hyacinth will be converted into healthy composted soil for the community.Sibley Soilworks, G.R.O.W. Harrisburg, Augusta Locally Grown, and the Augusta University (AU) Department of Biological Services are involved in the project, along with Icebox Urban Farm and Georgia Food Oasis.AU students will provide hands-on experience and research on composting processes under the lead of Dr. Donna Wear, a professor in the AU Department of Biological Services.Dr. Wear said she hopes that the community composting project will become successful, expressing her excitement for the new project.“We’re doing a service anyway by the fact that we are removing or reusing that material (water hyacinth),” Wear said. “So, it’s a win-win situation for everyone because we have over 200 raised beds in the Harrisburg community. It is not safe to grow plants in their soil. They have to grow above ground.”The project is also a component in the “Local Foods as Medicine” campaign, which spans from November to February, to highlight the involvement of AU students in the local foods movement.Contact Jamie Sapp at jsapp270@augusta.edu.Editor's note: A press release from Augusta Locally Grown was issued on Thursday, Sept. 21. Some information from the press release was used in the article.