1. Our compost bins take all "green materials" to include the grass cuttings from the lawn maintenance team and any plants or green materials harvested from the garden plots. However, I need to stress "green" as in "young". If you are removing a plant that has hard branches or brown "hard wood" please do not put the whole plant in the compost bin. Use a yard waste bag for the tougher, harder wood and root sections, just compost the "green" parts.
2. At the moment, we would like everyone to use the compost bin that is closest to the tennis court.
3. Please start bringing any and all kitchen scraps and deposit them only in that particular bin. Please cut up your kitchen scraps so they are no bigger than 2-3 inches. I would suggest you cut up your kitchen scraps at home. Please cut up that "banana peel, apple core, broccoli stock, etc" while you are preparing your meal and save them pre-chopped up in a compost bin or bag. Then when you show up at the garden you just need to deposit your kitchen waste into the current bin and spread and/or turn them.
4. Suitable kitchen scraps are all vegetables, fruits, fresh herbs, egg shells and coffee grounds. Compost really loves LOTS of coffee grounds, banana peels and egg shells. But absolutely NO meat, cheese, fish or their rinds or bones. Nothing can have any butter or oil on it. Please remove all fruit and vegetable stickers and twist ties that the vegetables come with. Fruit and vegetable stickers and the twist ties supermarkets use are NOT compostable.
5. EVERYTHING that enters the compost bin HAS to be cut up into smaller pieces. If this doesn't happen, it will make that bin harder to sift later on, so in the meantime I would ask that everyone who dumps a load of kitchen scraps, spread them out and turn them into the other contents of the bin. If you have time, taking a pointed shovel and driving it into the bin contents to help break and mix up the contents is also very helpful. Compost needs to be turned regularly, so if everyone does a little turn hen they drop their scraps, it will go a long way to helping the process along.
6. In other years we have tried to provide a pair of shears that are attached to the compost bin area to cut up the compost bin materials but have had limited success with the program. Because the shears are basically out in the elements, they become stiff and hard to use….we have yet to figure out a more successful route to take. If you have any suggestions, we are open to hearing them. So this is another reason this year we are suggesting that everyone pre-cuts up their kitchen scraps at home.
7. If you are wanting to be as environmentally friendly as possible, I would suggest using a stainless portable compost bin for your kitchen scraps. Cut your kitchen scraps up as you cook, once the pail is full, take it to the bin, dump the contents, spread them out and/or turn them, and then fill your compost pail with water to clean it out and dump the water on your garden plot. Gardens love to be given any form of "compost tea"! Then your pail is not only empty, but clean and ready to start the process all over again.
And those are our basic rules and regulations of participating in our Community Gardening Compost Program.
Garden Guidelines & Regulations can be found here