Food scraps and organic garden waste are composted on site in closed compost bins and worm farms. The garden contains many compost bins that are utilised by members and by participants in the Food Scrap Friday community composting program.
Established in 2016, Food Scrap Friday is a collaboration between the garden, the local community and Camdenville Public School, and aims to direct food waste away from landfill, while also producing a valuable resource – compost.
Every Friday morning during term time, participants bring their kitchen scraps to the paddock for composting. Volunteers weigh and record the food waste and help maintain the compost bins on site. Each week as many as 40 families are contributing. On average the program diverts over 3 tonnes per annum. The generated compost provides a valuable soil additive and helps us reduce our need for inputs from outside the paddock.
Successful composting requires active management of the compost bins and Food Scrap Friday would not exist without our amazing volunteers and garden members. If you’d like to lend a hand, please sign up to help out.
Want to help out on Fridays?
Composting
Signage and a system of bin tags is used to indicate how the bins should be used:
FEED ME (green) sign – the bin is currently accepting deposits. Add your food scraps and a layer of ‘brown’ material.
TURN ME (red) sign – the bin is full and is currently composting. DON’T add any food scraps. If you have time, grab one of the compost corkscrews and spend a few minutes aerating the bin. This helps the process along and helps minimise smells.
USE ME / I’M READY (blue) sign – the compost in this bin is ready to use in the garden. Feel free to use some on your plot, and try to leave some for other members.
What DO we put in compost bins?
• Fruit and vegetable scraps
• Tea bags and coffee grounds (be careful of microplastics)
• Shredded paper and cardboard
• Dry leaves and grass clippings
• Straw and sugar cane mulch
• Egg shells
• Coffee husks
• Sawdust
What DO NOT put in compost bins?
- Meat, seafood and dairy (including bones)
- Fats and oils
- Greasy food scraps
- Large amounts of carbohydrates (bread, rice, pasta)
- Plastics (Watch out for rubber bands, bread tags and fruit stickers)
- Dog and cat poo (obviously!)
The Paddock operates four open compost bays specifically for organic garden waste. No food waste is to be added to these open compost bays.
When adding garden waste, please be careful not to add weeds or seeds and please chop your waste finely to speed up decomposition.
As a general rule, the smaller the pieces, the faster they will break down – especially when it comes to food waste and garden clippings. A whole apple or orange will take months to decompose, but if you chop it into pieces, it will break down in weeks or days. The same idea applies when composting garden waste like stems and vines. Chop it finely and it will disappear before you know it!