After a year of attempted communal composting at Poly Gardens it has become clear that our original "honor system" method didn't exactly work.
We obtained four repurposed barrels from the City of Mesa and positioned them near the tool shed. Members and volunteers were briefly tutored on the finer points of composting and then turned loose to add to any of the bins as they went along. What resulted was four barrels of completely stuffed, dry browns because people were neglecting to turn and water. (And quite possibly balance the material properly)
I want to know if any community garden leaders out there have had better luck with communal composting and what characteristics did they employ? Personal barrels? Commitment letters? Maybe a macro system with a timed sprinkler?
I am not willing to give up on composting at the garden, I think it's just a matter of adopting the right design or model.
Any and all insight/advice is appreciated.
Replies
I have been there with what I like to call the "drop and run" model. What worked for us was to first have someone to project manage the compost. At least 2 people who's job it is to turn, tend, and oversee the compost on a regular basis. When it comes time to turn, ask volunteers to help your project managers. Then they can see what is working, or sometimes more importantly, what is not working. This also spreads out the labor, because it can take a lot of human energy to turn a large heap of compost and water it at the same time!
By involving people in the process, they own the project and take more of a interest in seeing it through.
Also, you allowed them to use "any of the bins" which opened it up for issues. Having a system in place where you use only one barrel at a time, then move on, should work better. It is good to have structure when working with many people that have different backgrounds. I know I appreciate clear directions when I take on tasks. If someone says "do what ever you want" to me, I freak out a bit trying to decide what the best course of action is. Creating some signs that say "feed this bin only" might also help, or a list of instructions near by that they can reference.
Personally, for large scale composting, I prefer not using those barrels. To get critical mass and faster composting creating large heaps of 3 feet square (no bigger than 5 feet square) or a 3 pallet system. Those barrels tend to dry out easily and since you can't see the material until you pull off the barrel, out of sight means out of mind.
Hope that helps, and YEAH to composting!
PS-I highly recommend using a 5-prong pitchfork for turning, or better yet a 10-prong one. Shovels cause too much back breaking work when turning compost.