Here at The Well Fed Community Garden, we use a lot of compost to grow our produce. We can’t produce as much as we need just yet, but we gather as much food waste from our community as we can manage to turn into soil. Here is our recipe for compost that grows beautiful produce for us:

Ingredients:

• Veggie scraps
• Coffee Grounds
• Leaf Mulch
• Shovel
• Sweat and Muscles (for turning the compost)
• Compost area (preferably enclosed to keep away unwanted critters)

Directions:

1.) Add veggie scraps (we get ours from Irregardless Cafe and Catering and from our volunteers)

2) Let the chickens eat some of the scraps…they add fertilizer to the compost anyway!

3) Mix up some coffee grounds (we get ours from Déjà Brew that a our volunteer Joe brings)

4) Add in Leaf Mulch from your local leaf mulchery. Capital Mulch Company, Leaf & Limb and City of Raleigh Yard Waste Center are some sources.

5) Fold the ingredients to combine

6) Cover and let it bake! This will ensure that the ingredients will be getting the heat it needs to decompose. Depending on how much heat, rain and worms are in your pile, it can take 3 months to a year to get a complete compost.

Be sure to turn the compost once or twice a month until ready. Your compost should look like moist, dark soil.

If you don’t want your own compost pile or do not have the ability to have one – bring your extra scraps and coffee grounds to us! Located at 1321 Athens Drive, Raleigh, NC 27606 – you can stop by anytime and drop off your scraps.