Compost recipe, ingredients and vermicomposting (compost with superpowers)!

📸 by Jess Frost

Hi Neighbors, let’s talk ratios and recipes.

Compost is many things: a soil amendment, a science, and, believe it or not, a recipe. And like any good recipe, it starts with the right ratio.

At Maple Street Community Garden, we use a 2:1 browns-to-greens blend. Browns are dry, carbon-rich materials like leaves, sawdust, and wood chips (brown donations can be coordinated by email). Greens are your fresh, nitrogen-rich scraps, also known as the food waste MVPs.

Now, for what actually goes in the bin.

At MSCG, we welcome your food scraps (greens) with open arms (and gloves) every Saturday. But we don’t accept dairy, meat, grains, or bones. Why? Because those guys are diva-level decomposers and, worse, they’re rat magnets. (Yes, it’s rats. Always rats.)

That’s where NYC’s industrial composting comes in. The city can handle meat, grains, bones, and even your leftover pizza. So let’s send those scraps where they can thrive, not into our community bins.

Not sure where something goes? Bring your mystery items to the garden on a Saturday morning between 10:30 AM and 12:30 PM. We love a good compost challenge. (We are equipped with a city bin in case your home (like mine) isn’t yet.)

📸 by Jess Frost

Speaking of sorting…

Our Super Secret Worm Task Force is still doing the dirty work (literally), and I’m thrilled to report: the red wigglers are THRIVING. They’re well-fed, wriggly, and cranking out the good stuff like tiny organic machines. (Premium plant fuel. Glamorous? No. Effective? Absolutely.)

Vermicomposting doesn’t just speed up decomposition. It also improves soil structure and helps plants retain moisture. Basically, it’s compost with superpowers.

Here’s a sneak peek of our (secret) team harvesting castings for the garden’s hungriest plants.

📸 by Jess Frost

So please keep those scraps coming. Every banana peel, egg shell, and carrot top helps grow something good right here in our garden.

Thanks for being part of it. That’s the soil, for now.

With grit & gratitude,

Jess

Compost Committee, MSCG