On June 1, community gardeners, urban farmers, and teachers gathered at Athletic Recreation Center for the first Community Compost Network workshop. Farm Philly and Bennett Compost organized the workshop to teach attendees how to turn food waste into compost. They provided training and resources for attendees interested in joining the compost network.  

In 2019 the Community Compost Network began with 11 sites across the city. Now the program is growing.  

In March, Farm Philly selected 13 sites to take part in the program. These included three schools, two urban farms and seven community gardens.  

Many of the sites selected were already composting. But they needed more resources to increase their composting operations.  

The program provides the tools necessary to operate a compost system including:  

  • A three-bin system. 
  • Educational resources. 
  • Training for volunteers.  

Sites will also receive the following equipment:  

  • Wheelbarrows  
  • Carts 
  • Pitchforks 
  • Shovels 
  • Choppers 
  • Thermometers 
  • Scales 
  • Screeners 

These tools will help them generate compost from food waste. 

Topics covered during the training workshop included methods for composting, including: 

  • The lasagna method of layering food scraps with browns such as leaves.  
  • The donut method where you make a circle of browns with the food scraps in the middle. Then combine them into a pile. 
  • The thermophilic process of composting. The temperature of the pile must reach 130-150° F to break down the food scraps.  

Attendees learned how the community compost model is different from other methods of composting. These included:  

  • Backyard composting, which is a passive or “cold” process. This method takes roughly a year for compost to be ready for use.  
  • Commercial composting. In this method, food waste is piled into long rows between four and eight feet high and 14 to 16 feet wide. Then waste is turned to introduce oxygen. High temperatures created by large piles can break down problematic material.  
  • Regional composting involves transporting food waste to large facilities that serve many cities.  

All the participants received a copy of Philadelphia Community Compost Manual. This manual can be downloaded for free online. 

Learn how you can get free compost, mulch, and woodchips.
Link takes you to Farm Philly's Community Composting page.