61 Franklin Street Community Garden maintains a three-bin compost system to educate members and the neighborhood about composting while diverting food scraps from landfills.

Garden members are encouraged to drop food scraps off at their convenience. Members of the general public may drop scraps off during the garden's open hours (NOTE: if the garden is not open, please do not leave compost outside the gate).

For Members:

How to Add Material to the Compost Bins

The secret to healthy compost bins is maintaining a balance of "greens" and "browns." Greens are materials that are rich in nitrogen, such as food scraps and freshly-cut plant material. Browns are materials that are rich in carbon, such as dead leaves, straw, and wood shavings. Composters use these terms as shorthand for the two essential composting ingredients, even though "greens" are not always green and  "browns" are not always brown.

Guidelines for adding greens and browns to our bins:

Step 1 (please do at home): 

Chop food scraps and plant material (greens) up into roughly egg-size pieces and remove rubber bands, stickers, etc. (please, no whole pineapples!). DO NOT add biodegradable compost bags. Our bins don't get hot enough to break these down.

Step 2: 

Add greens to the ACTIVE bin (on the left-hand side), along with a roughly equal volume of wood shavings, which we use as browns. You'll find wood shavings in either a black sterilite tub labeled BROWNS or one of the big clear bins with yellow lids.

Step 3: 

Use the compost crank (the crank looks like this and should be next to the active bin) to stir and aerate the bin. Two or three cranks should suffice, but feel free to crank to your heart's content.

Step 4:

If, after cranking, any fresh scraps are exposed on the top, cover them with another handful of browns to prevent odor.

What to Compost

Please DO add these:

  • Raw fruit & vegetable scraps

  • Coffee grounds & unbleached filters

  • Tea & tea bags

  • Eggshells (shells only: eggs themselves will attract pests)

  • Pits (even avocado!)

  • Healthy plants & soil

  • Dried or cut flowers

  • Brown paper bags & cardboard egg cartons

Please DO NOT add these:

  • Meat, chicken, fish, or bones

  • Oil or oily food scraps

  • Dairy (cheese, milk, cream, etc.)

  • Eggs

  • Baked or processed food scraps

  • Paper or napkins soiled with grease

  • Certified compostable products, including biodegradable compost bags (our bins do not get hot enough to break these down efficiently)

  • Animal or human waste

  • Pet litter or bedding

  • Coal or charcoal

  • Diseased or insect-infested houseplants or soil

About Composting

What happens to my food scraps? 

When the Active bin is full and a bulk of the material no longer resembles food scraps, the compost committee moves that material to the middle Curing bin, to allow the decomposition process to finish. After that material has had a few weeks to rest in the Curing bin, the committee uses a compost sifter to sift it into the Finished bin. Any material that does not fit through the sifter is returned to the Active bin. This allows food to go through its natural cycle of decomposition. 

The garden uses finished compost to add nutrients to our soil and to street tree beds in the neighborhood. We are also happy to donate finished compost to anyone in the neighborhood who can put it to use. To inquire about receiving donations of finished compost, email 61franklinstgarden@gmail.com.

Special thanks to Tri-Lox, Greenpoint-based design studio, fabrication shop, and wood mill, for donating the wood shavings we use as browns!