Growing Together: Open Forum

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  • 1.  Food waste from Cafeteria and Composting solutions

    Posted 04-11-2023 01:10:00 PM

    Hello! We have been doing some composting but are hoping to expand our efforts by taking more of the cafeteria waste to compost in our school garden.
    Looking for suggestions of easy to collect/carry bins for the students participate. We have 5th graders that enjoy collecting the compost and taking it to the garden but it often gets too heavy even in a small rectangular Sterlite type container. We don't want to make another job for our teachers or custodians.
    Also, those that do compost from the cafeteria do you find an open chicken wire and pallet 3 bin to be substantial or do you rotate other compost systems? 
    FYI we are in CO where it is usually dry, except when it is snowing (lol) hot sun and rodents like voles and mice can be an issue. 
    Thanks for your advice.
    Pam



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    Pamela Cooley
    Prairie Winds Elementary
    Hawk Gathering Garden- Volunteer Garden
    Coordinator
    zoo_fro@hotmail.com
    Monument CO USA
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  • 2.  RE: Food waste from Cafeteria and Composting solutions

    Posted 04-12-2023 11:19:00 AM

    We use small gallon compost bins for the students to use. I will then dump those containers into a ten-gallon bin. We have a container the size of a large trash can that I dump from a ten-gallon bin daily. The gardener then dumps this can at the end of each week. We start with a closed compost so it will brake down easier than transfer it to an outside one.



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    Scott Nutter
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Food waste from Cafeteria and Composting solutions

    Posted 04-12-2023 04:00:00 PM

    Hi..I work a NYC elementary school garden. We collect food scraps & compostable materials daily. While we don't compost on grounds, NYCDS picks up the scraps daily for the city compost which eventually returns to us as viable compost. Our students wheel the bins to the curb for pick-up. Perhaps you can place wheels on your larger bin, students can get that to the compost bin and shovel or dump it out from the collection bin. Hope this helps



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    [Helene] [Sorkin]
    sorkin
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Food waste from Cafeteria and Composting solutions

    Posted 04-12-2023 08:42:00 PM

    We have a large 3 tiered compost bin in the garden made out of chicken wire with wooden frame. If you keep adding straw (not hay!) to the sides of the compost and the top of the compost, kind of like an hourglass, the rodents tend to stay away.
    Evelyn 
    Sacramento



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    Evelyn Margolin
    (916)501-1173
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    Original Message


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