I am in a large garden (about 5 acres). Most people don't do compost piles in their gardens - they have mostly dumped their organic waste around the perimiter of the garden. Last year a few of us tried to post signs indicating piles where organic material should go. However, loose piles are messy and gardners are lazy about lifting thier stuff onto a pile - they tend to just keep spreading it out.

At any rate, I am thinking that maybe containers made from palletes or crates might help. We do have access a few times a summer to somone with heavy equiptment who can turn piles.

What are other community gardens doing with their organic materials? Do you have compost bins, and if so what are they made out of? Also, how and when do you empty and turn them? Thanks for any ideas that can help us organize our organic materials.

We have much the same problem with our piles. Added to that, we just had some huge equipment bulldoze through our composting area and mush up the weeds with the clean manure and the clean tree mulch. Our meticulously organized piles are now a big messy heap. Now everyone dumps wherever. There is, however, a thriving Community Garden nearby. They have signs posted EVERYWHERE for EVERYTHING. Their compost piles are beautiful. They are Ocean View Farms. They are located on Centinela Avenue, near the Santa Monica Airport, in West Los Angeles (California). Maybe they can help you :)

Ann and Karen-
At the Interbay P-Patch community garden in Seattle we have in-line turning bins that hold one cubic yard each for hot composting. This means we have at least three, and as many as seven, adjacent bins at each compost station. One bin is always open so there is an empty bin to turn into. We try to turn every 4-5 days or at least once a week. The hot process takes 3-5 weeks. Garden debris is stored temporarily in 4x4 circular holding cages made from heavy guage vinyl wire fencing. "Brown" materials like leaves are held in bunker areas that hold about 10 cubic yards of material. We have a portable chopping stand. When it is time to make new batch of compost, using a lamb splitter or machete we chop the stuff in the holding cage and mix outside the bin like a salad with 50:50 leaves and water. When the mix is just right we load into an empty bin with a pitchfork and wait for the steam.

At Interbay, soil building is the heart and soul of the garden culture and community. To this end we hold "Compost Socials" every Saturday morning 52 weeks a year, whatever the weather. Gardeners convene to participate in composting or other types of soil building activity (See "Interbay Mulch" post on 'Soil' forum). Soup is served at noon. We trade compost with a local Italian baker for bread on Saturdays. We also do a number of compost and mulching workshops over the year.