I started my garden four years ago by peeling the topsoil and removing a concrete plug that once held a clothesline. I only had 4" of topsoil over red clay of 10" then grey clay as deep as deep could be. I added a truckload of compost, sand and topsoil along with bags of leaves, various organic nutrients and till the heck out of it. Everything grew fine, but the soil still compacted quickly. I continue to add mulch, compost and a few select nutrients every year and deep tilled the second year as well. Last year, I just added compost and leaves and grass as mulch. Tilled just the top 6" or so, then more compost and mulches. This year, I am not tilling at all, just will hand turn if needed and more mulches and compost. I think every garden is slightly different. What Kimmsr says makes alot of sense, and what others says does too. Once you build up your soil, there is really no need to do anything but add compost and mulch, and it continues to thrive. I do add about a 4" layer all over from my organic containers every year as well in the early winter. I can dig down over a foot with my hands and there are thousands of nightcrawlers and redworms as well. I also leave all my roots in to breakdown on their own. Sound about right Kimm?

A community garden is a horse of a different color. What most of us do in our gardens may not work. Some people will grow kale so the earliest you could till is early winter. I am not a big fan of hauling and spreading mulch to keep weeds under control until people plant in spring. I prefer to plant flax in the very very early spring. You can mow it and plant no-till or shallow till in the spring. Seven top turnips greens can also be planted very very early as a cover but require a bit more till to uproot. At least people could eat it. Alternate strips of both could provide choices. Here is a link that might be useful: Crop Rotation

I pretty much only use non-corregated cereal & food boxes (toilet paper & paper towel cores too!). The only thing I watch out for is the metalized / foiled boxes. I recycle the corregated cardboard, newspapers, and office paper at our local recycling facility. No one seems to want to recycle the paperboard, so in the bin it goes. I have a 12 cu ft flow through bin now, but I used it in the small rubbermaid bins too. The paperboard has more "structure" to it so it helps create little air spaces in the bin. I always had problems with newsprint matting together. Anyway, the worms are happy!

Harry, yes I have seen it in my homemade bin and It seems to be more of a stress reaction to an improper balance in the bin. My bokashi is my own saved scraps. After I run this thru my juicer if its on the dry side I add the juice back in so its more of a slurry. Then that mix is saved in a container that will hold 1 to 2 gal. Sometimes I have too much and also use large empty coffee cans with lid. Store this stuff so fruit flies cant get to it . When you do feed it may have a mold covering on top dont worry about that , its fine. Worms will love it. Getting the bedding right in the first place is the key. The relation between bedding, pure food , and worms is important. Bokashi mix is all green/nitrogen with a little shredded paper is most likely not enough. Depending on what you use for your bedding doesnt always have to be the same, whether its peat, coco coir aged compost , shredded paper , cardboard. Im going to say that should be at least 80-85% of your bedding , then add a little bokashi mix in a corner . The bedding should be moist but not wet, then I cover this with several sheets of newprint dampened. Check on the food you added in a day or two and see if worms have moved to the food, if the visible food is gone you can add more in another area of the bin. After adding this food slurry , checking the next day sometimes I will see the bacteria in the food a it seems to moving. This means it is ready for the worms. The bacteria has to be breaking it down before they eat it and that is why it is better , that is, if you want it quicker . This doesnt have to be done this way , some people just chop it up and put it in in this way , just takes longer, hope my rambling has helped.