"That is, typically is one making compost to be used the next year?" Yes, or even a couple of years down the road, unless you have one of those hot piles and like turning piles. " This would seem to be the case for folks living in cold climates like ours where, I assume, composting becomes pert near dormant during the winter." No, it continues, but the "psychrophiles" (cold-preferring) organisms take over. And the freeze-thaw cycles. By spring you should have usable compost. =========== "In the Fall I would start brown/green layered piles, mostly using the discarded plants but supplementing with coffee grounds and brewery waste to get it going. In the Spring I would resume layering and continue until the late Summer and then use the compost to enhance soil in a few of the beds which would then be planted in the following Spring." Way too much work, and you would be teaching the community that composting is hard work and requires exotic materials. You don't need anything to "get it going" ... all you need is organic material and moisture. The bacteria and fungi are all over the garden. I would show them various kinds of composting ... do a couple of "lasagna" beds in the fall, do some trench composting in a couple of others during the growing season, do a "hot pile with lots of turning" in a couple of bins, do a layered pile, and a "cold pile that sits there until next spring" bin. Show them that it ALL works, it mostly depends on how fast you want it and how much space is available for the bins.

How is your community garden coming along? Have you gotten the membership you need? Are there garden clubs in your area? If so let them know about it. Our Community gardens have waiting lists once they are established and people can see them..that's when they want a plot. Is yours ready to plant yet? Ours is not ready yet. We have our space plowed but are waiting for a load of compost this week and then a fence has to be put up. Everything is taking much longer to get done than we anticipated! Joann

Here are some web sites with excellent start up info: The American Community Gardening Association: http://www.communitygarden.org/ City Farmer http://www.cityfarmer.org/communitygarden7.html Seeds of Hope http://www.bright.net/~gardens/ Here is a link that might be useful: FoodShare

Hello our organization which is The Lima-Allen County Neighborhoods in Partnership (LACNIP), IN Lima Ohio has started a community gardens project. These are gardens, in which participants from neighborhood associations in our city can grow vegetables, in order to promote a sustainable food source in our city. We are looking for anyone who would be willing to donate any kinds of seeds for our gardens project that we are trying to promote for our city. We have great visions for making this project a success, but we are also looking for anyone who would be willing to donate some seeds to help us with this community project, endeavor. If you are willing to do so, please send them to: LACNIP, 1440 West Spring Street, Lima, Ohio 45804. Your donation is greatly appreciated. THANK YOU.