• Home
  • About
  • Our Programs
  • Get Involved
  • Donate
ABOUT
OUR PROGRAMS
GET INVOLVED
BOOK A WORKSHOP
DONATE

Compost love

May 14, 2012frsharpe

Just like healthy kids require healthy food, healthy plants require healthy soil.  After hauling 1.2 million pounds(!) of soil up to the roof for Brooklyn Grange’s construction, keeping that soil healthy and nutritious is a #1 priority.  As plants slurp up water and nutrients from the soil through their roots, the soil needs to be replenished regularly with compost.  Compost is nature’s finest fertilizer made from stuff we’d normally throw away– icky food scraps like watermelon rinds and eggshells.  At least 14% of waste found in landfills is organic material– this means that 14% of our trash could be composted.  Instead of sentencing that banana peel to landfill purgatory, we throw it in a compost pile, where it breaks down into rich soil for our veggies!

Organic farmers call compost “black gold” because it’s as black as night and as valuable as gold.  It’s the final product in the natural process of decomposition, which occurs when “greens” (nitrogen-rich materials like food scraps and weeds) and “browns” (carbon-rich materials like sawdust and newspaper) meet.  With the help of the “FBI” (Fungus, Bacteria, and Insects), the mixture heats up and breaks down, and that stinky mess of garbage becomes nutrient-rich compost.  Think of it as a multi-vitamin for your veggie plants!

Related Articles

Compost-in-the-Classroom on NowThis Food!

February 19, 2018cara

Bees, B.E.E.S. & Urban Roots

May 13, 2015Mallory

Lifecycles: Seed Saving & Cover Cropping

October 20, 2014cara
Join Our Mailing List

Who We Are

  • Mission and Vision
  • History
  • Our Team
  • Partners
  • Blog
  • Annual Reports & Form 990

What We Do

  • Environmental Literacy
  • Food Education
  • Youth Development
  • Capacity Building
  • Our Programs
  • FAQs

Get Involved

  • Donate
  • Volunteer
  • Job Opportunities + Internships
  • Family Farm Days
  • Corporate Volunteer Days
  • Partners
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Instagram

Office Location &
Mailing address
City Growers
63 Flushing Ave 
Building 3, Suite 1105
Brooklyn, NY 11205

Queens Farm Location
Brooklyn Grange in Queens

37-18 Northern Blvd.
Long Island City, NY 11101

Brooklyn Farm Location
Brooklyn Grange

63 Flushing Ave, Suite 1105
Brooklyn NY 11205

Contact us

Phone: (917) 426-4420
Email: info@citygrowers.org

Privacy Policy   |  Contact Us |  © 2017 City Growers Inc.