Composting, or controlled decomposition, requires a proper balance of “green” organic materials and “brown” organic materials. “Green” organic material includes grass clippings, food scraps, and manure which contain large amounts of nitrogen. “Brown” organic material includes dry leaves, wood chips, and branches, which contain large amounts of carbon but little nitrogen. Obtaining the right nutrient mix requires experimentation and patience. Composting is the aerobic (with oxygen) decomposition of organic materials (wood chips, yard waste, manure, food scraps, paper) into a dark, rich, crumbly soil amendment known as compost. Boosting organic matter in soil also aids the process of carbon sequestration, in which plants draw down carbon from the atmosphere to be stored in the soil. Composting is nature’s way of recycling plant waste to nourish the growth of new plants. It requires four simple elements:

Green Matter (food scraps, grass trimmings..)

Brown Matter (wood chips, dried leaves..)

Water

Air

Together, they create the ideal environment for microorganisms to thrive so they can break down food scraps and mulch into rich, dark, soil. It’s not as easy as dumping all your scraps into a bin. Compost piles require maintenance. That’s where we come in. Our composting operation, an aerated static pile, produces compost quickly. It is composed of a relatively homogenous mix of organic wastes. 

We maintain our massive compost piles, which need to be watered every couple of days and turned with a pitchfork anywhere from once a week to every few weeks. Our compost is hot enough to kill pathogens, as it gets anywhere from 130 to 160 degrees fahrenheit. We also use worm castings, the ultimate gold standard of compost.

Why Do We Compost? 

We make it easy for people to turn what could have been wasted food back into food.

The average person generates 30+ pounds of waste per week, and 40-50% of that can be composted. Organic material decomposes anaerobically (without oxygen). When it hits the landfill, waste produces powerful greenhouse gasses like methane which is 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. Recycling organics into compost aerobically mitigates methane production, and creates a remarkable resource - compost.  

Composting reduces burden on our local landfill, and our municipal sanitation system. More local food reaches landfills and incinerators than any other single material in our everyday trash.

If food waste were a country, it would be the third largest emitter of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere behind China & the US.

Compost promotes microbial activity that feeds our plants. Healthier soil = healthier plants. Healthier plants = healthier people. 

Composting in your rural landscape will save money from your personal landscape expenses; less water needed, less (or zero) fertilizer needed.

New research suggests that working in the soil can actually positively affect your immunity and mental health.

 Improved soil, air, and water quality due to reduced use of chemical fertilizer

Community empowerment through self-reliance

Green and natural neighborhoods

Better utilization of resources to reduce society’s expenses

Creation of organic kitchen gardens

Better health and wellbeing of people who consume this produce

Fewer garbage trucks in rotation

Your food scraps will be transformed into nutrient-rich black gold. 

We wanted to expand composting in our area to increase local resilience, build sustainability awareness, and provide quality soil amendments for local use. Our soil can be alkaline, has poor drainage, low fertility, low water retention, and compaction problems. Organic compost can help address these issues. As organic materials degrade during the growing season, they release valuable nutrients that plants can utilize. 

An inadequate supply of fertile garden soil and compost needed to grow food is why we started this initiative. Food scraps and yard trimmings can easily be turned into beneficial compost for everybody in the community. We collect compostable organic material from businesses and homes, transport it to our site, and create a product that farmers and gardeners can use to grow healthy plants without pesticides and chemical fertilizers. SoundGarden Community Compost connects people to the soil and builds a community around compost. Community-scale composting is one approach to prevent landfill disposal of compostable organic material. It has the potential to reduce waste generation and costs while benefiting the earth by returning nutrients to the soil. 

Our Goals?

Ultimately, we want to create a large scale Wheatland town garden that runs on community & compost. A place for all of us to evolve as friends and neighbors. A place to grow flowers, vegetables, edibles, medicinals. Together. A garden that belongs to those who inhabit the land. An area to teach children about the loop of consuming food - to compost in order to create more food. We will be petitioning Platte county for the opportunity to make this a reality!

To engage and enhance the community and to increase awareness and access to organics. Community-scale composting, at its core, is the notion that organics are processed as close to the sources where they are generated to capture the benefits of both the process and the finished product for the community.