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Open Hours

Updated September 15, 2023

Tuesdays 1:30 pm – 4 pm
Sundays 12 pm – 4 pm

Food Waste Drop-off: all year.
—We accept all food waste, incl. meats, bones, dairy, seafood, raw, cooked, oyster and clam shells, coconut shells, etc.
When bringing plant matter, please keep them separate from the food waste.
Leaf Drop-off: all year.
—We accept leaves, plant discards, tree branches, and potting soil ALL YEAR ROUND.

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Non-Food-Waste Bokashi Gardening Workshop 11/23/2024 Sat 1-4pm

Saturday, November 23, 2024 
1 pm – 4 pm 
at Down to Earth Garden, 546 E 12th St (by Ave B) [map] 

How to use the bokashi microbes to improve your soil, as well as, do non-food-waste bokashi composting. 

Bring your own items (bottles and ingredients) and together we’ll make the bokashi ferments (Activated EM and/or EM•5). 
Bottle suggestions (type and size): 
– Type: seltzer water bottles (HDPE) since they are designed to handle the carbonation/gas pressure buildup. (Glass bottles are only recommended if an airlock can be used with it.) 
– Size: either 16.9 fl oz (500 ml), 1 liter (or 1 quart), or 2-liter bottle. 

Ingredients (% of the volume or per volume of the bottle): 
Activated EM: blackstrap molasses (5%), EM•1 Microbial Inoculant (5%), and sea salt (2 tsp/liter). 
EM•5: blackstrap molasses (5%), EM•1 Microbial Inoculant (5%), apple cider vinegar (5%), 40% alcohol (5%) (e.g., vodka, tequila, whiskey), garlic cloves (1 clove/liter), and hot spicy peppers (3 or more/liter, can more different kinds, should be cayenne or hotter peppers). 

We will make Activated EM (i.e., the bokashi microbes, aka bokashi spray) and the EM•5 foliar spray and show how to use them for gardening, plant care, soil improvement, and composting plant clippings, twigs and branches (without food waste). 

Down to Earth Garden (a GreenThumb community garden) has had a combined bokashi composting system with El Sol Brillante since the fall of 2009. 

Co-sponsored by LUNGS (Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens), lungsnyc.org, and El Sol Brillante, elsolbrillante.org.

Photo caption: non-food-waste bokashi composting pile at East Side Outside Community Garden.

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The Bokashi Method to Prep Your Soil 12/14/2024 Sat 1-4pm

Saturday, December 14, 2024 
1 pm – 4 pm 
at Down to Earth Garden, 546 E 12th St (by Ave B) [map] 

We will cover application guidelines on the bokashi method for preparing your soil whether in late fall, during the winter, or early spring. 

We will make Activated EM (i.e., the bokashi microbes, aka bokashi spray) which is one of the main microbial applications to soil and organic matter (including fall leaves, plant clippings, twigs/branches, and food waste). 

Down to Earth Garden (a GreenThumb community garden) has had a combined bokashi composting system with El Sol Brillante since the fall of 2009. 

Co-sponsored by LUNGS (Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens), lungsnyc.org, and El Sol Brillante, elsolbrillante.org.

Photos captions: garden plot 20 at El Sol Brillante from early winter through the start of spring — 12/31/2023, 2/25/2024, 3/10/2024, and 3/24/2024.