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. We also take brown paper bags, egg cartons, and compostable bowls, cups, and utensils.
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 unused potted soil ALL YEAR ROUND.

Bokashi Composting Workshops 10/9 & 10/16/2022

As part of LUNGS Harvest Arts Festival.

At Down to Earth Garden (546 E 12th St, corner of Ave B, East Village/Lower East Side).

Bokashi Composting Workshops
Sundays, October 9 and October 16, 2022
1 pm – 3 pm

Visit the community garden, Down to Earth Garden, where bokashi composting has been on-going since fall 2009.

We will cover the basics and make the bokashi fermentation starter.
See how we recycle food waste, all food waste (including meats, bones, dairy, etc.), by the bokashi method.

For further information, see our bokashi process page, and also visit recyclefoodwaste.org.

To volunteer and get involve with our bokashi process, sign up here.

Visit LUNGS (Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens) lungsnyc.org.

Garden Work Day 5/22/2022 Sun 1 pm

Sunday, May 22, 2022, 1 pm – 5 pm

We will be focusing on our bokashi-composting process, including the following:

  • Digging lots of soil (soil amended with bokashi and leaf compost over the years) — volunteers can take some of the soil for their own garden bed elsewhere, street tree pit, or houseplants.
  • In the dug out areas, we will bury/trench fermented food waste, mixing with plant matter (leaves, clippings, twigs/cut branches), and completely covering with soil and then mulch on top. This will amend and build the soil for future soil harvesting. (There will still be soil left over after the covering.)
  • Treating dropped-off food waste with bokashi (to ferment the food waste).

Please wear proper clothing and shoes for the garden-composting work. We have gardening/work gloves, if you don’t have or forgot to bring your own.

Fall Leaf Drop-Off Hours

We accept leaves, as well as, plant discards, tree branches, and unused potted soil.

October 26 – December 30, 2021

Same time as our public food waste drop-off hours.
When the garden is open:

Tuesdays 1:30 – 3:30 pm

Thursdays 3:30 – 6 pm

Saturdays 2 – 4 pm

For more information and other leaf drop-off sites, visit nyc.gov/drop-fall-leaves