Are you in the Symonds Street / Eden Terrace area and want to see your food scraps go to better use?
You can join our compost CSA for just $17.50 a month and drop off your Auckland Central food scraps whenever you want - we’ll take your scraps and turn into microbially rich compost that is then returned to the land to grow more nutritious food.
On a family-sized subscription you can drop off up to 20L of food scraps a week. That’s enough food scraps to fill a typical kitchen rubbish bin each week.
Family Size Residential Drop-off: $17.50/month | Up to 20L per week
Office/Business Drop-off: $35/month | Up to 20L per week
For Big Veggie Eaters: Pay an additional $5/month per extra 20L of food waste
Compost bin address: OMG Compost Bin, 257 Symonds Street, Eden Terrace, Auckland 1010
Sign up by emailing: omgcompost@gmail.com
The Art of Making High-quality Compost
Making great compost is an art.
When you compost food scraps, your kitchen waste is returned to the earth where it helps grow more food, but on an organic farm like OMG a lot has to happen to a veggie peel before it can be returned to the soil.
We know that food-only compost produces an unbalanced chemical/nutrient profile that won’t give us the best results if we want to grow nutritious and abundant veggies.
Like all things, compost needs balance, and to produce a high quality compost that is diverse in its microbiota, full of insects and worms, and naturally heat-cured past 55* C we need a lot more than cold rice and avocado pips! So we add diverse leaf litter, sticks and twigs, non-sprayed grass clippings, garden waste from the OMG Urban Farm and elsewhere, thin sheets of wool and as many different sources of carbon as possible!
We put a lot of care into sourcing ingredients for our layer cake and we are proud of the end result.
Like a craft-brewer chooses the right barrel to age their beer, we use wooden rat-proof carboncycle structures to hold our hot compost whilst it ages.
Around 6 months after you drop off a bucket of food scraps, it finishes this transformation and has become microbially rich compost that we can use to grow abundant healthy plants at our farms.
FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to commit for a fixed number of months?
No. There is no contract, you can cancel your Compost Subscription at any time.
When can I drop off my compost?
We have drop off sites at the OMG Farm 257 Symonds Street, Eden Terrace, and at Highwic, 40 Gillies Avenue, Epsom (behind Westfield shopping centre)
As a compost subscriber, you get an access code to our compost bins and can drop off at any time.
How long does it take for my scraps to become compost?
It takes around 6 months for your food scraps to become compost.
Can I deliver my compost in a compostable bag?
No. We know they are marketed as an eco-friendly alternative to plastic, but we do not want compostable rubbish bags in our compost as we find they don’t compost adequately and are nutritionally void.
Can I put compostable plastics (food wrap etc) into my compost?
No. Please do not put any ‘compostable’ or ‘biodegradable’ plastics in our bins.
Can I compost paper and compostable packaging like coffee cups?
No. Do not put packaging in our bins.
Are there food products I can not compost?
No oil (in large quantities)
No liquids, soup, coffee, smoothies, salad dressing etc
Can I compost my leftover cooked meals?
Yes, whether it’s rice, noodles or pizza, we can compost your forgotten leftovers. But remember, the best way to reduce food waste (and save money) is to store your food well and eat it before it goes bad.
Can businesses use this compost drop off?
We accept food scraps from local offices and businesses that produce lunchroom food waste. We do not take food waste from cafes and restaurants operations as this would overwhelm our small urban farms composting needs. Businesses who join our Compost Subscription get a sticker to display in their shop window or office so that people know they are being conscious about their food waste and supporting a local urban farm in the process. Business Compost Subscribers also get a digital sticker for use on their website, social media or email newsletters.
Can my school/class/neighbourhood group use your compost drop off?
If you are local to our bins, you are welcome to use our compost. Compost CSA starts at $17.50/month for up to 20L per week, plus an additional $5 per month per extra 20l bucket. Please do not abuse this system.
Will you pick up my compost for me?
No, we have a small team and we are not able to do pick ups.
Our compost is intended for people who are local to our bins and can easily incorporate dropping of food scraps into their weekly routine.
I want to collect my food scraps, but I don’t want my apartment to smell, what sort of container should I be collecting them in?
You can use an airtight container under your kitchen sink to store your food scraps. There are also many compost caddies available to buy at garden centres, kmart, the warehouse etc, Ecostore sells a recycled plastic 10L bucket with a secure lid. But remember, the most sustainable thing you can do is use what you already have.
What happens to the vegetables you grow with my compost?
The veggies we grow are sold to our Veggie CSA subscribers, who pay $35-$40 per week for a weekly box of seasonal veggies.
To register your interest in a Veggie Box email us here
How does the sign up process work?
Once you have emailed us at omgcompost@gmail.com you will receive an automated response with payment instructions. Once your first payment has cleared, we will contact you with instructions on how to access our Auckland compost bins.
What is Community Supported Agriculture?
Instead of growing food to sell at farmers markets or supply to supermarket chains, a CSA farm is supported by seasonal subscriptions from the local community.
CSA members essentially buy a ‘share’ in the farm’s yields for a season. The OMG Farm offers Veggie Box subscriptions that last the 13 weeks of Summer, Autumn, Winter or Spring. We also have CSA subscriptions for Seedlings and Compost.
