The Ojai Garden

Volunteers used a shredder on Saturday in The City of Ojai Community Demonstration Garden and reduced large quantities of compost materials to bits. A shredder isn't necessary to make compost, of course, but it is one way to speed up the process. Shredding the compost material helps the decomposers break it down. It also provides a more uniform finished product, if the entire pile is made from shredded material. Some drawbacks to shredding include the expense of buying or renting the machinery, the use of fossil fuels or electricity to run the machine, and the noise. Photos by Les Dublin.