It is time for Narromine Shire green thumbs to grab their shovels and head to the local waste facilities where FREE compost is available for a short time.

From Saturday, 16 November to Sunday, 14 December, Narromine Shire Council is giving away 1m³ of compost.

All residents need to do is head to the Narromine, Trangie, or Tomingley waste facilities during opening hours, chat with the friendly staff for directions, and grab an information handout on the best ways to use this garden gold.

And the best thing is, it is recycled from waste that originated from residents.

“The compost is made from contents collected from Narromine’s 'food organics garden organics (FOGO)' green bins," Council Director of Infrastructure, Melanie Slimming said.

"It gets taken to Dubbo by our contractor to a processing facility where they make the compost product.

“This is a trial to see whether the community is interested in accessing this compost and it’s about education as well – when you put stuff in your green bins, it can actually be reused down the track.”

Ms Slimming said many people accessing the free compost were concerned that the product would spread unwanted weeds on their property.

“The product is pasteurised, so no weeds will come from the compost," she said.

“The only weeds that will come up will be from soils that the compost is added to.

"The processors are confident there are no contaminants, and they also test the compost for things like asbestos, to ensure that it is totally safe.”

Get it while it lasts! Free compost for Narromine Shire Council residents is available now.

While the FOGO system has been in place in Narromine Shire for some time, this is the first-time residents have been able to access the compost product that is created from their own green waste.

Ms Slimming said that after this round of compost availability to the public, council would assess what to do going forward.

“If we do go with something more permanent, there will possibly be a cost to residents to access the compost,” she said.

“At the moment it is obviously free, but that may not be feasible moving forward.

"I encourage residents to take advantage of this current trial and pop into one of our waste facilities on any day that they are open.

“In the new year, we will look at the data from the current program.

"We are taking names of people, who collect the compost, just to get an understanding of how much it's actually used.

"We will follow up with a review to decide whether to make the availability of this compost a more permanent thing, or just a temporary thing that occurs a couple of times a year.”

If you are keen to get growing, be aware you will need to load the compost yourself.

Bring a trailer, ute or sturdy bags to one of the three local waste facilities and remember, it is just one visit per resident, so fill up while you are there, and make sure to bring a shovel.