The City of Warren has a bumper crop of compost this year and it’s time to start giving it away.

The Department of Public Works began moving truckloads of rich, dark compost from the processing area to Betts Park on Tuesday.

“We’re starting to haul our finished product down to Betts Park for pickup,” Public Works Superintendent Joe Reinke said.

He estimated that there were “60 to 80 tons” of compost at the park late Tuesday morning, with plenty more to be delivered.

“We had a good year,” Reinke said. “We have a lot… more than we’ve ever had.”

“We’re going to continue to bring it down throughout the spring,” he said.

There are some rules, but, for the most part, those who live in the city and want to use the material for their personal use are welcome to do so.

“We invite all city residents to help themselves,” he said. “City residents only, no contractors.”

Heavy equipment may not be used to load the material — “hand-loading only,” Reinke said.

Other than that, “be courteous. Take your time. Wait your turn,” he said. “There’s going to be plenty of it.”

“As the pile diminishes, we’ll keep replenishing it,” he said.

The city is one of the major users of the material.

“Our department goes through quite a bit of it,” Reinke said. “The DPW uses a lot of it for reclamation work, trees, patching holes in parks. Anywhere we need topsoil, we use it.”

The material is the end result of the previous year’s collection of leaves, grass clippings, and wood.

“There are three ingredients,” Reinke said. “Nitrogen — that’s your green material: green leaves, grass clippings. Carbon — that’s brown: brown leaves and wood chips. And water.”

“Adding oxygen to those three components speeds up the process,” he said. “We’re constantly mixing the piles. We turn the piles at least on a monthly basis to add oxygen and allow that compost to burn down.”