you could trench compost. Just dig a hole and throw in your vegetable and fruit scraps. Works great for the soil. Just dig deep enough, about a foot and bury the stuff. Only drawback is sometimes you may get volunteers such as tomato plants or watermelon plants. Easily pulled if you don't want them.

Lee

The city most likely composts leaves, brush, grass, etc, but in a city the size of Milwaukee, it probably goes pretty fast. Have you checked that out yet?

I know someone who grinds up all her fruit and vegetable scraps up in an old blender with a little water added. She then pours it into a bucket she keeps in the garage, and every few days (or before it begins to smell), digs a hole and pours it in. The finer pieces decompose faster.

If you are trying to improve your soil overall, cut up leaves the leave this fall with a lawn mover, leaf vac, or put them in a big garbage can and use a string trimmer to cut them to bits. Spread on the beds. If you don't have a lot of trees in your area, you could ask your neighbors for their leaves. I've heard of gardeners driving around taking leaf bags, from in front of houses that are out on the curb waiting for pickup by the city. Chopped up leaves are one of best thing you can put on your garden in fall. They protect the soil in winter, and by the growing season next year most of them will have been worked into the soil.

Composted cow manure in bags works well, it's inexpensive, and convenient. I can get bags of composted manure for $1.24 at Fleet Farm. It's not free like you want, but for a small, full garden, it might not be too expensive.

Also might want to check out the county landfill. I get all the compost I want from my father-in-law who works for one. So I'm not sure it's free to everyone, but doesn't hurt to call up the closest one and ask.

I didn't know that the county landfill had compost. Do you know if it better than the almost-compost-but-not-quite stuff that is available from the city?

The stuff I get from my father-in-law is full of worms. It does have some small chunks of wood in it, but it is black and very moist. I haven't seen the stuff you can get at the city so I can't compare.

I forgot to ask... is the county compost available to everyone?

I'm not sure if it's available to everyone, but it doesn't hurt to call and ask. I ask my father-in-law and he said in his county (Adams) they sell it at the local gas stations as Country Compost or something like that.