Compost Materials - What to Compost
Gardeners and homeowners are increasingly turning to composting. This resurgence
of composting is the result of three things:
-
The growing "go green" effort. More and more people are becoming environmentally
conscious. They are deciding to keep valuable resources, like reusable kitchen
scraps, out of the waste stream.
-
They are looking to save, and even to make $$$. Composting reduces or
eliminates the need to buy fertilizers. Some people are even selling the
compost they produce!
-
People are concerned about the quality and safety of the food they eat. This
translates into more people gardening. And, more gardeners are discovering
the healthy value of clean compost.
This leads us to ask "What compost materials can I use in my composter or
garden compost pile? Read on..........
The Right Mix
To turn kitchen scraps and other materials into compost, you need the proper
mixture of "Browns" (also called Carbons), and "Greens" (items containing
Nitrogen). Greens containing nitrogen, get the decomposition process started,
and keeps it going.
As a rule of thumb use a Nitrogen to Carbon ratio of 4 to 1. In other words,
use 4 parts of green materials to every one part of brown materials. In order
for the compost to decompose at a reasonable rate, there should be between
60% to 80% green materials. A higher amount of green materials can result
in a gooey, ammonia smelling pile. Too little nitrogen, and the compost will
not decompose, or will do so ever so slowly.
Tip: The more types of materials that you put into your compost mix,
the wider the range of essential plant micro-nutrients that will be in the
finished product.
Now that you know the importance of the right mix, lets see what items are
"Greens", and what are "Browns".
Brown Materials (Carbon):
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Branches and twigs, chop finely for quicker decomposition
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Dead, dried up weeds
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Dead flowers
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Dead leaves
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Newspaper (black and white, no colored paper or colored inks)
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Sawdust
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Shells from clams, oysters, etc. Rinse and finely crush first, has lots of
calcium.
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Straw or hay
-
Wood/fireplace ash - lots of potash, alkaline pH
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Wood chips and wood shavings
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Wooden Chopsticks
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Old mulch - wood, cocoa shells, pine bark
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Pine cones and needles - however, they are acidic
Tip: Shredding materials first, creates more surface area and increases
the rate of decomposition.
Green Materials (Nitrogen):
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Coffee grounds (it's okay to toss in the paper filter)
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Egg shells, it has plenty of calcium
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Grass clippings, very high in nitrogen
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Kitchen fruit scraps
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Banana peels, orange peels
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Stale bread
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Pasta and sauce (not the meatballs)
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Kitchen vegetable scraps
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Leftover pizza
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Manures (not pet or human) in small amounts
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Seaweed(wash off salt, if taken from the ocean)
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Weeds, recently pulled and still green
What Else to Compost:
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Brown cardboard
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Hair trimming, yes human hair
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Paper plates and napkins - white
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Brown paper bags
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Paper Towels, but not if used to wipe chemicals,oil, grease, etc..
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Paper towel and toilet paper cardboard holders.
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Wax paper
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Vegetable oil- in small amounts
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Kleenex
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Teabags
What Not to Compost:
Perhaps knowing what "not to compost" as as important as knowing what to
compost.
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Avoid weeds with lots of seeds
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Bones, unless finely crushed first.
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Dairy products
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Dead animals
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Fish
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Meats
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Poisonous plants like Poison Ivy, Poison Oak, or Poison Sumac.
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Treated wood, contains toxins you do not want in you vegetable garden.
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Walnut trees, any parts of this tree. It contains "jugoline", toxic to plants.
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Colored print material/inks - The inks can contain toxic chemicals.
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Plastics - Do not toss in plastic bags, saran wrap etc with your kitchen
scraps.
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Cooking fats, except small amounts of vegetable oil.
Did You Know? Depending upon what you put into your composter, finished
compost may not be pH neutral. So, you should test your soil from time to
time. More on Ph levels
Related Topics:
More
on Composting - learn more about the composting process.
Mushroom Compost - guess what it is made
of????
Compost Honey Hole
Buy Composters for sale online now
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