Some simple questions on starting a compost pile

Karen you win -- no urine in the compost pile, especially if I am going to be putting my hands in it. Interesting debate though. Who knew their would be so much to discuss on the compost topic.

I don't argue these things. Lots of people use urine and manure, including human, with no problem. I think if you monitor the temp regularly and take care in handling it can be done safely. However, I take a more casual approach so I choose not to go that route. If others want to, I have no argument with them. I just thought I'd throw it out there since it might not be a safe practice for the casual composter or the amature

Karen

I have no "experience" to add to this particular topic. I just wanted to say that for me and my VERY amature compost pile, we will stay away from any bodily waste coming from anything living in the house. I don't think I would be able to use the compost if I did anyway!! LOL

Me either sjweld -- I'm a very casual, amature composter. Heck I don't even have my pile started. It will be all plant waste for me and maybe some cow manure I purchase from Home Depot -- no farms, nearby, where I live (30 miles northwest of Philadelphia). Love this thread, it has been very helpful -- thank you!

I have a farmer 3 houses down. I just need to shove the "shy" me way deep down and call him up and ask for some manure. I am sure he would be happy to get rid of it. LOL

bet he would even pay you to take it away ... just go ask!

Shyness is one thing I have not been accused of :~) I always figure that the worst thay can do is say no and to be honest, that doesn't happen often enough for me to worry about it.

I checked my little compost pile this morning and it was steaming happily along. It was drying out a bit so I sprinkled it down and left feeling that all was well in Decayland

Zany, how long did it take for your's to get hot? I know I need to get more "greens" in mine.

Is manure a green or a brown???

Mine heated up inside within the first 24 hours! Must have been all that freshly mown grass.

I would guess that fresh manure would be a green since it is usually full of undigested plant material and still viable seed? Makes sense to me but wait for someone who knows to give us the right answer!

This message was edited Nov 5, 2007 10:23 AM

Looks like manure is a green. Found this list at http://agweb.okstate.edu/fourh/aitc/lessons/extras/compost.html

Below is a list of readily available materials that can go into a compost pile.

Greens (nitrogen-rich)

freshly cut grass
plant prunings
spent flowers
coffee grounds
kitchen scraps
barnyard animal manures (cow, horse, chicken, goat, sheep, and rabbit. NEVER use dog, cat, or human manure/feces as they may contain pathogens or diseases that could be harmful.)


Browns (carbon-rich

black and white newsprint
brown paper bags from grocery store
torn/shredded carboard (brown boxes, brown packing tubes, toilet paper and paper towel rolls, tubes egg cartons)
aged wood chips
sawdust from untreated lumber (check with a lumber yard)
straw
dried grass
dead leaves

Ingredients not suitable for composting are oil, grease, bones, fat, dairy products and diseased plants.

michaeljo Thanks, I was thinking manure was a green also but then again it IS brown! LOL I was so confused!! I printed out your quick list above.

Zanymuse, I just have to say that "microbial rotteology" is one of the funniest things I've ever heard in the world of compost!

Okay, here's some ratios of common stuff that can be composted, from the Composting 101 site. ( http://www.composting101.com/c-n-ratio.html)

Remember that what you're shooting for is around a 30:1 ratio. The first number is always the carbon content (and everything seems to contain more carbon than nitrogen, it's just how much that really matters).

Estimated Carbon-to-Nitrogen Ratios
Browns = High Carbon C:N
Ashes, wood 25:1
Cardboard, shredded 350:1
Corn stalks 75:1
Fruit waste 35:1
Leaves 60:1
Newspaper, shredded 175:1
Peanut shells 35:1
Pine needles 80:1
Sawdust 325:1
Straw 75:1
Wood chips 400:1

Greens = High Nitrogen C:N
Alfalfa 12:1
Clover 23:1
Coffee grounds 20:1
Food waste 20:1
Garden waste 30:1
Grass clippings 20:1
Hay 25:1
Manures 15:1
Seaweed 19:1
Vegetable scraps 25:1
Weeds 30:1

Does that help or does the whole ratio thing make it more difficult?

if only my brain could concentrate for more than 30 seconds it would make sense. I will print it and try to study it. Thanks

Oh dear, it is more confusing. Lessee....

You want a bunch of stuff that has 30x more of the carbon than the nitrogen. You want 30 sticks to every celery stalk. 30 brown leaves to every green leaf.

Or, using examples from above.... it looks like weeds and garden waste are about perfect (then why aren't they dirt? I don't know, don't ask questions like that.)

Peanut shells and vegetable waste.
35:1
25:1
60:2 or (reducing) 30:1. That would get you a perfect ratio to start it all going.

Don't worry about it. Try to get a bunch of stuff and get it in there!!!!

LOL! I found a list of things to use when composting on the HGTV web site that seems really over the top but then I'm not the expert! I don't think some of it is good from what I have read because she includes several dairy products but it does give you a bit of an idea about not taking ourselves too serious with what we put on the pile.

Here is their list.

paper napkins

freezer-burned vegetables

pet hair

potash rock

post-it notes

freezer-burned fruit

wood chips

lint from behind refrigerator

hay

popcorn

freezer-burned fish

old spices

pine needles

leaves

matches

seaweed and kelp

chicken manure

leather dust

old herbs

bird cage cleanings

paper towels

brewery wastes

grass clippings

hoof and horn meal

molasses residue

potato peelings

unpaid bills

cotton plant waste

weeds

rabbit manure

hair clippings

stale bread

coffee grounds

wood ashes

sawdust

tea grounds

shredded newspaper

egg shells

cow manure

alfalfa

winter rye

grapefruit rinds

pea vines

houseplant trimmings

old pasta

grape wastes

soil

phosphate rock

corncobs

jello

blood meal

winery wastes

Spanish moss

limestone

fish meal

beet wastes

Sunday comics

harbor mud

felt waste

wheat straw

peat moss

facial tissues

milk

bark

hops

starfish

melted ice cream

flower petals

pumpkin seeds

cotton swabs

old flower arrangements

paper glue

BBQ'd fish skin

bone meal

citrus wastes

stale potato chips

rhubarb stems

tobacco wastes

bird guano

hog manure

dried jellyfish

produce trimmings from grocery store

guinea pig droppings

nutshells

cattail reeds

clover

granite dust

moldy cheese

greensand

straw

shredded cardboard

dolomite

cover crops

rapeseed meal

bat guano

fish scraps

tea bags

apple cores

electric razor trimmings

kitchen wastes

outdated yogurt

toenail clippings

shrimp shells

crab shells

lobster shells

pie crust

leather wallets

onion skins

sugar cane residue

watermelon rinds

date pits

goat manure

olive pits

peanut shells

burned oatmeal

dryer lint

bread crusts

cooked rice

river mud

bad wine

banana peels

fingernail clippings

chocolate cookies

toothpicks

old moss from hanging baskets

stale potato chips

pickles

dust bunnies

pencil shavings

wool socks

artichoke leaves

leather watch bands

fruit salad

tossed salad

brown paper bags

soggy Cheerios

theater tickets

lees from making wine

burned toast

feathers

animal fur

alfalfa

horse manure

vacuum cleaner bag contents

coconut hull fiber

old or outdated seeds

macaroni and cheese

liquid of canned vegetables

liquid of canned fruit

old beer

wedding bouquets

greeting card envelopes

snow

dead bees and flies

horse hair

peanut butter sandwiches

dirt from soles of shoes, boots

fish bones

hand soap scraps

wheat bran

spoiled can food items

cardboard cereal boxes (shredded)

grocery receipts

now that is funny, Jello?

tossed salad? as in: tossed out?
dried jellyfish?
soggy cheerios?
burnt toast?
and who burns their oatmeal?

I wonder if anyone actually printed this out & stuck it on their refrigerator to make sure they didn't miss anything...

Why? didn't you print it out? LOL

How about those unpaid bills? Hmmm, if she quit letting the icecream melt and burning the oatmeal she could save enough to pay them!

I can just see me telling my darling to be sure to save those toe nail clippings and stubble from the electric razor for the compost heap! The poor dear already wants to have me committed...

This message was edited Nov 2, 2007 10:39 PM

Printed and hanging on the fridge ... jello, unpaid bills, stubble and toe nail clippings are my favorites. Note to self: Tools to keep by the compost pile - pitch fork, shovel, nail clipper, and electric razor.

>grin<

Leather wallet.... huh .... yeah, I gotta think sour milk is gonna smell, no matter how many times it gets turned. And someone mentioned that if you use vacuum cleaner contents, the acrylic threads don't break down ... other than that, party on!

I think I liked "wedding bouquet" the best!

I draw the line at sticking my hands in the compost and finding my DH's toenail clippings. Did Martha make this list?

I'm sure this nut has hemp carpets in the house, nothing acrylic.

So if dust behind the refridgerator is good how about dryer lint? I sure have a lot of that!

Dryer lint will have the dreaded acrylic fibers. haha

Hysterical! I think Howard Hughes made this list before he croaked!
Let's see, where's that pile of starfish I saw laying around here?
Stale potato chips made it twice, but watch out for the fresh!
That leather wallet is gonna be popping up quite a few turnings of the heap, even if it will rot eventually.
VAC BAG- Yes, No ! I did this once. I do have synthetic carpets. Most of my stuff must be synthetic fiber and let me tell you all, that was wads of dis-gus-ting stuff I kept finding. the dustbuster would be ok with all your loose pet hair and food crumbs but not the big vac from the synth carpet.

And anybody that has chocolate cookies to put on the compost is too insane to BE composting.

ok, so no good use for dryer lint? Oh wait, I learned in Girl Scouts to stuff it in a toilet paper roll to start a fire!

OMG, there are so many things I learned in girls scouts that I still use. Maybe we should start a thread. I think I'll make some of those fire starters for Christmas gifts for my son-in-law, he loves to make fires, haha.

What forum would that thread go in?? LOL

I think that would fit on the Trash to treasure forum ;~)

go ahead and start it , let me know. Ok, now back to composting.........
Still haven't called to ask for the manure yet.

In general chat: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/786735/

Dryer lint is a go.

For fires, cotton balls with vaseline. Learned from my nephew in USAF survival school.... along with a few disgusting habits, lol. But will light in wind, rain and snow...

Yeehaw! Just came inside from filling & carting 17 wheelbarrows (the 8cu ft size) of chopped leaves from the front of my property to the bottom!
Mowed the front lawn in the dark - that should look interesting tomorrow...But it's supposed to rain & at least the front won't look as bad. Besides, I needed the grass clippings, because i sure don't want to have to explain 17 wheelbarrows full of toenail clippings, BBQ'd fishskin and macaroni & cheese to add to the already very large pile. Yep - mac & cheese is on that list!
Are the worms ok with this? Yellow cheese or the pretty white cheese?

you go Katye!
did somebody really have to be told its OK to put 'dirt from soles of shoes, boots" in compost? we already determined that composting is not for dummies.
now are toenail clippings green or brown? There's a question that really needs to be in context. Mine are usually red, but sometimes pink.

If you garden barefooted the toenail clippings may be brown

ooooh - that would make it so colorful!
I must say, I have had a couple more passes at that list, but while scrolling fast.
It makes for some pretty interesting word-combos:
cooked mud
toothpicks from hanging baskets
stale bunnies
tobacco guano
electric yogurt

just to name a few, for those of you who actually have a life.....

Happy weekend to you all!

anybody's kid need a name for their new rock band? you got several good ones there.
my girlfriend's brother's was 'puke seizure'

Katye, it sounds like you got a work out today so you should have heated up even if the compost didn't. But by the time you cool down those grass clippings should be statring to heat up so it all works out.

Pagancat, I agree, save the dryer lint for fire starter unless you only wear/use all natural fiber clothing, sheets and towels. And to be honest, if you only wear all natural fiber clothing you probably have a gardener to haul in compost for you and send all your laundry out to the cleaners.


sallyg, doesn't mixing red and green make brown? So if your nail clippings are red you can mix them with the greens and they will count as a brown.

I stuck my hand into my pile to check the moisture this morning and it was almost dry and there was some heat still but not much :~P I turned it and wet it down and added some more used potting soil on top from seasonal plants that are finished then realized that it is a compost heat and threw in the spent plants also...DUH!

Well, my pile is luke warn now inside. I turned it too soon the first time and it was definately too dry when I turned it Sunday in spite of being dampened down daily.

I think I will continue to turn it, but just once a week, until the gardeners mow the park again and I can grab all that lovely green grass. I am going to bring home some more browns and pick up some manure to add as well. When the new greens arrive I will layer again using the existing pile and the new stuff together and see if I can get it to heat up again. If not I will just have to hope the worms will move in and do the job.

With the addition of some silt and sand from the riverbar I think I just may end up with a nice soil mix to plant in.

This is what I am working with. The box will become a two tiered planter once I have enough planting mix to fill it and we finish the second tier. As you can see, the yard is mud and rock right now and the whole thing is a mess but with time and patience I hope to turn it into a little jungle oasis.