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July 15, 2008
The right compost
I had a leaflet which said no potato peelings, gawd knows why, because I've had no trouble with them.
Definately a bad item is wood pellet cat litter, it is just [url=http://pellets-wood.com]compressed saw dust[/url], so it should compost very well, but if you put too much in it becomes very compacted and will just sit there doing nothing for years, I suppose in small quantities it will not be a problem.
Cooked vegetables, they always say not to use this, I can't see why not, it's organic, biodegradeable, will rot down in no time, I would have no qualms putting it in my bin. but then I eat all the veg I cook anyway!
I put dead mice and birds in that the cat brings home too. I will put anything in my compost if it is left over food, I don't subscribe to this idea of no meat, no fish no bread etc. If it's organic and its left over it goes in the compost bin.
In reality though I hardly ever have anything left over, but some items (just to give you an idea of what I do put in) would be yoghurt, bread, mozarella cheese, pasta, cooked fish.
fallen leaves are good.
In my experience turning a compost heap is too much like hard work, so mine just sits there, I have two compost bins and work on the principle that if one ever becomes full I can start the other one. I am yet to get some satisfactory compost though, I am close to it in one bin, I just emptied all the saw dust from bin 2 and spread it on the garden as a mulch, then transferred the semi compost from bin 1 to bin 2 (gining it some air in the process) so I have bin 1 empty, and bin 2 3/4 full but still not good enough, I'll leave it till next year.
thanks for all the forth coming advice and comments.!
Comments
coffee grounds and egg shells work wonders on the compost. i think that refraining from meats and fish is more to keep rodents from getting into the compost pile heap. For best composting they say that you should have the correct ratio of carbon to nitrogen or brown and green. I believe optimal composting calls for 25 carbons to 1 nitrogen.
Carbons, or browns, consist of things like ashes, wood, cornstalks, leaves, straw, pine needles and peanut shellts. Nitrogens, or greens consist of things like coffee grounds, vegetable scraps, grass clippings, and manure.
if the ratio is too low, the pile will be stagnant and stinky. if the ratio is too high, composting will work slower.
pet wastes, or even animal carcasses might contain parasites, bacteria, germs, pathogens, and viruses harmful to humans so its best to steer clear of these. but to each their own in the end.
Posted by: frestylemr at July 16, 2008 9:15 AM
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