Friday, January 21, 2011

Compost - 140 Degrees - Am I Gonna Die?

I find compost to be a scary subject, my whole life I have thrown food scraps in the trash or down the drain, now I'm going to save them, throw them in the backyard, pray to God...nothing eats my cat and let it winter so I can add it to the garden's soil with some chicken manure that I have been saving aka compost activator. Yummy, can't wait for those tomatoes!

I found this chart which I plan on printing and paste to my refrig, perhaps you might want to do the same. http://eartheasy.com/grow_compost.html#a (smaller version below)
Benefits
Carbon:

leaves leaves breakdown faster when shredded
shrub prunings woody prunings are slow to break down
straw or hay straw is best; hay with seeds is less ideal
pine needles acidic, use in moderate amounts
wood ash only use ash from clean materials, sprinkle lightly
newspaper avoid using glossy paper or color inks
shredded paper avoid using glossy paper or color inks
cardboard shred material to avoid matting
dyer lint best if from natural fibers
corn, cob stalks slow to decompose, chop up
sawdust high carbon levels, add in layers to avoid clumping
wood chips high levels of carbon, use sparingly

Nitrogen:

table scraps add with dry carbon items
fruit and vegetable scraps add with dry carbon items
grass clippings add in thin layers so they don't mat into clumps
lawn & garden weeds only use weeds which have not gone to seed
green comfrey leaves excellent compost activator
flower cuttings chop up any long woody stems
seaweed & kelp rinse first; good source for trace minerals
chicken manure excellent compost activator
coffee grounds filters may also be included
tea bags loose or in the bags


Neutral:

eggs best when crushed
________________________________________________________________________
garden plants use disease free plants only

No comments:

Post a Comment