Build A Compost With These Two Ingredients

Build compost with brown or green material. Finding the best mix between the two depends on your particular climate, although experts recommend anywhere from 75% brown to 25% green, to equal parts, to a 25:1 brown-to-green ratio. Sources may vary, but as you build compost piles through the years, you will find the mix suited to your climate as well as to the kind of waste material your household produces.

Characteristics Of Brown Compost Materials

• Are rich in carbon, but low in nitrogen (unless plant waste, which is carbon-rich)
• Are good for suppressing persistent odors
• Discourage pests and vermin
• Have good absorptive qualities

Examples Of Browns To Build Compost With

• Dead weeds
• Dry leaves
• Fiber egg crates
• Hay
• Newspaper
• Paperboard
• Peanut shells
• Sawdust
• Straw
• Tree limbs
• Twigs
• Wood chips
• Wood ash

Characteristics Of Green Compost Materials

• High in carbon, but higher in nitrogen (especially manure)
• Increases pile temperature
• Provides energy for decomposition
• Speeds up decomposition (although some decompose slowly)

Examples Of Greens To Build Compost With

• Coffee grounds
• Corncobs
• Fruit rinds
• Green leaves
• Grass clippings
• Manure
• Pine needles
• Seaweeds
• Tea bags
• Vegetable peels

Quick Facts To Help You Build Compost

Although the average American household is responsible for over 200 pounds worth of kitchen waste annually, not all of it will do to build compost.

It is a bad idea to build compost piles with meat, fat, and dairy products. Although these will indeed decompose after a certain period, in the meantime they will attract insects, vermin, and sundry neighborhood animals.

Use enough meat, fat, and dairy products and they will cause your compost pile to emit foul odors.

Remember the four main catalysts that build compost: carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and water.

Optimum decomposition is achieved by a carbon-nitrogen ratio of 25:1 or 30:1, which is also a commonly recommended brown-green ratio. The bigger number simply says that you should choose brown material that is carbon rich, such as dry leaves, straw, wood chips, etc.

Horse manure meets the ideal ratio by itself.

Straw and hay are both carbon- and nitrogen-packed, although hay has a greater amount of nitrogen. They are ideal partners for manure, since they provide lots of carbon without sacrificing nitrogen content. Moreover, straw acts like a tube to keep a compost heap aerated.

Not all greens break down easily, particularly hard leaves such as holly.

Not all trees are safe, such as the black walnut, which is packed with a vicious poison that cannot be broken down during decomposition; and eucalyptus, which is harmful to the plants your compost will fertilize. Of course, poisonous plants (poison ivy, poison oak) should not be used to build compost.

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