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Composting at Home
Home composting is a simple way to boost your soil, increase your produce and help keep wasteout of the landfill.
Sunshine is usually just fine to heat up a compost pile. A barrel or other container will keep it much hotter.
A good mix for the compost pile is about three times as much carbon (brown) as nitrogen (green). However, given enough time, a pile of leaves (carbon) will decompose with the help of any nitrogen products (it will get nitrogen from the air).
How to start a compost pile:
- A pile of leaves can be raked into a corner and allowed to sit for a year.
- Another easy way is to get a barrel for yard waste and food scraps. (Compost that contains food scraps must be in a container with a lid. Food scraps should not contain animal meat scraps, vegetative only.)
- This barrel can be easily turned to help stir the compost and make the process quicker.
- There are many other ways to begin a compost pile.
Heat:
Heat causes the elements in the compost pile to break down faster. The inside of a pile will be much hotter than the extremities. This is why the pile should be turned regularly if possible.Sunshine is usually just fine to heat up a compost pile. A barrel or other container will keep it much hotter.
Water:
Water is important to the compost pile. The pile should not be soaking wet, but should be moist. Most places say it should have the consistency of a "wet sponge."Air:
Air is the biggest thing. The materials that go into a compost pile are made up of two things: Carbon and Nitrogen. Items such as wood, dry leaves, hay, wood ash, pine needles and paper are carbon based. Items such as table scraps, coffee grounds, grass clippings, manure and tea leaves are nitrogen based. One easy way to remember these is that carbon is usually brown and nitrogen is usually green. Below is a table of nitrogen and carbon based items.A good mix for the compost pile is about three times as much carbon (brown) as nitrogen (green). However, given enough time, a pile of leaves (carbon) will decompose with the help of any nitrogen products (it will get nitrogen from the air).
Compost Material Table
Material | Carbon/Nitrogen | Info |
---|---|---|
table scraps | Nitrogen | add with dry carbon items |
fruit & vegetable scraps | Nitrogen | add with dry carbon items |
eggshells | neutral | best when crushed |
leaves | Carbon | leaves break down faster when shredded |
grass clippings | Nitrogen | add in thin layers so they don't mat into clumps |
garden plants | - | use disease-free plants only |
lawn & garden weeds | Nitrogen | only use weeds which have not gone to seed |
shrub prunings | Carbon | woody prunings are slow to break down |
straw or hay | Carbon | straw is best; hay (with seeds) is less ideal |
green comfrey leaves | Nitrogen | excellent compost 'activator' |
pine needles | Carbon | acidic; use in moderate amounts |
flowers, cuttings | Nitrogen | chop up any long woody stems |
seaweed and kelp | Nitrogen | rinse first;good source for trace elements |
wood ash | Carbon | only use ash from clean materials; sprinkle lightly |
chicken manure | Nitrogen | excellent compost 'activator' |
coffee grounds | Nitrogen | filters may also be included |
tea leaves | Nitrogen | loose or in bags |
newspaper | Carbon | avoid using glossy paper and colored inks |
shredded paper | Carbon | avoid using glossy paper and colored inks |
cardboard | Carbon | shred material to avoid matting |
corn cobs, stalks | Carbon | slow to decompose; best if chopped up |
dryer lint | Carbon | best if from natural fibers |
sawdust pellets | Carbon | high carbon levels; add in layers to avoid clumping |
wood chips / pellets | Carbon | high carbon levels; use sparingly |
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Longview, Texas 75604
903-237-2735
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Longview, TX 75606