Healing Gardens

Materials for Composting (Do’s and Don’ts)

Composting materials from home

 

Kitchen waste

Weeds, grass clippings, plant debris

Dog and cat hair

Tea bags, newspapers, dishwater, lint from vacuum cleaner

 

Other options for acquiring compost materials

 

Ask neighbors for their grass clipping and plant debris

Contact local farms or orchards for possible materials such as eggshells, feathers, imperfect hay, manure, and spoiled fruit.

Cider mills and factories for apple pomace (There is one in Tenino)

Lumber mills for sawdust, shredded bark, and wood shavings

Stables for manure

Grocery stores and restaurants for food trimmings

 

Materials that should be avoided

 

Human, dog, cat, or bird waste

Large pieces of wood

Shells of shellfish (oysters, clams, ect.)

Diseased plants

Toxic materials

Large amounts of hops, pine needles, heavy cardboard, grease/oil

Materials that will enrich your compost

Manure

Dried blood (Yuk!)

Bone meal

Lime stone

Peat moss

Cottonseed

The cause of many compost pile failures is lack of nitrogen. Nitrogen supplies the bacteria and fungi (they do the composting) with the necessary food they need to continue their life cycle.

 

Nitrogen suppliers

Blood meal

Human urine

Manure

Alfalfa meal

Manure is the most important ingredient in a compost pile. It is difficult, but not impossible to have a successful compost heap without the use of manure. When composting with earth worms, manure is essential. Manure is very high in nitrogen and is high in bacteria.

Different composting methods

 

There are many ways to compost such as; under ground, above ground, boxes, bins, garbage cans, trenches, bags, and pits (all are based on the Indore method of composting).

 

All composting methods aim is the same: to feed the microorganisms that turn the compost heap into humus.

 

Microorganisms need; air, moisture, nitrogen, and carbon in the correct proportions plus warmth. If the compost pile drops below 55 Fahrenheit the bacteria/microorganisms will become dormant.

 

The more often you turn your compost pile the faster it will decompose.

 

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Martin, Deborah L. and Grace Gershuny (Eds.). The Rodale Book of Composting. Emmaus, PA, 1992 : Rodale Press.