) so am wondering what i can substitute. shredded newspaper i can get by the garbage can-full. ... if i dry them first can i count carrot tops and things as "brown"? or should i steal my neighbors leaves after they've bagged them up and slowly add them to my compost bin? any other ideas for city-dwelling renters?composting: what counts as "brown"?
Moderators: KG Steve, Chantal, Tigger, peter
i read (here?) that for a nice, non-stinky compost, go with 2 parts brown to 1 part green waste, where, i think, green meant kitchen scraps and brown was tree bits. well, i have no access to fresh tree bits ( ) so am wondering what i can substitute. shredded newspaper i can get by the garbage can-full. ... if i dry them first can i count carrot tops and things as "brown"? or should i steal my neighbors leaves after they've bagged them up and slowly add them to my compost bin? any other ideas for city-dwelling renters?
) so am wondering what i can substitute. shredded newspaper i can get by the garbage can-full. ... if i dry them first can i count carrot tops and things as "brown"? or should i steal my neighbors leaves after they've bagged them up and slowly add them to my compost bin? any other ideas for city-dwelling renters?-
PLUMPUDDING
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Newspaper is good, but don't use too much, also torn up cardboard, wood shavings or sawdust, hedge clippings, egg shells, paper towels, cardboard toilet roll tubes, dried leaves and straw. Carrot tops would still be green waste as they aren't woody. The "brown" waste is carbon (not the egg shells which are calcium) and the green waste is mainly leafy stuff that breaks down easily and provides nitrogen.
I also put all the tea bags in. Not sure if you can get the straw - perhaps a neighbour has a rabbit or guinea pig - their hut cleanings would be good.
I also put all the tea bags in. Not sure if you can get the straw - perhaps a neighbour has a rabbit or guinea pig - their hut cleanings would be good.
cardboard counts?! that is fantastic! thank you! (does a happy dance) i have even more easily aquired cardboard than newspaper. watch out world, here comes compost!
i *wish* i had a neighbor with small livestock... i'm the one most likely to raise hens on our block, but i think the landlady would complain. sigh.
i *wish* i had a neighbor with small livestock... i'm the one most likely to raise hens on our block, but i think the landlady would complain. sigh.
Hi Plumpudding,
I suspect that it would be best that sawdust and wood shavings are composted separately.
As Shavings and sawdust biodegrade they actually need nitrogen and put on the main pile it is possible that you will remove one of the vital things you are trying to produce.
I have found that one of the best ways to degrade shavings and sawdust is to mix it with fresh poultry manure. Best applied as a slurry. There is a surfeit of nitrogen in poultry manure and that is reduced to a reasonable amount by the wood products and the result is a very reasonably balanced soil improver.
JB.
I suspect that it would be best that sawdust and wood shavings are composted separately.
As Shavings and sawdust biodegrade they actually need nitrogen and put on the main pile it is possible that you will remove one of the vital things you are trying to produce.
I have found that one of the best ways to degrade shavings and sawdust is to mix it with fresh poultry manure. Best applied as a slurry. There is a surfeit of nitrogen in poultry manure and that is reduced to a reasonable amount by the wood products and the result is a very reasonably balanced soil improver.
JB.
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Geoff
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Do you really need to go to 2:1 - where did that quote come from? I have lots of green waste, much of it grass mowings, and mix it with kitchen waste, weeds, comfrey, shredded prunings, other garden waste as well as lots of shredded newspaper (must write to the Telegraph about them putting staples in their tabloid size supplements, the easy parts to shred with a small machine)and torn up cardboard. I don't get to 2:1 but it seems to rot.
Save money and make composting easier - change to leaf tea!
Save money and make composting easier - change to leaf tea!
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PLUMPUDDING
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I agree Johnboy, that's why I suggested cleanings from pet houses as the manure would make it break down quicker and still have some available nitrogen while the sawdust was breaking down. I put my poultry hut cleanings of wood shavings and droppings straight in the compost and it is a brilliant activator and rots down very quickly when mixed with a good helping of everything else.
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alan refail
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I agree 100% with Johnboy's warning. All my poultry bedding is equestrian shavings and goes straight onto the compost with garden and kitchen waste. The shavings, which are fairly thin will rot down in a few months in a normal summer. Personally I wouldn't use sawdust at all.
I am enjoying the vision of Alia composting shavings and fresh chicken manure in a New York apartment, especially making them into a slurry
I am enjoying the vision of Alia composting shavings and fresh chicken manure in a New York apartment, especially making them into a slurry
Hi Alan,
I'm with you on sawdust and when I get a collection from my saw bench I mix it all with a dilute of wood glue and make logs of it and they go onto the log burner. They actually take a surprisingly long time to burn and give off a goodly heat. Most of my sawdust is either oak or ash.
I certainly would not use it on the compost heap but these are becoming desperate times for some people so I suspect sawdust will be used but not by us.
For soil conditioner this year I am using the residue left by my felling 100 Leylandii a few years ago. I took all the brush and laid it in huge piles and bit by bit I thrashed the needles off when they went brown and composted with layers of Comfrey. All the twigs and small branches has kept the entire neighbourhood in kindling and there is at least another winter before we run out.
JB.
I'm with you on sawdust and when I get a collection from my saw bench I mix it all with a dilute of wood glue and make logs of it and they go onto the log burner. They actually take a surprisingly long time to burn and give off a goodly heat. Most of my sawdust is either oak or ash.
I certainly would not use it on the compost heap but these are becoming desperate times for some people so I suspect sawdust will be used but not by us.
For soil conditioner this year I am using the residue left by my felling 100 Leylandii a few years ago. I took all the brush and laid it in huge piles and bit by bit I thrashed the needles off when they went brown and composted with layers of Comfrey. All the twigs and small branches has kept the entire neighbourhood in kindling and there is at least another winter before we run out.
JB.
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richardwil
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Try buying a bale of straw to use as a brown source. Bales are small enough to transport in a car boot but remember to use a dust sheet otherwise you will end up cleaning bits of straw out for weeks.
I can sweep the back of my estate car out with ease so I do not have any problems.
Cheers
I can sweep the back of my estate car out with ease so I do not have any problems.
Cheers
have you thought of investing in a BOKASHI composter? you put all kitchen waste - cooked stuff, meat too - sprinkle a special bran on top, seal it for 2 weeks then shove it into your compost bin. its a small bucket which you can keep inside if you wish - no smells. it accelerates your regular compost hugely - helps the breakdown. available from WIGGLY WIGGLERS mail orders. i adore mine...
nancy
nancy
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snooky
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The local Council collect all green waste,cooked food scraps,waste from allotments,which you have to bag and bring home and put out with the rubbish in special bags,if you don"t want to compost it(weeds, woody stuff etc)and shredded paper.The Council then composts this mix.
Several loads have delivered to our allotment site and there is a debate on whether or not it is safe. Some say that it will contain blight, white rot and other nasties.I was there today when another load was delivered,it was black,sweet,hot and still steaming.I had ten barrow loads of it but the Doubting Thomas"s were still negative about it.
Several loads have delivered to our allotment site and there is a debate on whether or not it is safe. Some say that it will contain blight, white rot and other nasties.I was there today when another load was delivered,it was black,sweet,hot and still steaming.I had ten barrow loads of it but the Doubting Thomas"s were still negative about it.
Regards snooky
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A balanced diet is a beer in both hands!
WARNING.!!... The above post may contain an opinion
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A balanced diet is a beer in both hands!
WARNING.!!... The above post may contain an opinion
forgot to check back on this thread. nice to see it has a life without me. 
i did consider the bokashi, but i didn't want to be dependent on the "germ"... i want to be as self-sufficient as possible. (she says, having secured a plot right next to the communal wood chip pile that no one else seems interested in using... la )
my understanding is that the big industrial composters can get the core temp hot enough that it *does* kill off everything. but please do let me know if it's as good as it looks! we get the occasional shipment, too, and i wonder about it. i use it, mind, but i wonder...
i did consider the bokashi, but i didn't want to be dependent on the "germ"... i want to be as self-sufficient as possible. (she says, having secured a plot right next to the communal wood chip pile that no one else seems interested in using... la
)
my understanding is that the big industrial composters can get the core temp hot enough that it *does* kill off everything. but please do let me know if it's as good as it looks! we get the occasional shipment, too, and i wonder about it. i use it, mind, but i wonder...