A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion Landscape trials and triumphs Organically Speaking... Browns and Greens

Here is a list of a few browns/greens:

Greens:

• Coffee Grounds
• Grass Clippings
• Kitchen Waste (veggie peelings, salad leftover, those old carrots hiding under the bag of onions)
• Manure (from plant-eating animals only, nothing from meat-eaters)
• Un-diseased plant debris
• Alfalfa hay/meal
• Tea bags
• Seaweed/Algae

Browns:

• Leaves (preferably shredded)
• Pine needles
• Straw
• Shredded newspaper and cardboard (nothing glossy or colored)
• Small chipped twigs/sticks
• Sawdust (may take a long time to decomp though)

Other goodies to add for miscellaneous nutrients:

• Egg Shells
  
• Mushrooms (if you find some growing somewhere)

What can you add to my list?? :thnk:

Quick composting question:

Can regular shredded paper act as "brown" matter? Office documents, old checks, pre-approved credit card offers, stuff like that. Regular old paper that's been printed on.

I've got tons of "green" but no brown. If we can't use our shredded paper, then I'm going to have to befriend a farmer so I can get hay for cheap. And soon...

Thanks in advance for your advise :)

Yep it works..
*but if I were you,
I'd befriend that farmer too...* (wink~wink)

Also, do you have a lumber mill near you?
That you can get some saw dust from..
That works too, a bit longer, especially depending
on how fine milled the sawdust is..

Or even woodchips or from a wood chipper!!!!

horse manure is fine. i wouldn't keep it too wet, but if it gets too wet, it turns to sludge.

of course, it will dry back out, so over wetting it won't hurt in the long run.

I like to keep the pile generally damp. For instance, if I squeeze a portion of it and it feels dry, I'll add some water but if I squeeze it in my fist and it drips out some water, then I leave it be. I also keep mine covered in black trash bags weighted down with bricks to help keep moisture in and help create and hold heat.

thats a grate list sarah!
i read some were hair is good too,