A Gardeners Forum Forums Members History Forum Life 2005 Weeeeeeezieeee!!!!!!

OK... so if I say Compost, will you come running???

I need help. I don't have enough browns and I'm trying to come up with more. I have a feeling that I already have too much newspaper and coffee grounds. The rest is really wet. Add to that the rain we've had here in southern California... Well...

First question, can you give me a list of browns? Second question, what the name of that stuff you mentioned before that helps things cook... Ring-something-or-other.

I've got my stuff in a 3' tall black bin... the kind with the lid and air holes everywhere. In the fall, my problem was too much browns. Now I've got so much fresh fruit and veggie stuff I'm really at a loss. I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M DOING!!! I just sort of started tossing stuff in. Now that I've got a goodly wad, I'm ready to get things balanced out and give it a good toss. (Got way too compacted in the rain.)

DID SOMEONE SAY COMPOST ??????

Hi Sachis,
I know what you are going thru,
I ran into that problem too..aloooooooot!!!

Until I got a load of sawdust delivered one year.
And let it sit outside, next to the bins I need.
The time I use it is in the summer, when there is
not much brown around at all!!!

I start the bin in the fall, like you did...
(Fall and spring I never have a problem around here with either, but I do live in the country to)

I start with the lawn mower clippings and chopped leaves in the fall... and they may not have time to completely active in the fall, but they will be ready to cook in the spring, when thawed..

My one problem with the bins that set on the ground is sometimes, where I've put it is too moist and stays moist on some wet springs...

So yes, I use that RINGER Compost Plus thru Mantis Twin Compost Tumbler

Kitchen scrap's ... are GREEEN

And dead and dying things from the garden.
Perennials, like dead lilie stalks.....
Veggies, like dead corn stalks.....are BROWN.

****Here's a link to RINGER Compost Plus thru Mantis Twin Compost Tumbler for composting
****

Here's another link to compostin, I think you've read, but so anyone else coming thru can also re~read it..
Green or brown? Grass clippings!


****Here's a link to another conversation I had about composting
Composting ****

Weezie

This is getting a little confusing,
will post this to see if I have it right..
and will repost a full list in a minute.......

Here's the Brown List,
I will post the Green in a bit...

Browns;

1. Stalks from Corn, lilies, holihock's are top on my list,
*big, brown and hollow which help's with air flow in the middle of the pile*
2. Chopped leaves *Oak, Maple, anyyyyyyyyyyyyy*
****Best time in the fall with grass left a wee bit longer than normal
and chopped up and run over once or twice is my favorite****
3. Pine Needles,
4. Hay, Straw, (**I would leave out side, in the elements for at least one full season,
to kill~off any weed seeds**)
5. Sawdust, Fresh chopped Wood chips (**leave out side also to render down before using, it robs the compost of nitrogen**)
(and works much nicer as it's already in the process of rendering down, and wood chips can take a bit of time)
6. Nut Shells **any shells from nuts, they take foreverrrrrrrrrrrr to render down, but are good to mix in to again aerate the compost. ****added bonus~when sifting it, it gives it something to break up the clumps****
7. Shredded Newspaper

Weezie

Whew! I've been checking like every hour to see if you'd posted yet

My main problem is that I don't have access to a lot of those things like wood chips and leaves so I was desperately seeking something. Here in LA, leaves don't fall a whole bunch. This is my first year planting corn here so I'll remember to use the stalks. But my Hollyhocks never died back (just like the freakin' morning glory NEVER DIES BACK!!!).

But hay and straw! Where's the "smaking my forehead" graemlin? A bale is so cheap if I can't find someone getting rid of one.

But here's a question... if my green to brown ratio is fine, is there such a thing as too much newspaper?

Sachis,
See the light thingie I have under my name?
And it's going in 20 different directions?????
That's my life, 20 different directions at one time...

Anyhow, I do know that the bigger problem is
too much green... when you have too much green stuff in your compost, it turns to a MUSH.....
wet and a slurry mess...

The ratio of brown to green is 3/4 to 1/4....
You want more brown than green... the brown is what turns to dirt like stuff, the green is what gets it moving or rendering down...

Remember with the straw and hay to wait one full season or have it already been sitting out one full season when you get it...

That Ringer is more for a big pile of whole leaves or unchopped items.. and puts some "gas to the flames" for a lack of a better term...

I use it, cause my piles are filllllllllllllllled
high, I pack 'em, in the fall, and most times they are wet.... and I need to turn them and incorporate the Ringer stuff as I turn the leaves.
NOT every time do I use it...
I have to admit, I use it more on the Twin Compost Tumblers than my open ones...because the open one's have "critters" to come at the pile from the bottom up and they really help get it going... The roundie bins are in the air and no dirt buggies or anything to get them going...

Nope, shouldn't be a problem...
go to your pile, and even if you have to pull some out.... put it in a wheelbarrow or on top of a tarp...at about 1/2 way down, stop...
Throw in several loads of green, then top with brown, and so on... When I am done, I also open a couple cans of old beer and or wine coolers or pepsi, and coat or cover the top of the pile and it'll soak in..... leave it for a couple of days or a week or so....
Now, I know my piles, (***oh gosh, that almost sounded terrible.. ***) but I leave them for a bit and then come back and turn them, I let them get cookin' up first though and then turn them... you need to get them workin' before you disturb them...

IF you can't pull some of it out, just get your pitch fork out, you do have a pitch fork don't you? I have to have something to turn mine with.
Okay, next step is to look at the top of your bin, and eyeball it up into 4 sections, straight down..like you had 4 seperate composts going in the one bin... take your fork and go to one section, take a load with the fork, and throw it on top of section 2, as much as you can, so you have a hole in one part of it straight down...
Then the pile next to it (*NOT the pile you just put the stuff on top of.*)
Take the stuff off the top, one fork full at a time, down into the bottom of that hole... and when you're done, take another section from the top and do the same again, and so on, and fill every other fork full of fresh kitchen stuff in between the old stuff from last year......
Until you're left with the last hole and the original pile you loaded on top, and throw that into the bottom of that pile...

Did that make any sense

Weezie

M'kay... I think I got it. I was misinformed about the ratio thingy. I was told it was 50/50. Now I've got about 75% green.