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Questionable items in compost https://www.dirtdoctor.com/efl/dirtDoctor/questionable-items-in-compost-t13048.html |
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Author: | NCcomposter [ Tue Apr 26, 2011 2:24 pm ] |
Post subject: | Questionable items in compost |
First of all, I am new here and think I will enjoy being a member. I think I am pretty knowledgeable about the correct things to put into my compost pile but I came across this list that I think has a few questionable items (dairy products, soggy cereal, canned vegetable liquid, etc). I was wondering what everyone thought about these items and anything else you see on here that might catch your eye. Paper napkins Freezer-burned vegetables Burlap coffee bags Pet hair Potash rock Post-it notes Freezer-burned fruit Wood chips Bee droppings Lint from behind refrigerator Hay Popcorn (unpopped, 'Old Maids,' too) Freezer-burned fish Old spices Pine needles Leaves Matches (paper or wood) Seaweed and kelp Hops Chicken manure Leather dust Old, dried up and faded herbs Bird cage cleanings Paper towels Brewery wastes Grass clippings Hoof and horn meal Molasses residue Potato peelings Unpaid bills Gin trash (wastes from cotton plants) Weeds Rabbit manure Hair clippings from the barber Stale bread Coffee grounds Wood ashes Sawdust Tea bags and grounds Shredded newspapers Egg shells Cow manure Alfalfa Winter rye Grapefruit rinds Pea vines Houseplant trimmings Old pasta Grape wastes Garden soil Powdered/ground phosphate rock Corncobs (takes a long time to decompose) Jell-o (gelatin) Blood meal Winery wastes Spanish moss Limestone Fish meal Aquarium plants Beet wastes Sunday comics Harbor mud Felt waste Wheat straw Peat moss Kleenex tissues Milk (in small amounts) Soy milk Tree bark Starfish (dead ones!) Melted ice cream Flower petals Pumpkin seeds Q-tips (cotton swabs: cardboard, not plastic sticks) Expired flower arrangements Elmer's glue BBQ'd fish skin Bone meal Citrus wastes Stale potato chips Rhubarb stems Old leather gardening gloves Tobacco wastes Bird guano Hog manure Dried jellyfish Wheat bran Guinea pig cage cleanings Nut shells Cattail reeds Clover Granite dust Moldy cheese Greensand Straw Shredded cardboard Dolomite lime Cover crops Quail eggs (OK, I needed a 'Q' word) Rapeseed meal Bat guano Fish scraps Tea bags (black and herbal) Apple cores Electric razor trimmings Kitchen wastes Outdated yogurt Toenail clippings Shrimp shells Crab shells Lobster shells Pie crust Leather wallets Onion skins Bagasse (sugar cane residue) Watermelon rinds Date pits Goat manure Olive pits Peanut shells Burned oatmeal (sorry, Mom) Lint from clothes dryer Bread crusts Cooked rice River mud Tofu (it's only soybeans, man!) Wine gone bad (what a waste!) Banana peels Fingernail and toenail clippings Chocolate cookies Wooden toothpicks Moss from last year's hanging baskets Stale breakfast cereal Pickles 'Dust bunnies' from under the bed Pencil shavings Wool socks Artichoke leaves Leather watch bands Fruit salad Tossed salad (now THERE's tossing it!) Brown paper bags Soggy Cheerios Theater tickets Lees from making wine Burned toast Feathers Animal fur Horse manure Vacuum cleaner bag contents Coconut hull fiber Old or outdated seeds Macaroni and cheese Liquid from canned vegetables Liquid from canned fruit Old beer Wedding bouquets Greeting card envelopes Snow Dead bees and flies Horse hair Peanut butter sandwiches Dirt from soles of shoes, boots Fish bones Ivory soap scraps Spoiled canned fruits and vegetables Produce trimmings from grocery store Cardboard cereal boxes (shredded) Grocery receipts Urine (It's true! Read the letters below) |
Author: | northwesterner [ Tue Apr 26, 2011 4:46 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: Questionable items in compost |
What an odd list? Sounds like something Shel Silverstein kept to draw from for his imaginative poems. (See "Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out." The compost can be very forgiving, and if you occasionally have any of those organic materials ("the list") and you bury them in the pile, they'll break down. Keeping in mind that too much of just about anything can alter the makeup of the pile. Mud, mineral rocks, I probably wouldn't add them to the pile, and some of the items listed, in even modest quantities, could be difficult to manage. How many feathers and burlap coffee bags did the list maker have in mind? I end up with paper in my compost sometimes, the shreddings from the house. If I was using newspaper in the garden, it can end up in the compost. The best response is probably to look at the list for ideas, but use common sense when building up the compost pile. |
Author: | DMDye [ Wed Apr 27, 2011 9:50 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: Questionable items in compost |
Snow?!?!?! Yes, I read the whole list. LOL I'm really new at this, and promptly lost the booklet to the beautiful tumbling composting bin my husband got me as an anniversary present, I wouldn't use any meaty/fishy/oily/dairy on my compost bin. But then again, I wouldn't put any processed foods in it, either. [eta] Reading further I have found out that shrimp shells and ground up dinner rolls can go into a compost bin. |
Author: | Priswell [ Wed Apr 27, 2011 10:34 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: Questionable items in compost |
The things I mostly avoid are things that are too salty or things with alcohol. I probably wouldn't put in BBQ'd stuff simply for the salt content, but we do shred our junk mail and add that to the pile. Things that have died in the fridge or freezer (aka moldy or freezer burned) are a definite "go" unless it's too salty. I have been known to add some dairy and/or meat, but in small amounts. I don't think the compost minds too much, but not putting in a lot of meat or dairy does keep the cats and other feral animals away. I don't have hoof and horn meal on hand, but I have been known to put hair clippings in the compost. Lint from the clothes dryer may be good, but I avoid it, 'cause synthetics (polyester) won't break down. I'd save the old beer for catching snails/slugs and the Ivory soap scraps can be eliminated by pasting them onto new bars until they stick and become one. |
Author: | kb5won [ Thu Apr 28, 2011 10:09 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: Questionable items in compost |
I think you can compost almost anything if your pile is hot enough and active. My compost is very slow, and I'm not very interested in making it work fast, so I avoid things that attract pests. |
Author: | produce guy [ Fri Jun 03, 2011 2:16 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: Questionable items in compost |
I think you should experement and figure out what breaks down,I always put dryer lint on the very top,so the birds can carry it off for nesting material,old flour,sugar,baking powder,etc. always goes in my pile.Shredded paper,junk mail(non plastic window side),goes in the pile,all out of date or frezzer burn products,cereal,etc. goes in the pile and gets burried,all coffee filters and tea bags go in my pile,all fruit scraps,old salad,apple cores,corn cobs,etc. goes in the pile.I also have about 200-500 worms in my pile and I water and turn about every 2 weeks. |
Author: | northwesterner [ Fri Jun 03, 2011 3:24 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: Questionable items in compost |
Quote: I'd save the old beer for catching snails/slugs and the Ivory soap scraps can be eliminated by pasting them onto new bars until they stick and become one. I don't have a problem with old beer at my house! And it seems the snails like the fresh stuff also (stale beer doesn't work). Compost is pretty flexible. Last week I had about a pint of older yogurt (plain) that had accidentally frozen that I wasn't going to eat, so I stirred it into a bucket of water and knocked out any chunks and pourt that over the compost. Dissolving that way was more to keep my dogs out of the compost. If you put in more "attractive" food items, remember the dog poop tea trick if you want to at least keep your own pooches out of it. |
Author: | user_48634 [ Sat Jun 25, 2011 10:33 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: Questionable items in compost |
From the list I would leave out the unpaid bills. Pay them and then they become paid bills and you can compost the stubs. When you get enough experience to keep a hot pile with absolutely no odor escaping, then you can safely move on to advance composting of meats. Otherwise anything else in that list is fine for people learning how to do it. |
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