Product Brochure

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If your C/N ratio is higher than 35:1, your recipe is too low in nitrogen. Add
additional “parts” of a material high in nitrogen to your formula until your C/N
ratio is between 25:1 and 35:1.
For example:
18 gallons (70 liters) of leaves x 24 Carbon (see table)
= 432 gallons (1680 liters)
9 gallons (35 liters) of sawdust x 34 Carbon (see table)
= 306 gallons (1190 liters)
Total Carbon Value = 738 gallons (2870 liters)
And the same two materials contain:
18 gallons (70 liters) of leaves x .40 Nitrogen (see table)
= 7.2 gallons (28 liters)
9 gallons (35 liters) of sawdust x .08 Nitrogen (see table)
= 0.72 gallons (2.8 liters)
Total Nitrogen Value = 7.92 gallons (30.8 liters)
Your C/N ratio is:
Total Carbon Value 738 gallons (2870 liters)
Total Nitrogen Value 7.92 gallons (30.8 liters)
So,we add additional fresh green materials:
Add 83 gallons (315 liters) of fresh grass clippings and 28 gallons (105 liters) of
kitchen waste:
83 gallons (315 liters) of grass x 6 Carbon (see table)
= 498 gallons (1890 liters)
28 gallons (105 liters) of kitchen waste x 8 Carbon (see table)
= 224 gallons (840 liters)
Total Carbon Value added = 722 gallons (2730 liters)
83 gallons (315 liters) of grass x .40 Nitrogen (see table)
= 33.2 gallons (126 liters)
28 gallons (105 liters) of kitchen waste x .50 Nitrogen (see table)
= 14 gallons (52.5 liters)
Total Nitrogen Value added = 47.2 gallons (178.5 liters)
Your new C/N ratio is:
Carbon (738 gallons (2870 liters) + 722 gallons (2730 liters) = 5600
Nitrogen (7.92 gallons (30.8 liters) + 47.2 gallons (178.5 liters) = 209.3
Remember the 4:1 ratio for vegetation we talked about in “Keys to Successful
Composting?” That is the ratio our recipe ended up as:
110 gallons (420 liters) of fresh green :28 gallons (105 liters) of dead brown;
or, 4 parts fresh :1 part dead.
Good to use!
= 93 C/N Ratio
Too low in Nitrogen!
= 26.76 C/N Ratio
THE BOTTOMLESS
REFUSE PAIL
After using the ComposTumbler
or several months, a publisher
at Organic Gardening Magazine
said to us, “You guys have got it
all wrong. You should call your
ComposTumbler the bottomless
refuse pail.”
When we asked “why,” he said that
each day as he leaves for the office
his wife hands him their kitchen
scraps in a brown paper bag. As he
passes the ComposTumbler on the
way to
The ComposTumbler just
never gets full.
his car he throws the refuse, bag
and all, into the ComposTumbler
and gives it a quick spin. He also
adds occasional garden waste. He
said, “The ComposTumbler just
never gets full. It is a bottomless
refuse pail.”
So, here is another way to use your
ComposTumbler. Turn it into a
bottomless refuse pail. Just throw
your household refuse into the
ComposTumbler, add a little carbon
(remember his brown paper bag?),
and give it a few spins. When you
need some compost, stop adding
to it, let it cook off for a couple of
weeks, and you will have black
gold to add to your soil.