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7
MATERIALS FOR
COMPOSTING
Any organic material – anything that was once alive – will
decompose. Of course some things are better than others for
making compost, especially if you are composting rapidly.
You will find a wealth of materials around your home and garden that are ideal
for composting. Below is a sampling of just a few of the sources of nitrogen and
carbon that are probably readily available to you.
NITROGEN CARBON
fresh grass clippings dead leaves*
(cut within 24 hours)
green yard & garden waste* sawdust & wood shavings
coffee grounds & tea bags straw or hay*
egg shells (rinsed & crushed) wood ash
uncooked fruit & vegetable black & white newsprint (shredded,
waste* premeasured & soaked in water)
farm manure dead garden waste*
hair trimmings
*Remember to chop or shred these materials before loading if you are using the
14-day hot composting method.
Do not use branches, twigs, pine needles, redwood, cedar, walnut or treated
wood. Do not use any cooked foods, dairy products, meat or bones. Do not use
pet waste or untreated human waste. Do not use anything you know or suspect
to be poisonous or diseased.
If you don’t find enough material right at hand, there are probably endless
sources of good materials being thrown away in your local area. The following
are just a few suggestions of businesses and the sort of materials you might be
able to get from them for little or no cost:
BUSINESSES MATERIALS
Woodworking shops
Vo-Tech schools sawdust & wood shavings
Lumber companies
Grocery stores old produce and leftovers
Produce stands
Farms fresh animal manure
Riding stables
Barber shops hair cuttings
Hair salons
HIGHER NITROGEN
SOURCES MEAN
HOTTER COMPOST
If you are one of the fortunate folks
who have a ready access to fresh
farm manure, there are many ways
in which you can use it in your
composting process. You can use it
as an actual source of nitro gen and
therefore as a large por tion of your
recipe, as in Recipe #5 on page 17.
You can also use it as a booster in
just about any other recipe, adding
a few shovelfuls
Poultry manure
contains the highest
percentage of nitrogen;
sheep,goat,steer and
horse manure are all
about the same and
very good...
or buckets to the load to help
increase the heating (when you
first load or sometime in the first
few days). Poultry manure contains
the highest percentage of nitrogen;
sheep, goat, steer and horse manure
are all about the same and very
good; and cattle manure is the
lowest in nitrogen of the group.
Composted manure has already
been composted and is not good
to use. Dehydrated manure that
you buy from a store contains
approximately five times the
nitrogen that fresh manure contains.
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