Re: Homemade Compost

**Kelejan** 5/21/2011, 4:15 pm

Thanks, Furbalsmom. I am off to do as you suggest.

As to the bears, I take my little dog to give me warning, which he did the other day when I was weeding my SFG beds. He barked and I looked up and the bear was running across the corner of my property on to next door and up their path and around the back of their house.

Normally the bears are not around during the day, it is evening time when they often venture out. Incidently, my home is located only five minutes walk from the town centre. Our city is a long and skinny one alongside the Columbia River so we are used to bears. I add their poop to my composts. lol. Would that count as a sixth?

Unfortunately for the bears some of our citizens are very lax in keeping their garbage safe and many bears are put down through no fault of their own.

sherryeo 5/21/2011, 5:05 pm

Thanks for the advice, guys. I think for now I'll stick to just composting cardboard without dyes. If I learn anything in the future that makes me think it's not harmful to use cardboard with inks, I may change my mind then. I don't see any harm in using plain cardboard since it's made from trees just like paper. I can't wait till I get my first useable compost! bounce

It just seems that the storebought kind just isn't as nutritious for our plants - so many people seem to have trouble with the big box stores compost. Most of my veggies seem to be doing well, but my snap beans are looking kinda yellow-green, even though they've been blooming and now have some tiny bean pods on them. So I'm thinking my composts may have been missing something.

shannon1 5/22/2011, 2:32 am

boffer wrote:Pee on it.

Is that your answer to every compost question?

I have read that once your compost is good and hot it will kill pests, weed seeds and pathogens. But I have also read not to add diseased plants to the pile. Homemade Compost - Page 3 601593

**camprn** 5/22/2011, 6:27 am

shannon1 wrote:
boffer wrote:Pee on it.
Is that your answer to every compost question?

I have read that once your compost is good and hot it will kill pests, weed seeds and pathogens. But I have also read not to add diseased plants to the pile.

Yup, my theory is better safe than sorry. If I have what I think are diseased plant parts those do not go into the compost but into the burn pile, which is sure to get hot enough to kill pathogens. Smile

shannon1 5/23/2011, 4:16 am

Yep that would be hot enough for sure.

boffer 5/24/2011, 11:30 pm

shannon1 wrote:
boffer wrote:Pee on it.
Is that your answer to every compost question?...

Usually...
Poops, plants, and pee has worked for me for five years. Sorry, if you don't like like it. It's all I know to offer to be helpful.

altagarden 5/25/2011, 12:36 am

Boffer: I saw a huge beautiful cosmo plant. Maybe 4 feet tall and I asked the gardener what her trick was and she said her son pees on it almost every day.

Cincinnati 6/28/2011, 8:28 am

sarah in the garden wrote: ... A lot of my browns are shredded paper, usually toilet paper and paper towels rolls. We go through a lot in my house. After they go through the shredder they are perfect for the compost bin. I have read some people use shredded newspaper, and others say no paper with inks - maybe newspaper ink is different than regular printer ink? Just to be safe, I don't put any paper that has ink on it. But I save everything, and will even cut away half a page if it can go into the shredder for the compost bin.

I know it is a popular compost element because it breaks down and deteriorates rapidly, but the main purpose of compost is to provide nutrients to plants, not just to decompose something. I don't use newspapers or anything that doesn't add to the health and growth of my plants. Papers are made with chemicals. Generally the cheaper the paper the more highly acidic it is. That's why they yellow over the years.

I also won't put my neighbors leaves in my compost unless I know they weren't treated with insecticides. I live in a pecan orchard, some people spray their trees. Same reason I won't go to the city and get their free mulch and compost. They spray all their trees several times per year. Know your Compost!

We have better options.

**Kelejan** 6/28/2011, 9:32 am

RE paper towels. If bleach is not good for compost then better make sure they are unbleached?

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