Too Many Nutritous Items?

Is it possible to have too many nutritious items in home-made compost??

I'm getting all sorts of ideas of things to add to compost......like different animal manures, fish "stuff", seaweed, dried leaves, etc.

This probably sounds more stupid than I think it does.

Naah... toss it all in, it will be good.

I was hoping someone would tell me that. LOL...thanks

I'm glad someone told you that, Too Tall, because I was wondering the same thing! I've gotten so many bags of coffee grounds from Starbucks I think the worms in there are going to be on a caffeine high. We've got chicken manure/shavings from the coop, leaves, coffee grounds, horse manure, and the remains of an old compost pile that was so neglected and compacted that some of the stuff at the bottom was still recognizable after two years! Lots of worms in there, though. I seriously considered starting vermicomposting right away. Not to mention all the kitchen scraps and still two big bags of horse manure to put in. Seeing that we skimped on the MM in the first SFG, the second one should grow like gangbusters.

Too Tall,

This is added to the list of :

"You can't have too much/many ..."

Power Tools
Computer RAM
Income
Varied compost ingredients

I think my tomatoes are going to eat better than I will next year.

I made two trips to starbucks since I started the compost pile and both times I got HUGE bags of grounds. I'm not a good judge of weight but each bag probably weighed about 25-30 lbs. I picked up 10 gallons of horse manure today and I am going back to get more. There's a house about 6 miles from me that raises chickens and I'm hoping they'll let me score some chicken manure. They also have a llama and I'm hoping I can get some of that manure as well. Also, there's an alpaca farm about 20 miles from me and I'd be willing to bet that I can get some alpaca manure.
Not only am I planning on getting the various manures(hey....I live in the country!!LOL) but I want to go out into the woods and get several buckets of woodland compost. I'm also thinking of going fishing at the local pond and catching a bucketful of panfish, and adding that to my compost pile. If winter wasn't approaching, I'd go to the local trout hatchery and ask them if they could collect a couple buckets of fish parts for me.......they have a big pond where people can pay to fish.

If you sit down and think, you might surprise yourself as to how many compost ingredients are out there for the taking. I know I sure have.

as long as it's the right mixture of ingredients in your compost to ensure that it heats up nicely and breaks down effectively.
Ie: correct mixture of brown (carbon) materials, to green (nitrogen)

Too much brown material and the pile that takes a long time to break down.
Too much green material will result in a compost pile that is slimy and smelly that doesn't break down well or quickly..or not at all.

Short list of things you shouldn't Add

Cat droppings/litter	N/A	may contain disease organisms and should always be avoided for composting.
Dog droppings	N/A	Ditto the cat
Meat, fat, grease, oils, bones	N/A	Will not break down, can coat materials and preserve them, attracts pests.
Lime	N/A	Acidity can kill composting action
Colored/shiny paper	N/A	Toxic inks/etc.
Ashes from coal or charcoal	N/A	materials that are toxic to plants.

Cincinnati wrote:Too Tall,

This is added to the list of :

"You can't have too much/many ..."

Power Tools
Computer RAM
Income
Varied compost ingredients

I likes!
GG

I read something, and I don't remember where, about coffee grounds in compost. This article talked about coffee grounds really shouldn't be more than 20% of the compost pile. Anybody hear anything about that? Would it make the compost too acidic? But then I also remember reading that coffee grounds really aren't that acidic because the acid is in what we drink.

I believe 20% is reasonable. That is 1/5. And isn't it a coincident that Mel says to blend 5 types of compost and not use just one composted item.

I have never tested the pH of coffee grounds. Maybe I should do that. I have also read that most of the acid is leached out in the making of the drink.

Well I guess I shouldn't make any more Star Bucks runs. I did that twice so far and both times got about 30 lbs of coffee grounds. Then I also add in a coffee pot's worth of coffee grounds every day.

Cincinnati wrote:I believe 20% is reasonable. That is 1/5. And isn't it a coincident that Mel says to blend 5 types of compost and not use just one composted item.

I have never tested the pH of coffee grounds. Maybe I should do that. I have also read that most of the acid is leached out in the making of the drink.

used coffee grounds have a roughly neutral pH, are high in nitrogen and very beneficial in the garden. read more about used coffee grounds <~~~Click here

Thanks for the link camprn. According to that, the coffee grounds should not be more than 25% of the volume of the compost pile.

Just another FYI about coffee grounds, they make excellent mulch.

hmmmmm....then I can use that as a mulch for my tomato garden.

TTT, you really are going to town on this compost thingy, aren't you?

I am looking forward to your results next year. Golf-ball size radishes, 15-inch long carrots, 20-inch long runner beans, beachball-size tomatoes, (12 feet tall), medicine-ball size melons etc. cucumbers as long as your arm. You get the picture. Please do not disappoint us.

LOL Kelejan

I'm actually going to go all tomatoes in my SFG. My goal is to have tomato plants tall enough to need a step ladder to harvest them.

Too Tall Tomatoes wrote:Thanks for the link camprn. According to that, the coffee grounds should not be more than 25% of the volume of the compost pile.

Depending on the size of your pile, that could amount to quite a bit of coffee grounds! LOL.

You're right rooster.....25% of that pile IS alot of coffee grounds

TTT, when I read that you had two bags 25-30 lbs. each of Starbucks grounds, I was amazed! Couldn't imagine what that much grounds looks like. Just because I was curious how much the 3 bags I have waiting in my garage to go into my compost weighed I just weighed them - 25 pounds! Yes, my kids thought it was a little weird....

Yep, they weigh more wet! ;-)

yeah kbsmom......those bags of starbucks grounds were heavy! If they weren't triple-bagged, the handles would've ripped.

Too Tall Tomatoes wrote:LOL Kelejan

I'm actually going to go all tomatoes in my SFG. My goal is to have tomato plants tall enough to need a step ladder to harvest them.

Now my goal, TTT, is not to have to use a ladder to pick my toms or beans.

My obsession with tall tomato plants started when I read an article in my local newspaper about a man whose tomato plants were 7 1/2 feet tall.

I did have one really tall tomato plant once. It was a 7ft tall Mr Stripey.

I have many starbucks around here I will try to pick up some ground and add to compost and to my other regular flower beds