All in a Day
Compost: Enhancing Your Compost II
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Compost: Week Five REMINDER: Each week when we offer you tips about Composting, we hope you are bringing your kids into it. I have my little one stir the compost, add leaves and help me collect items each week and pour them into the compost bin.  Last week we talked about Nitrogen and how important it is to have a balanced compost. This week, we will talk some about making sure there is enough Carbon in your mix. Nitrogen and Carbon are needed to help break down organic matter. You can get into proper ratios if you want to get really labor intensive with your compost. Really, it is all about balance. The process of decomposition that occurs with heat, organic materials and water is extremely powerful. We do not HAVE to be more involved than we want to be. You decide. Make sure to keep your Nitrogen rich products balanced with your Carbon rich products and you should have a healthy compost that is rich in Nitrogen and Carbon for your garden. If you want to get more involved and have more of a mathematical guide for Carbon:Nitrogen ratios, check out this site. Cardboard is a good source of Carbon but make sure to shred or wet and tear it into small pieces. Recycling is a better option if you have too much cardboard. Newspaper is much like cardboard and should be shred or torn into small pieces so it is easier to breakdown. Again, recycle it if you have too much. Make sure not to use the color, slick pages. Untreated Wood (Shavings or Sawdust) are extremely high in Carbon so make sure to have high levels of Nitrogen materials that you are countering this material with. Make sure not to use too much. Dryer Lint is a great source of Carbon. It may help to get it damp. Cornstalks and Corn Cobs work best if broken down into small pieces and combine really well with materials rich in Nitrogen. Leaves from an Oak Tree can be shredding to help them break down faster, as they decompose rather slow. They are acidic, so be aware. Pine Cones and Needles are good sources of Carbon, but be cautious to not overfill the pile because they decompose really slowly and have high acid content. In the Series
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