Composting for the Masses
What is compostable?
Almost any food scraps. When talking about food, it’s a bit easier to talk about what’s not compostable: avoid animal fat, meat, dairy products, fish, etc. The good list includes: veggies, fruits, and even egg shells. Flowers and disease-free plants are good to go.
Paper is great. Newspaper doubly so, but I would avoid anything with colored ink as you don’t know what chemicals it may include. When adding paper, it’s a good idea to tear it into strips so that air flow and moisture can still get through and it doesn’t hamper the decomposition process.
Leaves are also a great option. All the dust, hair, and miscellaneous stuff that collections in your vacuum? Toss it in. Grass clippings? They are awesome to leave on your lawn, but if you’re not inclined, add them in too.
Avoid weeds unless you are going to ensure the compost gets to a high enough temperature to kill off the seeds. Once a year we add a good dose of horse manure to ours (kindly donated from a friend). It brings up the temperature and provides an extra bit of nutrients. If you go this route, make sure it is composted very well before adding it to any beds that will be growing food.
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