If you have a backyard garden compost bin, you’re probably already familiar with a number of the basic items you can compost: leaves, grass clippings, dead flowers, and maybe even some food scraps from the kitchen. But did you know that there are actually a number of things you should NOT introduce into your composter? Here is the basic list of items not to compost:
- Moldy bread - The pennicillin-like fungus on moldy bread will slow down the composting process because it can kill many of the bacteria that break down the waste.
- Potato peelings - Because they contain chemical germ killers
- Fatty food scraps such as meat, gravy, cheese, butter, lard, and frying oils - Because they smell, attract vermin, and are very slow to break down.
- Ashes from charcoal briquettes
- Bones - These take a very long time to break down.
- Dog or cat poop - Because most domesticated pets are given anti-worm pills, their droppings will kill off any beneficial worms that are present in your compost.
- Skins of citrus fruits - Because these fruits are often chemically treated.
- Any weeds that you don’t want to reproduce - The seeds of many common weeds will survive the composting process, and then when you spread your compost in the garden, you’ll end up with a bumper crop of weeds.
For more information on composting, please visit our Composter FAQ page at Home Products ‘N’ More.
For anyone who is actively engaged in garden composting, or who is thinking about buying their first compost bin, it’s important to understand that there are two different ways that organic matter breaks down: aerobic composting and anaerobic composting. In this post, we’ll explain the differences between these two methods.
When something sits in a pile, untouched, and breaks down, this is anaerobic composting. Essentially, when something decomposes anaerobically, it rots. It’s a fairly smelly and unpleasant process. You see, anaerobic bacteria produce methane and sulfate gasses as a byproduct of breaking down the organic matter, and these are gasses that smell very offensive to we humans. Furthermore, anaerobic bacteria are very inefficient, often times taking 6 months (or in less than optimum conditions, as long as a couple years) to fully break down the items being composted. So in short, anaerobic composting is slow and stinky.
Aerobic composting, on the other hand, is a process that requires oxygen. This means that the organic matter being composting must be regularly aerated. There are many ways to accomplish this. If you have a compost pile, you can take a pitchfork and turn the contents every few days. Another easier way woule be to use a compost tumbler, which is similar to a large barrel that spins on an axis, much like a wheel on an automobile. The two major benefits to aerobic composting are #1: it’s fast. Under optimal conditions, aerobic bacteria can break down organic matter in as little as 3 or 4 weeks. And the other big benefit, #2: it doesn’t smell. Unlike anaerobic microbes, aerobic bacteria do not produce any smelly gasses as a byproduct of the composting process, meaning that you don’t have to relegate your compost bin to the farthest corner of your backyard. It can sit near a deck, porch, or patio, and you won’t be disturbed by any unpleasant odors.
For more information on composting, please visit Home Products ‘N’ More’s Composer FAQ Page.
A correctly balanced compost bin should not smell. If yours does, that means your balance of greens and browns is not right.
“Greens” are nitrogen-rich materials, such as fresh grass clippings, fruit and vegetable peelings, egg shells, pet hair, etc. “Browns” are carbon-rich materials, such as peat moss, dried leaves, shredded paper, coffee grounds, dryer lint, etc.
You should aim for a 2:1 ratio of browns to greens. If you get too many greens in your compost, it will begin to smell.
Remember, the recipe for a compost that doesn’t stink is adding two browns for every green!
For more information on composting, visit our Composter FAQ page.
