This is a public-interest archive. Personal data is pseudonymized and retained under GDPR Article 89.

Hayfoot, Strawfoot, Skip to my Loo! wuz Re: [Hot Compost!] // Manures and other questions

Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html

Hay is mostly a green, especially legume hay (eg alfalfa)

The N is not lost in the drying, which is why hay is such good feed for the
ruminants and other herbivore, compared to straw, for example.

Grass clippings, whether fresh or dried, are a green. However, once they
have been rained on a few times, and biodegraded/photodegraded and licked by
earthworms, they will have lost much of their N. But it takes more than
drying in the sun for a week to do this, I think.

Personally I think they are a poor choice for a brown in the sense of
bedding animals, and I would opt for even shredded paper as a preference, if
that helps anybody...

I grasscycle my own lawn and those of my clients, and I will only take
clippings in the fall when leaves are down on it as part of the mix---the
rest of the time the clippings are lawn fertilizer and blown into the grass
in little pieces by mulching mower action.

People who need more browns should see about straw, shredded paper, or other
things before they rob their lawns for them, I would think. Junk mail and
newspapers will fill up a few bags per week at my house, anyway...:-)

My two bits,

Frank---Hayseed---Teuton---some would call him a straw man....:-)
-----Original Message-----
From: Tammy Grooms <Tammyg456@excite.com>
To: Square Foot Gardening List <sqft@listbot.com>
Date: Wednesday, January 05, 2000 12:24 PM
Subject: Re: [Hot Compost!] // Manures and other questions


>Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html
>
>Cyn, my understanding is that when the grass turns brown and drys it has
>lost all or most of its nitrogen therefore making it a carbon.  The only
>example I can think of is hay.  While growing it is green and I am sure
very
>high in nitrogen.  After it is cut, and before it is baled, it is left on
>the ground to dry for some time, then baled.  Hay is generally used as a
>brown in composting.
>
>To confuse the issue a little, coffee grounds (brown in color of course)
are
>green in the composting world.
>Tammy
>
>
>On Wed, 5 Jan 2000 12:07:18 EST, Square Foot Gardening List wrote:
>
>>  Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html
>>
>>  In a message dated 1/5/2000 5:57:02 AM Pacific Standard Time,
>>  Tammyg456@excite.com writes:
>>
>>  >  In the summer if you are
>>  >  desperate for browns, leave your grass clippings on the lawn for a
>week or
>>  >  until the next mowing.  They will turn into browns and with the new
>cutting
>>  >  you are getting your greens in an almost perfect mix.
>>  Really?   I thought that green and brown were shorthands for heavy C and
>N
>>  providers and "once an N, always an N."  How does drying change that?
>>  Cyn
>>
>>
>>  ______________________________________________________________________
>>  To unsubscribe, write to sqft-unsubscribe@listbot.com
>>  ______________________________________________________________________
>>  Applying to college this year?
>>  Apply online at Embark.com and enter the Embark.com Tuition Sweepstakes!
>You could win $80,000 for tuition to the college of your dreams! Enter
daily
>to increase your chances of winning: Sweepstakes ends 1/15/00. Click to
>enter: http://www.listbot.com/links/embark
>
>
>
>
>
>_______________________________________________________
>Visit Excite Shopping at http://shopping.excite.com
> The fastest way to find your Holiday gift this season
>
>
>______________________________________________________________________
>To unsubscribe, write to sqft-unsubscribe@listbot.com
>______________________________________________________________________
>Applying to college this year?
>Apply online at Embark.com and enter the Embark.com Tuition Sweepstakes!
You could win $80,000 for tuition to the college of your dreams! Enter daily
to increase your chances of winning: Sweepstakes ends 1/15/00. Click to
enter: http://www.listbot.com/links/embark
>


______________________________________________________________________
To unsubscribe, write to sqft-unsubscribe@listbot.com
______________________________________________________________________
Applying to college this year?
Apply online at Embark.com and enter the Embark.com Tuition Sweepstakes! You could win $80,000 for tuition to the college of your dreams! Enter daily to increase your chances of winning: Sweepstakes ends 1/15/00. Click to enter: http://www.listbot.com/links/embark
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index