Compost materials suitable for composting


Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html
I decided to drag out my notes from my composting class.  When I took this class I just was not ready to assimilate all of this information and put it to good use.  Now I am ready!!!!!!!
 
This is a list of material that were suggested.  This came from a Master Gardening class and is U.C. approved.
 
Alfalfa
coffee filters
dryer lint
grass clippings (duh!)
Kleenex
olive wastes
potato peels
straw
banana peels
coffee grounds
dust bunnies
hair !
leaves
paper
rice hulls
tea bags
cereal
corn cobs, husks
egg shells
hay
manure
pet litter (yep it says it right in my notes) now it didn't say used!
sawdust
toothpicks
citrus wastes
cottonseed meal
feathers
kitchen scraps
newspaper
pine needles
spider webs??????
vegetable scraps
 
Things to avoid.
fat, grease
meat
cat manure (no mention of the dreaded dog poop)
heavily seeded weeds
high-priced innoculants, stimulants, enzymes, etc..
 
Amendments to compost piles
rock dusts, ground shells, ashes
activators (high in nitrogen)
     natural:  blood meal, bone meal, "hot" manure, urine, (hey all of you beer    drinkers, now you know where you can recycle your beer), compost
 
     synthetic: ammonium sulfate or phosphate, urea, ammonia
 
Trouble shooting
ammonia odor - too much nitrogen
low temperature- too little nitrogen
matter not decomposed - too dry, too little nitrogen, pile too small
methane/sulfur odor - too little air, too wet
pile heated up, but decomposition stopped - too  much heat, pile too big
 
 
High in Carbon
Leaves
Corn Stalks
Oat Straw
Straw
Paper
Sawdust
Wood
 
High Nitrogen
Humus
Alfalfa Hay
Alfalfa
Kitchen Scraps
Green Sweet Clover
Rotted Manners
    Hot or more Nitrogen
        chicken, turkey
        duck, elephant, giraffe
        goat, goose, bat, horse,
        pigeon, rabbit, sheep
Cold or less Nitrogen
        beef cow, dairy, fish, lion
        human, worm, pig
Grass clippings
mature sweet clover
legume/grass hay
fruit waste
 
This is just my own 2 cents, I can't quote the source, but I heard you can even add the contents of your vacuum bag to the pile if you are hard up for brown stuff.
 
Sorry for the length.  But I just had to share.
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