A reader writes in with a question.

Hello,
I am a beginner with composting. I learned a lot from reading your answers to various questions. Thank you. However, I did not see anytyhing about composting pineapple peels? WE eat a lot of fresh pineapple and I hate to throw the peels. CAn I compost it?
Thanks,
Zenny

Yes, you can compost pineapple peel with no problem.

The skin on a pineapple is pretty tough, and the top part of the pineapple is even tougher. So they won’t break down as quickly as something like a banana peel. They will eventually break down though.

You can speed up the decomposition by cutting the peel (and top) into smaller pieces, but that isn’t required.

A reader writes in with a question.

My husband and I are renting our first home and I’m excited to start composting as about 70% of our weekly garbage is compostable. It appears as if the family who lived in the house before us set up a wire composting bin directly behind the children’s swingset in the back yard. I was wondering if that was in any way dangerous in terms of toxic fumes, children eating the dirt, etc.

I would not worry.

My four year old helps participate with composting sometimes, and I would not consider compost to be unsafe in any way.

In fact, the EPA has studied using compost as a way to clean up toxic areas. The organic process of materials breaking down into compost also helps get rid of some types of toxins in the soil.

You can always move your bin to a different spot if you are worried about kids getting into it. If you do, I would not have any concern about the former spot where the previous compost bin used to be.

Hope this helps!

A reader writes in with a question about whether it is safe to compost ashes.

Can ashes from a fireplace be used in a compost pile? Would it be considered “brown” stuff rather than “green” stuff, The only things in the ashes would be newspaper, pine and other dried natural wood; nothing chemically treated.

The sort answer is yes, you can compost wood ashes, in limited quantities.

You don’t want to overwhelm your compost pile with too much of any single ingredient, whether it is ashes or anything else.

Ashes from coal or barbecue briquettes should NOT be composted, because they can contain chemicals that might harm your soil. (Although I must point out that there was a study by Washington State University that determined coal ash up to a certain percentage in compost didn’t harm anything. So maybe I’m just being overly cautious.)

I personally do not like composting wood ashes though, because ashes change the pH of the soil. Ashes are very alkaline.

In fact, if you live in a dry, desert area that already has poor, alkaline soil, you should avoid even wood ash.

Oregon State University Extension Agency has a very thorough article about wood ash and gardening and composting, that is mostly positive about using wood ash with gardening and with composting.

They also mention the pH issue.

For the home gardener, however, wood ash can be a valuable source of lime, potassium and trace elements.

“Since wood ash is derived from plant material, it contains most of the 13 essential nutrients the soil must supply for plant growth,” said Sullivan. “When wood burns, nitrogen and sulfur are lost as gases, and calcium, potassium, magnesium and trace element compounds remain. The carbonates and oxides remaining after wood burning are valuable liming agents, raising pH, thereby helping to neutralize acid soils.”

Where soils are acid and low in potassium, wood ash is beneficial to most garden plants except acid-loving plants such as blueberries, rhododendrons and azaleas. Use wood ash on flower beds, lawns and shrubs.

Hope this is helpful!

Wondering about making compost from manure? Here’s a guide to what you can and can’t do, along with links to some other great resources I’ve found about the subject.

When I refer to manure, I am talking about horse manure, cow manure, and chicken manure.

If you want to know about whether to compost dog and cat poop, please check this page instead.

Horse Manure Compost

Horse manure can be composted, without much difficulty. Whatcom County in Washington State has the clearest and best page about how to compost horse manure, with step by step explanations and instructions. They even go as far as giving you the design for a bin that you can build yourself.

Cow Manure Compost

Managing cow manure issues is more complicated than just composting. It is possible to compost cow manure, but cattle ranchers and dairy farmers will need to follow all of the laws and regulations in their states. This publication features several complex strategies for dealing with cow waste via composting.  Cornell also has a great page with links to many other resources for larger scale cattle issues. If you’re a home composter, it is safe to add cattle manure to your compost pile. Cow manure is high in nitrogen.

Chicken Manure Compost

Seattle Tilth has a terrific, comprehensive guide to composting chicken manure, compiled by Judy Duncan, WSU Cooperative Extension, King County Master Gardener and Cooperative Extension Livestock Advisor. She covers benefits, collection methods, and composting methods, among other things.

Is there anything I missed — either a type of animal, or a good resource? Leave a comment and let me know and I’ll update.

You say “composte,” I say compost!

But either way, I want to help you learn to make your own composte at home.

Here’s a rundown of the resources available on this site:

In a hurry? Learn How to Composte In One Page.

Still have questions about composting? Ask on our Composting Questions and Answers page.

Check out our Chart of Materials that you can and can’t use when composting.

Want to know Why to Composte? We’ve got a page for that too.

Are you dealing with compost odor, or afraid to begin composting because you’re worried about bad smells?

If your compost has a bad odor, then there is something wrong. When the composting process is working correctly, then there are not any bad smells or strong odors.

Compost has a strong ammonia smell

A strong ammonia smell is typically related to too many nitrogen rich materials, and too much moisture.

Solution:

Add sawdust, shredded leaves, shredded newspaper or shredded cardboard to add more carbon rich materials, dry out the pile, and bring it back into balance. If it’s a bin, leave the lid off in sunny weather so that the moisture can burn off.

Compost smells rotten

A rotten smell is usually related to adding materials to your pile that should not have been composted in the first place. Are you added meat, dairy, grease or bones to your compost pile or bin? If so, stop!

Solution:

You can try adding more carbon rich materials like leaves and sawdust to bury the smelly materials.

You could dig a hole and bury the entire contents of the bin or pile and start over, avoiding meat, dairy, grease and bones in your next batch. Trench composting takes place underground, but there aren’t any smells because the materials are fully buried.

There are organic products that rapidly end any odors, and they work! I like this BioWish Odor Control product.

Do you have a different kind of stink with your compost?

Leave a comment here and tell us about it, or go to our Composting Questions page for help.

We love to get reader questions. Laura asks us the following:

“hi, thanks. I wonder about beans….are they like meat? i cook beans for two and inevitably have left over, can i compost? will they attract rats etc I live in the city…up til now i only am using raw fruit and veggie and grass leaves ….thanks (ex: pea soup, no oil, lental soup etc no oil). thank you”

Great question, Laura. The answer is: beans should be fine for composting. Here’s some rules of thumb though: it’s a good idea to bury kitchen scraps and food further down the pile and then put the leaves/grass clippings over them. You might want to follow this tact when composting your beans as well. This will ensure that they will have less of a chance of being subject to rodents and pests.

All in all, you should be fine. Thanks for your question, and hope this helps!

As we often get questions related to composting (and some great ones at that, by the way…you guys are on top of your game) – we try and answer them as soon as we can. A question we got recently comes from Joanne, who asks:

“Can you compost a canned vegetable product if the can is bulged and air escapes when opened?”

Great question, Joanne! You sure can’t eat it…that’s for sure. However, let’s say you’ve got a dented or swollen can (something that you’d throw away and not eat) – yes, you can compost it! You might want to throw it in the center of the pile, as to avoid rodents or pests digging into your compost. Basically, once oxygen is involved, the anaerobic bacteria will die off and the aerobic microbes from the compost will break everything down, and you should be fine.

If you’re really worried about it, you could always trench compost it – which is basically digging a hole, dumping it in there, covering it up, and then leaving it.

In all honesty, you will be totally fine with everything. Thanks, and hope this helps. Happy Composting!

In this Video, Lars answers a question from Lynn, one of our readers, concerning paper towels and compost piles. Lynn asked us the following:

It would be very nice if you can add information about paper towels that are compostable. You mentioned that brown material is good for adding to your composting, would the commercial brown paper towels used in washrooms can be considered as brown material as well? I was told by an Environmental company that the paper towels are also used to be spread on landfill to prevent the smell.

Thanks for your question, Lynn! To clarify, when we say “brown material” we aren’t necessarily talking about the color, we are talking about carbon-rich material. To answer the question though…yes, you can definitely recycle and compost paper towels – be it white ones, or even recycled, brown paper towels that you sometimes see in an office washroom.

You don’t want to compost any paper towels that you’ve gotten wet with chemicals, because this can harm your compost. But if it’s just a normal paper towel that you’ve gotten wet at some point, you can totally use it with your compost, that’s no problem at all!

Thanks again for reading, and thanks for your question! Hope this is a big help!

In the above video, Lars answers a question asked by another one of our readers, Heather. She asked us the following:

My husband’s grandmother had a beautiful vegetable garden. She just put leaves, newspaper, and vegetable scraps down the rows of her garden. She raked/tilled in under every few weeks. Is this a good idea?

Thanks for the question, Heather! Your husband’s grandmother is very wise – this is a legitimate method of composting – it’s known as trench composting, which is where you can dig a hole and place your organic materials in there. Cover it up, and it will break your materials down over time, and improve the quality of the soil. Famers have used this method of composting for hundreds, if not thousands of years…it’s a perfectly good way to compost.

So yes, it can be a great idea and has proven to work for years upon years. Thanks for your question and hope this helps!