Comments on: How to build a compost pile

By: Lucy

Lucy — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 19:39:56 +0000

Is it ok to use shredded papers in our compost pile? I just started today on our compost pile but what I have the most is greens and not much of brown, dry items to add to our compost pile.
But I have a whole bunch of shreded papers as in old black and white reciepts. Would that be ok?
Thank you for any help.

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Yes, shredded paper works fine as a carbon source for your compost pile. You just want to avoid slick, colored papers. White paper is fine, and newsprint is fine.

By: JOHN CRAWFORD

JOHN CRAWFORD — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 03:02:19 +0000

Hi
I have a large lawn and I store all my grass clippings in a pile and have begun a composting area by stacking up hay bales and filling the area with the clippings. I added a compost accelerator and it appears to be working well and generating plenty of heat. My questions are;
1. 95% 0f the material will be grass clippings, is that OK?
2. how do I know when the process is complete? I intend to use the compost mainly as a additive to my vegetable garden.

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In general, a variety of materials will often compost better than a single material. However, if you are generating heat, then you’re doing it right! So keep doing what you’re doing.

When the compost starts to finish, it will cool off and will no longer generate the kind of heat that it does when it is actively breaking down. So that will be one sign.

But you can also recognize finished compost by how it looks. It looks like rich, fertile soil. And you shouldn’t be able to recognize any individual parts of the compost anymore, other than a few chunks of sticks or something like that. Once it looks like that, then you’re done.

By: Joe

Joe — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 13:16:15 +0000

I have a compost turner, and would like to know the optimal temperature to turn the compost.

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I’m not sure if I understand the question. In general, I guess I would say that if you are measuring the temperature and you’re getting good and hot readings, then I would probably leave it alone for a few days until the temperature starts to get lower, and then mix it up again.

I don’t think you can really say that there’s an exact temperature that you should shoot for, or you should turn the compost at.

It’s a little bit more art than science, in my opinion. So I’d just keep testing what’s working best for your particular pile or bin.

By: Robert DeMoura

Robert DeMoura — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 09:36:37 +0000

I have my compost near my porch and it smells is there anything I can do about the smell………

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If compost stinks, then there is typically something wrong.

1. If it is too wet, it sometimes stinks. So let it dry out, if so. Should be the dampness of a wrung out sponge.

2. If you have too many nitrogen rich materials and not enough carbon, it can stink. So add a lot more dried leaves. Or shredded newspaper if you don’t have any leaves.

By: John

John — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 04:58:13 +0000

Can vegetable oil used for frying be added to compost?
Thank you for a most helpful web page!

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Although it’s technically “vegetable,” I wouldn’t add vegetable oil. Any kind of oil or grease or fat tends to gum things up, and can also attract pests and rodents. So no, don’t add new or used vegetable oil to the compost pile.