A COMPLETE Turn Over

Since my compost has sat for so long and no one tending it, I decided that I would do a COMPLETE turn. Up until this point I have been turning the top; about 1/4 of the way down the bin... Doing a complete turn meant pulling the entire bin out and flipping it over (bottom portion on top and vice versa). It turns out this was a much bigger task than I'd originally anticipated.

When you work and volunteer with two different organizations plus dog training on the weekends, you discover this doesn't leave a lot of time left over. Due to this, and the fact I am apparently extremely out of shape, it's been taking me a few days.

I threw a large piece of plywood on the ground in front of the box, in an attempt to contain the compost. I soon learned this was quite pointless.

I filled two garbage cans with the top half of the contents (which will now be the bottom) and began chipping away at the bottom half (which will now be the top). Because the box has sat for so long with no turning of the bottom, it started to become almost petrified. A lot of very compact pieces of dirt, grass, and twigs, including many very acidic pine branches that turned almost to a white ash and left a skeleton of the branches untouched.



I also found a lot of garbage in the compost... odds are these pieces were accidental, but let me state something clearly. The compost heap is NOT a garbage can! Plastics will NOT decompose in your compost heap!

This is still a work in progress... I set up a little fence to keep the dog out of compost, and there it sits until it is finished!

Carbon and Nitrogen

One of the most important factors to composting is knowing about the Carbon-to-Nitrogen Ratio (C:N). All organic matter is made up of substantial amounts of Carbon (C) and Nitrogen (N). Carbon is needed in your compost pile for the composting organisms for energy and Nitrogen is required for protein production.

Scientists have determined that the C:N should be roughly 25-30:1 for an effective and quick compost. A compost with this ratio will be sweet-smelling, fertile, and fast-acting. Generally speaking, Browns are high in Carbon and Greens are high in Nitrogen.

When adding kitchen waste greens, it is a good idea to also add the correct ratio of browns as well, if you are working with a well established compost heap. Because my compost had consisted mostly of Carbon-rich Browns for so long and had basically "died", I can focus a bit more on adding Nitrogen-rich Greens without adding extra Browns.

You can keep a pile of lawn rakings (leaves and cut grass) in a pile or contained in a fence/bin etc. next to your compost bin, to always have an easy supply of browns when you need it!

Estimated Carbon-to-Nitrogen Ratios
Browns = High Carbon	C:N
Ashes, wood	25:1
Cardboard, shredded	350:1
Corn stalks	75:1
Fruit waste	35:1
Leaves	60:1
Newspaper, shredded	175:1
Peanut shells	35:1
Pine needles	80:1
Sawdust	325:1
Straw	75:1
Wood chips	400:1
Greens = High Nitrogen	C:N
Alfalfa	12:1
Clover	23:1
Coffee grounds	20:1
Food waste	20:1
Garden waste	30:1
Grass clippings	20:1
Hay	25:1
Manures	15:1
Seaweed	19:1
Vegetable scraps	25:1
Weeds	30:1

source: http://www.composting101.com/c-n-ratio.html