Compost Manual .......... A complete guide to composting.

Dos and Don'ts

What to put in your compost bin:

Almost anything botanical will work in your compost bin. Dead leaves during fall are outstanding, since they can help improve all soil types and aerate heavy clay soils. A lawn sweeper is a good idea to help collect leaves—it’s much faster than raking and picks up leftover foliage better. Tree limbs and branches turned into wood chips and sawdust are also great, although these need to be chopped or shredded. Again, having a chipper shredder around will make this job a lot easier.

Grass clippings decompose quickly and have as much nitrogen as manure, but you need to mix them well with plenty of browns so that they don’t become anaerobic and clump together. Seedlings, dead plants and decapitated flower heads should also be thrown in as green materials. Spoiled hay or straw is a great carbon (brown) material. Seaweed is another great source for composting, but be sure to wash off the salt first.

what to compost
Manure is a given; it contains both nitrogen and microbes, in addition to being full of nutrients. Use manure from herbivores, as meat-eating animal manure can have harmful pathogens. Let manure age a little bit to avoid overheating your compost pile and killing off good bacteria and earthworms, and layer it with other browns like straw or leaves to keep things balanced.

Kitchen scraps include melon rinds, carrot peelings, tea bags, coffee grinds, orange peels, apple cores, banana peels, corn cobs and corn stalks, peanut shells, alfalfa or sprouts, and egg shells (although these need to be crushed to break down faster). Keep a kitchen scrap carrier handy so you can easily add biodegradable items to your compost pile every few days. If your compost pile is open, over the scraps with brown materials to deter pests from visiting your compost.

Shredded cardboard boxes, newspapers, paper (particularly those with soy-based inks) and sawdust from untreated wood will all contribute nicely to your organic potpourri. You should always keep in mind not to put too much of any one thing in—it can throw off the N-P-K balance, not to mention the pH. If adding paper products, keep it at 10% or less of the compost material weight, as these products are low in nitrogen and slow rates of decomposition in your pile.

Remember, the more surface area of waste exposed to your compost microorganisms, the faster the decomposition process. Throw in a handful of good garden soil to inoculate your new pile with living organisms. A few earthworms are a nice addition, too.

Though not required, many individuals add compost starters and accelerators to help their pile along—this is fine, just avoid synthetic additives and seek out organic sources with minimal packaging, like those found on our website.


The following table is a cheat sheet for your convenience:
From the Yard From the Kitchen
  • chemical-free grass clippings
  • dry leaves
  • Shrub and tree waste
  • sawdust and wood chips from untreated wood
  • straw and hay
  • dead plants and flowers
  • potting soil
  • dead insects
  • coffee grounds and filters
  • tea bags (without staples) and leaves
  • veggie and fruit scraps
  • corn husks
  • crushed eggshells
  • hair from brushes
  • cereal, like oatmeal
  • bread and flour
  • leftover pasta, without oil or dairy-based sauces
  • rice
  • all-natural fibers, like cotton
  • shredded black and white newspaper and paper towels.

What Not to Put in Your Compost Bin:

Though all organic matter can naturally break down, some materials are not suitable for the home compost pile. Read these carefully, and adhere to this advice in order to have the most healthy and safe composting experience.

First and foremost, no human or pet excrement should be added to the bins. Feces can harbor harmful bacteria, and there is no guarantee that the high temperatures of your pile will kill them. The potential health cost is too high, thus directly composting feces should not be attempted.

Secondly, stay away from greasy foods, dairy products, meat scraps (including fish) and bones. Not only can their decomposition result in colorful aromas, they can attract rodents. Moreover, why propagate pestilence? Rocks, plastic, metals and Styrofoam are not going to do much for your pile, so keep them out.

Ashes from your fireplace are basically worthless --- they are already broken down as much as possible from heat and flames, and therefore have little potential energy to offer the microorganisms in your pile. Besides, ash can drastically alter the pH of the soil. Avoid coal ashes because they contain sulfur and iron that can harm your plants, and charcoal doesn’t decay too much, so don’t use them either.

If your prize tomatoes experienced their worst blight on record, you want to keep their diseased leaves and stems out of the pile, especially if the finished compost will be returning to your vegetable garden. Oak, southern magnolia, and holly trees are too leathery for composting, and eucalyptus leaves can be toxic to other plants, in addition to black walnut trees, poison oak, poison ivy, and sumac. Weeds are tricky—some weeds can be composted, but if they have begun to seed, only the hottest compost pile will kill them. Pine needles can actually slow down your compost pile - avoid mixing too many of them into your pile.

The following list is a cheat sheet of what not to put in your compost bin, provided for your convenience:



1 2 3 4 5