Composting

I have been a terrible composter lately. Most of the time I have just been throwing our food scraps right on top of our compost pile without turning it or adding more dry material. This is not what should be done and this has caused my compost to be overrun with flies. So I decided to add more "brown" material today in the form of leaves. We have tons of leaves in our yard and its about time I put them in the compost. Hopefully this will put a stop to my fly problem!

Right now my compost bin consists of an old trash can that I drilled tons of holes into. It works nicely but one day I would love to own one of these:

This is the Tumbleweed Compost Tumbler, I have been drooling over this for quite a while now. All you need to do is put your scraps in and then flip it, that tumbles the compost helping it to decompose faster.

Or this Naturemill Automatic Composter would be nice and convenient since it would be housed in the kitchen.


Just in case you are wondering how to compost the general rule of thumb is that you want to keep the consistency of your compost to 1 part green matter to 2 parts brown matter. If you keep your compost at that ratio you should have no problems with smell or insects. BHG.com has some great videos for how to make a compost pile as well as what is classified as brown and what is classified as green.

http://www.bhg.com/bettertv/?lid=626874890

Here is a long list of things that can be composted.
Paper Napkins
Freezer Burned Veggies
Pet Hair
Post-it Notes
Woodchips
Lint
Hay
Popcorn
Flowers
Spices
Pine Needles
Leaves
Matches
Seaweed and Kelp
Old Herbs
Birdcage Cleanings
Paper Towels
Grass Clippings
Potato Peelings
Unpaid Bills (if you are putting this in your compost please run to daveramsey.com) :)
Weeds
Hair from the drain
Stale Bread
Coffee Grounds
Wood Ashes
Sawdust
Tea Bags
Shredded Newspaper
Egg Shells (These compost better if crushed)
ATM recipts
Houseplant Trimmings
Old Pasta
Garden Soil
Corncobs
Jell-O
Aquarium Plants
Sunday Funnies
Tissues
Soy Milk
Tree Bark
Pumpkin Seeds (Better yet roast them with some seasoning salt and enjoy them as a healthy snack, they are yummy!)
White Glue
Citrus Waste
Stale Potato Chips
Old Leather Gardening Gloves
Wheat Bran
Nut Shells
Hampster Cage Cleanings
Moldy Cheese
Shredded Cardboard
Apple Cores
Expired Yogurt
Toenail Clippings
Pie Crust
Leather Wallets
Onion Skins
Watermelon Rinds
Date Pits
Olive Pits
Burned Toast, Oatmeal, etc.
Breadcrust
Cooked Rice
Banana Peels
Wool Socks
Soggy Cereal
Theater Tickets
Stale Cookies
Vacuum Cleaner Bag Contents
Envelopes
Grocery Receipts