Is it useful to put shredded paper in compost bins? My compost is too green
and wet. I need to add more into it but don't have sawdust. What else could
I use?

Liz

"Staycalm" <lizirwin [at] ihatespamoptusnet.com.au> wrote in message
news:442c5dc2$0$10672$afc38c87 [at] news.optusnet.com.au...
> Is it useful to put shredded paper in compost bins? My compost is too
> green and wet. I need to add more into it but don't have sawdust. What
> else could I use?

shredded paper is good. dried-out plants/trimmings are good too - i leave
mine lying around on the ground (out of the way, naturally) until they're
all dried out & then break them up a bit (if necessary) & put them in in a
layer in the bin. you can also use dried-out leaves (esp in autumn!) and/or
dried-out grass clippings, etc. any dried-out plant material you trust not
to be weedy & isn't too big, basically.

my compost was like yours, a bit smelly & rank & i used to need to lime it
quite a bit, but with adding layers of torn paper or dried out garden
trimmings interspersed with the layers of "soft" composting material, i find
i am not needing to lime any more & it's just breaking down quicker & more
nicely. apparently the dried-out materials will add carbon for better
balance, as well as breaking up the continual addition of "soft" layers, so
there's better aeration as well, which aids the process. i squirt a bit of
water on if it's very dry, to get it going.
kylie

Staycalm wrote:
> Is it useful to put shredded paper in compost bins? My compost is too green
> and wet. I need to add more into it but don't have sawdust. What else could

Add in small batches, unless you can mix it in to other stuff you are
adding, then water in the bin.

Wet paper can clump together so bad that it breaks down like sticks
{:-(. So this is why is needs to be spread and mixed.

Post removed (X-No-Archive: yes)

"0tterbot" <spl [at] t.com> wrote in message
news:mb_Wf.20410$dy4.19445 [at] news-server.bigpond.net.au...
> "Staycalm" <lizirwin [at] ihatespamoptusnet.com.au> wrote in message
> news:442c5dc2$0$10672$afc38c87 [at] news.optusnet.com.au...
> > Is it useful to put shredded paper in compost bins? My compost is too
> > green and wet. I need to add more into it but don't have sawdust. What
> > else could I use?
>
> shredded paper is good. dried-out plants/trimmings are good too - i leave
> mine lying around on the ground (out of the way, naturally) until they're
> all dried out & then break them up a bit (if necessary) & put them in in a
> layer in the bin. you can also use dried-out leaves (esp in autumn!)
and/or
> dried-out grass clippings, etc. any dried-out plant material you trust not
> to be weedy & isn't too big, basically.
>
> my compost was like yours, a bit smelly & rank & i used to need to lime it
> quite a bit, but with adding layers of torn paper or dried out garden
> trimmings interspersed with the layers of "soft" composting material, i
find
> i am not needing to lime any more & it's just breaking down quicker & more
> nicely. apparently the dried-out materials will add carbon for better
> balance, as well as breaking up the continual addition of "soft" layers,
so
> there's better aeration as well, which aids the process. i squirt a bit of
> water on if it's very dry, to get it going.
> kylie

cardboard is another very good additive to your compost. I tear up the odd
box, toilet roll inner etc and throw it in the compost. Do not add anything
that has a plastic coating unless you are prepared to fish through the
finished compost for the plastic remains. Essentially anything brown and dry
will add carbon to your compost, try straw or hay, this balances up the
nitrogen from green items such as grass clippings and kitchen waste.
Layering carbons and nitrogens will allow them to balance each other out.
Also chuck on tea bags, used coffee grounds, sea weed if you can get it.
They are all very good.

rob

In article <442c5dc2$0$10672$afc38c87 [at] news.optusnet.com.au>,
"Staycalm" <lizirwin [at] ihatespamoptusnet.com.au> wrote:

> Is it useful to put shredded paper in compost bins? My compost is too green
> and wet. I need to add more into it but don't have sawdust. What else could
> I use?

The paper would be perfect.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"Parenthood is like the modern stone washing process for denim jeans. You may
start out crisp, neat and tough, but you end up pale, limp and wrinkled."
Kerry Cue

I deliberately make slimy green compost from wet grass clippings (smells
really bad when you dig it out. Once the heat has gone out of it, I bury it
in the garden (as opposed to digging it through) - the worms absolutely love
it. By the time the crop planted over it is finished, there is just a nice
layer of worm caste left to be dug over ready for the next batch of slime to
be buried. Interestingly I don't often need to add lime to balance the soil.

I also run a bottomless worm farm, to which I add shredded paper when it
starts to get a but wet or smelly. I also have the traditional slow -
everything-in compost.

Geoff


"0tterbot" <spl [at] t.com> wrote in message
news:mb_Wf.20410$dy4.19445 [at] news-server.bigpond.net.au...
> "Staycalm" <lizirwin [at] ihatespamoptusnet.com.au> wrote in message
> news:442c5dc2$0$10672$afc38c87 [at] news.optusnet.com.au...
>> Is it useful to put shredded paper in compost bins? My compost is too
>> green and wet. I need to add more into it but don't have sawdust. What
>> else could I use?
>
> shredded paper is good. dried-out plants/trimmings are good too - i leave
> mine lying around on the ground (out of the way, naturally) until they're
> all dried out & then break them up a bit (if necessary) & put them in in a
> layer in the bin. you can also use dried-out leaves (esp in autumn!)
> and/or dried-out grass clippings, etc. any dried-out plant material you
> trust not to be weedy & isn't too big, basically.
>
> my compost was like yours, a bit smelly & rank & i used to need to lime it
> quite a bit, but with adding layers of torn paper or dried out garden
> trimmings interspersed with the layers of "soft" composting material, i
> find i am not needing to lime any more & it's just breaking down quicker &
> more nicely. apparently the dried-out materials will add carbon for better
> balance, as well as breaking up the continual addition of "soft" layers,
> so there's better aeration as well, which aids the process. i squirt a bit
> of water on if it's very dry, to get it going.
> kylie
>

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
--------------040701060309000704030105
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Geoff & Heather wrote:

>I deliberately make slimy green compost from wet grass clippings (smells
>really bad when you dig it out. Once the heat has gone out of it, I bury it
>in the garden (as opposed to digging it through) - the worms absolutely love
>it. By the time the crop planted over it is finished, there is just a nice
>layer of worm caste left to be dug over ready for the next batch of slime to
>be buried. Interestingly I don't often need to add lime to balance the soil.
>
>I also run a bottomless worm farm, to which I add shredded paper when it
>starts to get a but wet or smelly. I also have the traditional slow -
>everything-in compost.
>
>Geoff
>
>
>"0tterbot" <spl [at] t.com> wrote in message
>news:mb_Wf.20410$dy4.19445 [at] news-server.bigpond.net.au...
>
>
>>"Staycalm" <lizirwin [at] ihatespamoptusnet.com.au> wrote in message
>>news:442c5dc2$0$10672$afc38c87 [at] news.optusnet.com.au...
>>
>>
>>>Is it useful to put shredded paper in compost bins? My compost is too
>>>green and wet. I need to add more into it but don't have sawdust. What
>>>else could I use?
>>>
>>>
>>shredded paper is good. dried-out plants/trimmings are good too - i leave
>>mine lying around on the ground (out of the way, naturally) until they're
>>all dried out & then break them up a bit (if necessary) & put them in in a
>>layer in the bin. you can also use dried-out leaves (esp in autumn!)
>>and/or dried-out grass clippings, etc. any dried-out plant material you
>>trust not to be weedy & isn't too big, basically.
>>
>>my compost was like yours, a bit smelly & rank & i used to need to lime it
>>quite a bit, but with adding layers of torn paper or dried out garden
>>trimmings interspersed with the layers of "soft" composting material, i
>>find i am not needing to lime any more & it's just breaking down quicker &
>>more nicely. apparently the dried-out materials will add carbon for better
>>balance, as well as breaking up the continual addition of "soft" layers,
>>so there's better aeration as well, which aids the process. i squirt a bit
>>of water on if it's very dry, to get it going.
>>kylie
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
>
Wow Love those worms!!

--------------040701060309000704030105
Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
<meta content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="Content-Type">
<title></title>
</head>
<body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000">
Geoff &amp; Heather wrote:
<blockquote cite="mid44339746$0$7530$afc38c87 [at] news.optusnet.com.au"
type="cite">
<pre wrap="">I deliberately make slimy green compost from wet grass clippings (smells
really bad when you dig it out. Once the heat has gone out of it, I bury it
in the garden (as opposed to digging it through) - the worms absolutely love
it. By the time the crop planted over it is finished, there is just a nice
layer of worm caste left to be dug over ready for the next batch of slime to
be buried. Interestingly I don't often need to add lime to balance the soil.

I also run a bottomless worm farm, to which I add shredded paper when it
starts to get a but wet or smelly. I also have the traditional slow -
everything-in compost.

Geoff


"0tterbot" <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:spl [at] t.com">&lt;spl [at] t.com&gt;</a> wrote in message
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="news:mb_Wf.20410$dy4.19445 [at] news-server.bigpond.net.au">news:mb_Wf.20410$dy4.19445 [at] news-server.bigpond.net.au</a>...
</pre>
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre wrap="">"Staycalm" <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:lizirwin [at] ihatespamoptusnet.com.au">&lt;lizirwin [at] ihatespamoptusnet.com.au&gt;</a> wrote in message
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="news:442c5dc2$0$10672$afc38c87 [at] news.optusnet.com.au">news:442c5dc2$0$10672$afc38c87 [at] news.optusnet.com.au</a>...
</pre>
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre wrap="">Is it useful to put shredded paper in compost bins? My compost is too
green and wet. I need to add more into it but don't have sawdust. What
else could I use?
</pre>
</blockquote>
<pre wrap="">shredded paper is good. dried-out plants/trimmings are good too - i leave
mine lying around on the ground (out of the way, naturally) until they're
all dried out &amp; then break them up a bit (if necessary) &amp; put them in in a
layer in the bin. you can also use dried-out leaves (esp in autumn!)
and/or dried-out grass clippings, etc. any dried-out plant material you
trust not to be weedy &amp; isn't too big, basically.

my compost was like yours, a bit smelly &amp; rank &amp; i used to need to lime it
quite a bit, but with adding layers of torn paper or dried out garden
trimmings interspersed with the layers of "soft" composting material, i
find i am not needing to lime any more &amp; it's just breaking down quicker &amp;
more nicely. apparently the dried-out materials will add carbon for better
balance, as well as breaking up the continual addition of "soft" layers,
so there's better aeration as well, which aids the process. i squirt a bit
of water on if it's very dry, to get it going.
kylie

</pre>
</blockquote>
<pre wrap=""><!---->

</pre>
</blockquote>
Wow Love those worms!!<br>
</body>
</html>

--------------040701060309000704030105--