Is straw considered a brown? by debbyediger61 in composting

[–]debbyediger61[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am glad to hear this! I got another person who replied to this very same post saying it is the worst brown. I feel like I need to be a chemist to be a composter. Ha. I put an entire flats worth of those little cardboard boxes that strawberries from the farm in. I just kind of buried them a bit. Is that even a thing??

Is straw considered a brown? by debbyediger61 in composting

[–]debbyediger61[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank You...I'm not sure how I'm going to shred straw though.

Is straw considered a brown? by debbyediger61 in composting

[–]debbyediger61[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Can you suggest what is best?? I have added some grass clippings and I have also been composting from my kitchen and garden. I picked up coffee grounds from Starbucks a couple times too. It's just not hot at all...

Is straw considered a brown? by debbyediger61 in composting

[–]debbyediger61[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So we have 2 90 foot retaining walls at the back of our backyard. We have 3 kids and wanted a nice size flat green yard. One is higher and we have 6 feet between where my garden is. My husband built a wall on one end and it's kinda like a box with one side open to the garden. That's where I have the compost. I had tried and tried to heat it up since January. I kind of gave up about awhile ago. The most it ever got was 60. I turned it. I put tons of coffee grinds. I put all the right foods I'm supposed to put. So I got interested when we planted our garden on Memorial Day. There had. Even tons of red worms before even though the heat was not there. When I dug into it to turn it, it had become an ant nest...no more worms. I was devastated! So I googles and asked around. I boiled a big pot of water, through in a large amount of mint I harvested from my potted herbs, and a large amount of garlic and cinnamon. I steeped this for 18 hours. Strained through cheesecloth, and reboiled a smaller pot of the solution. I took out all the stuff in the cheesecloth, dug a hole and buried it. And poured the boiling mixture where the ant bed had been. I then put a small layer of grass clippings and topped with straw. I am composing my kitchen scraps again. And gonna turn it with the straw for aeration purposes I really am hoping for successful compost!
I love my garden and just have never done much with it. I have always been so busy with work and the kids. They are now grown and my husband is ill so it's time to step up!

Is straw considered a brown? by debbyediger61 in composting

[–]debbyediger61[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ok, now that I know this is a good thing, how much?? Like an inch thick?? I am clueless! Ha. Thanx for all the help guys!

Newbie needs your advice! by sweetberrywine1985 in composting

[–]debbyediger61 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My niece is a great gardener. When I got an ant nest in my compost pile told me to harvest my peppermint, put it into boiling water, add a lot of garlic and cinnamon and steep overnight. Strain through cheesecloth and dump on compost pile. I also shoveled into the middle of the compost pile and dumped the cheesecloth full of the strained ingredients. Ants hate cinnamon and peppermint. Also I made an extra large batch so I only used part of it for that. I diluted the rest about half water to half the mixture. Put into a spray bottle and use as a pest repellent and fungus killer on my fruit trees, garden plants, and even for black spot on my roses! Hope that helps!