I would. My family doesn't leave the yolks but I would compost them or most likely give them to the dog :-)

I compost the seeds from fruits and veggies too. So far nothings every sprouts. Actually, I compost almost everything from the kitchen waste department except for bones. I just don't have a big enough or get it hot enough compost to do that yet.

Val

Cool! In it goes!

I guess if there was a way to grind up the bones they'd be prefect, huh?

I compost all food scraps, cooked or not...veggie or not...

"If you can feed it to your children, you can feed it to your compost. Really, you can."

Annpat--What if there are people who feed bread to their children?

Anything that you could eat, whether you do or not(ie. egg yolks), can be composted. Along with that any thing that once grew can be composted, but you may want to be a bit careful since some things require careful handling when composting.

I now compost almost any food. Offhand, the only exception that comes to mind is if I think there's too much oil collected from cooking. For years, I bought the whole don't-compost-meat-dairy-and-so-on thing. And in fact, the argument that it might attract animals made sense....until this summer, when we moved, I was gardening in a small, in-town yard, but there were skunks, raccoons, wandering cats around. I even had a hawk in my tiny yard, but that's another story.

So, yes, avoiding material that might attract animals made sense. Now, however, I'm out in the country, and of course there are animals. They're already here, there are foxes living down at the end of the road....my compost pile isn't attracting much that's new to the area.

However, I do try to follow the advice given here by burying meats, poultry skins, bones, dairy products in the pile. Same with the wonderful shrimp peels, crab shells, and etc.

The point isn't that I care whether I have critters in the garden. The point is: those are MY shells and bones, for MY compost pile! :)

I have a huge enough pile of horse manure to hide most food scraps.

lynxe - I have always avoided composting meat, dairy etc. but have just recently been entertaining the thought of trying it. I'm going to build a new bin this summer though that I can enclose...all of a sudden my dog has taken an interest in it. It's those dang rotting pumpkins! Goofy dog.

I think though when I get the bin built that I want, I'm going to start composting a lot more things.

Val

I am new to GW, so I hope it's ok to just jump right in.?.

I thought it was dangerous to compost meat and dairy? I've been composting for several years, and have always been afraid to compost these things.

Doesn't meat and dairy hurt earth worms and such, or have I been misinformed?

Thanks so much

I compost everything. (Well, of course like the rest of us, I don't compost anything that swells when it meets up with moisture (but otherwise, everything).)

I chuck my dog's old bones into my pile when I come upon them. I think that needs clarification. I chuck the old marrow bones that my alive dog leaves around the yard after she's tired of them. I do worry about cooked bones for fear of splinters in her throat. Lobster shells, on the other hand, go into the pile with no regard for the dog. If she wants to eat shells, I can't reason with her.

Barefoot C: It's not dangerous to compost meat and dairy, just not recommended by most sources. The reason it's not recommend is not because it's a detriment to your pile but because it can attract critters. If you bury your food scraps deep enough it's not a problem, especially if your pile runs hot.

The only food I don't compost are those that are especially salty.

Composting is a bit of an art and can become an obsession! Putting cooked food in compost is ok for making good compost, but it encourages rats, so best not to. To achieve the best compost have layers of green and brown. Green being plants e.g. weeds, grass cuttings (soft plants) and brown being chopped up brambles & other hard stemmed plants, and shredded paper & cardboard but not too much per layer. Scrap uncooked food from the kitchen can be classed as either the green or the brown layer, but if that's all you ever put in the compost you'll end up with slime. Aim for crumbly dark brown earth like substance which feels clean in your hands and clean to smell. Each time you add a layer give it a watering, don't let it dry out completely. Turn the compost e.g. turn it with a shovel or lift it out and into another bin, every few months. Leave for at least 6-12 months before using. Have a few bins on 3 month availability if you have the space for them, so you always have enough. And remember, compost needs insects working away in it, so stand your compost bin on top of earth not concrete or tiles and don't disturb it too much until you need to turn it.

Very good compost can be made in cement block bins with concrete floors.