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lilacs_of_may

Rice and bread

lilacs_of_may
16 years ago

(Don't yell at me. I'm a newbie.)

I heard somewhere that you shouldn't put rice or bread in the compost heap. Why not? Should you not put any grain type substance in a compost bin?

Comments (18)

  • Kimmsr
    16 years ago

    I see no reason to keep rice and bread out of the compost. Depending on which rice and bread you have (the white stuff is much less nutritious and tastes terrible) would be of much less value in the compost than would brown rice and whole wheat bread but as a general rule of thumb if you eat it you can compost it.

  • organica
    16 years ago

    It's definitely compostible stuff - the danger is that grain products are very attractive to rodents and you could end up with rats in the compost. If you put that stuff in, I recommend you mix it in very well accompanied by a lot of coffee grounds. If you have anything approaching a rodent problem on your property, you might not want to risk it.
    -O

  • Kimmsr
    16 years ago

    Grain products would be no more attractive to these rodents than any other food we eat, so if there are rodents around and you would not want to take a chance on attracting them you should not add any food products to your compost which kind of is one of the reasons to compost.

  • lilacs_of_may
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    I have a squirrel problem, but I've never seen any evidence of rats or mice.

    Great. I'll compost it. I just hate to throw away anything that can serve as compost.

  • sabe
    16 years ago

    I find the best way to mix breads, cereals, and chips into the pile is to stick them in a bucket of water for a day. It all breaks down into a mushy paste and then I pour the sludge into the pile.

    and it keeps the critters from running away with the breadcrust

  • joepyeweed
    16 years ago

    I've heard that putting bread into your compost pile attracts planarians.

    I've also heard that people who have soggy-bread-phobia strongly object to composting bread.

    However, I have no such phobia and I'm not concerned about planarians, but out of respect for a dear friend with such a phobia, I refrain from composting bread. (Well at least I tell her that...)

  • alfie_md6
    16 years ago

    Hey, me too!

  • david52 Zone 6
    16 years ago

    Well, I don't compost "bread" - per se. I have added cooked, discarded, finely ground grass seed mildly chemically leavened by yeast and even some times baking soda, but never just plain old "bread".

  • paulns
    16 years ago

    In some people, bread in the compost pile induces aesthetic dyspepsia.

  • dorisl
    16 years ago

    Composting, it aint pretty!

  • tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
    16 years ago

    If your compost has planarians it is a bit too moist.

    tj

  • lilacs_of_may
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    I actually know what a planarian is. But the only time I've seen them has been in biology class.

    I dumped yard debris on the rice and bread. Last I looked it hadn't been foraged. The squirrels did make off with what was left of an avocado once.

  • ralphdean
    16 years ago

    I get 20 - 30 loaves of week old bread from a distributor here. I let them out of their plastic bags to dry out a day or two then grind them. Mixed with everything else they compost just fine.

    There is a local animal that likes the blueberry scones. He will not take anything else just the blueberry scones and only one a night.

  • grayentropy
    16 years ago

    Rice/Bread/paper= Carbohydrates=browns
    veggie/fruit/grass/green=protein=greens.

    Balancing kitchen wastes with browns such as breads, pastas, noodles, rice, napkins, tissues, etc. is a good thing and helps bring the C:N to optimal.

    I have 2 hunting cats, live in MA and have never had a rodent problem in my compost.

    If I did have a rodent problem I would add mammalian urine to the compst bin.

    If I still had rodent problems I would compost some rodents.

  • bpgreen
    16 years ago

    I always thought that things like bread, rice, pasta and so forth are browns (because they're carbohydrates/starches), but I've been told that they're greens, just like other grains. I think the key is that for our diets, they're considered carbs, but that's in comparison with things like meat. Since people use grains as fertilizer for the nitrogen content, I think they do count as greens (maybe weak greens, though).

  • Kimmsr
    16 years ago

    Whether bread or rice is just Carbon or is a source of some Nitrogen depends on whether you use a whole grain product or the typical nutrient free white products. White breads and white rice have so few nutrients that they are not something people or animals shyould be eating.

  • ralphdean
    16 years ago

    My vote is that they are browns. They do not heat up the compost heap.

  • alfie_md6
    16 years ago

    Bread is definitely a green. Even white bread is a green. Lumps of bread in the compost get hot.

    (Not, of course, that I ever compost bread. Oh no. Never. I don't want planarians in my compost!)