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| what do you use for the greens,especially during winter |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by toxcrusadr (My Page) on Mon, Dec 5, 11 at 16:43
| Yes, it pretty much is, except for any paper such as coffee filters, and napkins/paper towels if you are putting those in. Of course it will vary a bit, coffee grounds are a very mild green and probably some of the other stuff is higher in N. Most people in climates that have winter and who don't have livestock end up with kitchen scraps as the primary green in winter. I save some fall leaves to cover each addition with. Amazing how a household can fill up an entire bin with that by spring. |
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- Posted by Strawberryhill 5a IL (My Page) on Thu, Dec 8, 11 at 10:31
| Hi Toxcrusadr: Always glad to hear from you - thank you for your help, you enrich many - I appreciate your knowledge, since I was wondering about coffee filters. Hi Finchelover: I assume you love those yellow finch birds, they are my favorites - along with red cardinals. I got so excited this year when I saw a Blue Jay for the first time in my garden in 12 years. My planting lots of evergreen trees and 2 bird baths paid off. Bananas is the best green you can get: it doesn't mold like melons, and high in potassium. From the booklet by EarthCo. (one of best soil-testing companies) - they stated "On average about one-third of soils tested are deficient in potassium." Wood-ash is super-high in potassium, and the booklet stated, "potassium has the potential to burn plant roots ..." However, I have never burnt any 16+ roses by mulching them with banana peels. I don't eat wood ash, and I wouldn't want to apply directly to plant roots either. When tested in red cabbage juice as pH indicator, finely chopped banana peels neutralized the purple cabbage IMMEDIATELY, giving it a lighter color. It took coffee grounds longer, like 4 hours to neutralize the color. Banana peels is the strongest buffer you can find - and safe for all types of soil. One cold fall I collected lawn clippings from the neighbors and put them inside my garage. It's amazing how much heat those bags gave off while decomposing - nice way to keep my garage warm. |
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| Depends. I also put nut shells in my kitchen compost bucket, lots of pistachios. They're not green. I put eggshells in the bin, and that isn't even plant material, but they are loaded with calcium, which is extremely necessary in preventing blossom end rot in tomatoes, peppers, etc. It is just an important soil nutrient, and breaking it down in the compost pile is a good thing. And when we say "green" we are not really talking about the color, it's more important the nitrogen content. Whatever you put in, will eventually break down. Higher nitrogen just makes it happen faster. |
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| My regular fruit and veggie waste products, which are produced all year long. Coffee grounds and filters from the local coffee store. The only 'green' not available in the winter is fresh cut grass. |
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