Pets/Farm Animals
As homesteaders, we’re always striving to reduce our carbon footprint and upcycle as much as possible. Nothing goes to waste.
Whenever possible, we find ways to upcycle things and reuse them to the best of our advantage. This includes food waste and other organic materials in and around the homestead.
By composting, we’re taking advantage of improving and amending our soil without using harsh fertilizers. By keeping an eye on what we do compost we’re able to keep a fairly even balance in our soil.
Vegetable scraps, green trimmings such as grass, and other brown materials are basically what comprise our compost. We even add in egg shells and newspapers alongside our coffee grounds and tea bags.
However, that being said, we’ve discovered that there are simply some things that shouldn’t be composted. Some items aren’t safe to compost.
This list should help you to determine whether or not something should be tossed into your compost pile or if you should take special measures prior to tossing it into the compost pile.
Many items simply should not go into the compost pile and you’ll want to make sure that you’re not putting them in for both health reasons (they could make you sick) and to prevent wild animals from going through your compost pile.
Here are some of the major things that should never be placed into your compost pile.
Many people mistakenly put pet waste into their compost. It’s one thing to put herbivore pet waste into a compost pile however, keep in mind that it can still be unsanitary.
Small amounts of rabbit manure, chicken manure etc. are commonly placed into compost without any issues. Just keep in mind that it should always be balanced out.
It’s easy to get caught up in throwing scraps into the compost pile. Make sure you’re not throwing anything on this list into your kitchen compost. When in doubt don’t toss it into the compost bin. Throw it out instead. It’s always wise to err on the side of safety.
Garden debris is almost always tossed into compost. Just make sure that you’re using discretion when you’re tossing in weeds with seeds and plants that may spread diseases to your entire compost pile.
If your homestead is like ours, you tend to save just about everything that you can in and around the homestead.
It’s easy to get caught up in a spring cleaning and toss in items that maybe shouldn’t be placed into the compost pile.
Keep the items in the list below in mind when you’re on your next spring clean up and avoid placing them into your compost pile.
The following list is a guideline only.
Many people successfully toss these items into their compost pile without issues, others, have unique experiences (I’ve shared some of them) and you may wish to reconsider or chop the following items up even smaller if you place them into your compost pile.
Also, make sure that you’re turning your compost pile more frequently if you have any of these items in your compost pile.
Composting improves the soil structure by putting vital nutrients and minerals back into the soil.
Sandy, clay, and even silt soils can greatly benefit from composting and improve so that the gardener can use areas that were previously unable to garden in a specific area to now garden in those areas.
When properly done, composting will create an ideal environment for organic materials to break down and nourish the soil. It’s important to note that composting is always a work in progress
Just about every gardener that has a compost pile has had the experience of plants volunteering and growing (sometimes like crazy).
Take this as a learning experience and determine what the plants are that are taking over and don’t put them back into the compost pile next season.
While volunteer plants may be intriguing, they can rapidly take over the compost pile so you’ll want to decide whether to move the compost pile or simply accept the volunteers as you go and move forward with your compost pile.
It’s simply not as intriguing when these volunteers take over the compost and turn into a patch of gourds, pumpkins, or other plants that you weren’t anticipating.
A few simple adjustments to your compost pile can help to alleviate this in the future. Turn your compost pile frequently as well to help reduce the risk of volunteer plants that take over the compost pile.
Hi, I’m Linda. I’m a mom, grandmother, homesteader. I love simple living and enjoy my life on a homestead where I garden, raise a variety of animals and strive for a life more like my grandparents lived.
My goal is to enrich life by living it as simply as possible and focusing on the way my grandparents did things. Life is so much more fun when it’s lived simply.
Guess the native Americans had it all wrong planting corn etc. with fish for fertilizer?
This site may earn commissions when you click on certain links. You should assume any link is an affiliate link.
We are enrolled in the Amazon Associates program, so we may earn a commission if you purchase something from Amazon after clicking one of our links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Some of the reviews on this site may be compensated by the companies whose products were reviewed.
Pets/Farm Animals
Research & References of Pets/Farm Animals|A&C Accounting And Tax Services
Source
0 Comments