Things I can put in a compost pile?

Question

I have a compost bucket in my backyard that I throw kitchen refuse into and then give to the local Co-op. Is it alright to put wheat pasta in the compost? I made some Anne's macaroni and cheese, but just ended up cooking it for too long and never added the cheese. The pasta was whole wheat shells.

Answer 1

No meat...it attracts rodents and other nasty creatures. The same for grease!

All other items you listed are fine, just cover them well.

I also tend to stay away from high acid leaves and walnut leaves. Poison ivy is also a no-no if your cleaning the yard.

Cover your compost well and if you want to speed the compost pile up into breaking down faster add comfrey leaves or yarrow leaves. Denise
http://thegardenersrake.com

Answer 2

Great to hear you're composting; you're definitely on the right track by using only organic materials and keeping out plastics etc. You can pretty much put any organic waste in to the compost pile. However, meat should be wrapped in newspaper or placed cardboard to avoid critters digging messing up your pile. If you were really interested you could even change the compost pile into a vermicomposting where people introduce worms to the compost pile...this speeds up the break down and turns the compost into an nutrient-rich, fertilizer for your garden or neighbours gardens depending on how large you want your compost area to be. Hope this helps.

Answer 3

You can put anything with a vegetable or grain base in a compost pile, though I would suggest covering fresh food with dried leaves, grass, or even a handful of dirt to keep animals or flies from scavenging or laying eggs.

The rule of thumb is to never put anything associated with meat in the pile---no bones, scraps, and especially, no raw stuff. Compost piles rarely get hot enough to decompose animal tissue, and raw meat often contains harmful bacteria.

But if you're eating Annie's mac and cheese and shopping at a co-op, you're probably vegan/vegetarian already. :-)

Answer 4

if it comes from the earth, it can go back to the earth. Meaning, if it was grown, it can go into pile. No meat or meat by-products. Only exception to this rule are egg shells, which I wash out before putting in mine.

Answer 5

That will be fine.

You don't want to put meat or certain dyes in your compost, and you might want to think twice about dairy. But most other things are fine.

Answer 6

any thing but meat,