Inventive composting

[ndorfinmachine]

A couple of months ago I finally broke down and built a compost bin. Nothing special, just some old boards I had on the property. Mainly I've just been composting yard clippings and clippings from fields on the property. There has been no shortage of materials as it's been pretty wet and you have to mow the grass at least once a week.

Well my brother manages a large dept. store, and I noticed while visiting him at his work, that they throw away alot of damaged foods: Banged up canned goods, crushed boxes of crackers, and all sorts of goodies. I was able to get a few jars of pickles and relish, a can of peaches, a can of english peas, box of saltine crackers. and three boxes of Caramel pocorn. Needless to say, I added it all to my heap today. Does this sound like a good mixture to add to my grass clippings?

I was also gonna ask about table salt. I didn't get any of it, but there was quite a few boxes in the trash can. Would salt be harmful to my pile? Now I also need to find someone who drinks coffee so I can get the spent grinds. Any advice to a fairly new composter would also be kindly appreciated. Thanks.

[webmaster]

Salt is not good for soil. Check your local cafes for used coffee grounds. Everything else sounds interesting.

[TZ -OH6]

I would avoid large amounts of pickles too because of the salt content and vinegar. There is not much left of a cucumber when it breaks down so you are not loosing anything.

[smokensqueal]

It sounds like you are adding mostly greens to you pile. I would make sure you get more browns added otherwise it might start stinking. Other then that the variaty that you have is great. More of the different stuff the better I always say.

I don't know if you work in an office or not but for my coffee grounds I put out a 1 gallon ice cream bucket next to our coffee maker with a note asking for the used grounds tea bags and any fruit or veggie left overs. I do that on both floors of my building and I get close to 2 gallons of coffee grounds and other stuff each day. It's working out great.

[ndorfinmachine]

Thanks for the advice guys. As far as brown material, I did add some dried oak leaves, some toilet paper rolls, and some shredded newspaper. I mixed this all together with a pitchfork and wet it down a little. I was gone for a couple of days during the weekend and the pile seemed to be doing pretty well. No really bad smell to speak of. While turning it, MAN could you feel the heat! So I guess that's a good thing. As far as coffee grounds, nah I don't work in an office. so no luck there. I was thinking about asking this one coffee shops in my nearest town(I live in the sticks)but when I drove through the parking lot, I discovered they had went outta business. Maybe I'll try to acquire a taste for the stuff myself and save the hassle. lol