Angela asks: I am wondering what garden waste/scraps/debris is suitable for the compost bin. For example, I do not use tomato plant prunings, as I had heard is not good in the WCS Tomato workshop years back. Are there other garden waste (dead pea vines, garlic, strawberry leaves, pumpkin leaf trimmings, etc. that are ok to use in the compost? Mark responds: The reason you dont want to compost tomato foliage is that Late Blight (the worst tomato disease) may be present on the plants, and could conceivably thrive on the leaves before they wither. This is the same principle with all diseased leaves. You wouldnt want to compost garlic tops that were infected with rust. Or squash leaves that are covered with powdery mildew. Whenever your leaves or plants are diseased, I recommend yard waste bags to the curb, or throwing them on a bonfire if your situation permits. Putting diseased plants into your compost may not actually be risky if your compost is fully functioning, and gets to the critical heat level that will kill seeds, fungus, etc... In my experience, most compost piles in average gardens do not attain that heat level. Who wants to go and aerate the compost pile while its raining (or snowing) in December? Proper composting is a bit of an art form, and requires real dedication. Any plant matter that is not clearly diseased can absolutely go in the compost - dont waste a single leaf! Every time you add green matter in the form of garden and kitchen waste, you should add a layer of brown matter on top of it. Your green matter is high in nitrogen, so brown matter adds the carbon needed to keep the compost working in good health. More on composting here: westcoastseeds/topicdetail/topic/compost-and-composting/
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 23:42:02 +0000