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Articles about Compost and Soil Treatments
Aerated Compost Tea, The New Organic Fertilizer
Bark As a Potting Soil Amendment and Mulch
Carbon:Nitrogen ratio of common compost materials
Compost mixtures you can make at home
Composting is Fun for the Whole Family
Green manures and Cover crops in the Organic Garden
Here is Why You Should Use Gypsum in Gardening
How to build a compost heap
How to make loam and leafmould
How to make worm compost
How to solve problems with compost making
How to use organic fertilisers
Mulching - Comparison of costs and results for organic and inorganic mulches
Mulching Benefits - Organic And Inorganic Mulch Types
N:P:K Analysis of common composting materials
Obtaining Free Mulch For Your Garden - Uses And Methods Of Getting It
Soil Basics - Creating Fertile, Healthy Soil
Soil PH And Its Effect On Your Garden
Understanding Soil Nutrients
Using Garden Compost
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Organic Gardening:
Carbon:Nitrogen ratio of common compost materials
by Frann Leach
Looking for something else?
The centre of any good organic garden is its compost heap. To make good compost, it helps if you are aware of the carbon:nitrogen balance of the materials which you are putting in it. This is a list of the most common materials added to compost heaps.
Crushed egg shells, feathers, bracken, tea leaves, bonfire ash and pet hair can all be added in small doses.
The following items should not be composted: leftovers containing meat or fish, large quantities of sawdust or wood shavings, evergreen prunings, manmade fibres, vacuum bag contents unless all your carpets are wool.
| Material | Carbon | Nitrogen |
| Blood, dried | 0 | 4 |
| Bone meal | 1 | 4 |
| Cabbage/lettuce leaves | 2 | 2 |
| Coir fibre | 1 | 1 |
| Comfrey | 9.8 | 1 |
| Kitchen scraps, raw | 2 | 2 |
| Hops, spent | 0 | 2 |
| Lawn mowings | 2 | 2 |
| Leaves | 3 | 1 |
| Manure, pig, with straw | 1 | 3 |
| Manure, poultry | 0 | 3 |
| Manure, stable with straw | 1 | 3 |
| Nettles, fresh | 1 | 4 |
| Newspaper, shredded | 2 | 0 |
| Pea and bean vines | 1 | 3 |
| Peat | 1 | 1 |
| Plant debris | 2 | 2 |
| Potato haulms | 2 | 2 |
| Prunings, shredded | 3 | 1 |
| Seaweed, fresh | 2 | 2 |
| Straw | 3 | 1 |
| Tomato haulms | 2 | 2 |
| Urine | 0 | 4 |
| Weeds, annual | 2 | 2 |
| Wheat straw | 3 | 1 |
