Topic: Compost - brown or green?

[bluecar]

Hello all.

I've dried out all the remains of my climbing french beans and my runner beans are also well on the way. Now they are dried, if I add them to the compost heap will they count as brown additives?

Regards

Bluecar

[gavinjconway]

Dont be too fussy - just throw them on. If they are dry then they are brown... if they are green then they are ... green

[galina]

No need to dry them out deliberately.  As it happens, many of mine were pretty dry but there were also a crop of fresh nettles under the hedge, so both went in, in layers, together with a few rotten, windfall apples. 

The green and brown isn't an exact art.  When I harvest an existing 'ready' compost heap, there will always be a few brown bits (mostly sticks, sweet corn waste or brassica waste) and those will go into the next bin. 

[Chrispy]

I don't think they could be classed as either.

They will still contain large quantities of nutrients, mainly nitrogen, so on this case they would be classed as green.

On the other hand, 1 of the reasons for adding brown, is to add structure to the heap to allow air in so all the correct microbes can be healthy and do their job.
In this case, dried bean plants will rot slower and help give this structure, so in this case they can also be classed as brown.

At a guess, I would class them as 25% green and 75% brown, which is a good ratio, so just bung them on.

[bluecar]

Thanks all.

I'll stick them on tomorrow.

Regards

Bluecar

[Digeroo]

My beans stems always go into my bins never had a problem with them.   I think they help with drainage.

a crop of fresh nettles under the hedge

  Interesting: I never put nettles in my bins because I am worried they will root.  Mine go into the water butt.  Water comes out green but the plants like it. 

I thought that things like grass clippings were green even if dried and brown.  Once they get wet again they go slimy.

[Palustris]

Gosh, I wish I had the time and energy to sort out material into brown.green,red orange or whatever. I just throw it all on the heap as it comes out of the garden. (Usual constrictions apply though.)

[galina]

Digeroo, never had a problem with nettles.  Dock and especially bindweed roots are the ones that seemingly can't be killed in a compost heap.  Info from HDRA lecture (long time ago) said that nettles are one of the best compost heap activators there is, better than any bought activator.

I do the same.  All my spring nettles go into a butt for making liquid fertiliser, together with comfrey.  But at this time of year when it gets colder but there is quite a lot to compost, I add nettles to the daleks.  Incidentally the other really good activator is 'recycled beer water'.

[Robert_Brenchley]

I sling everything in the bins regardless. Really big bindweed roots will survive till next year, so will large dock roots. I've never had nettles come through. I just fish out anything which is still alive and throw it back in. Nothing's ever established itself again, and it all comes out so weakened I doubt whether it would.

[ancellsfarmer]

This year I've added an extra pallet- made bin for all the normally undesirables: docks,potato & tomato hulm, brassica roots, weeds in seed,pea sticks, rose prunings,citrus skins and those bits of cardboard with too much sticky tape or wicked staples. This will be rotted over winter and is destined to go beneath the bean trench come April It will be interesting to see if any ills emerge in year 14/15, but sadly there is the prospect of it "growing" houses by then.

[galina]

This year I've added an extra pallet- made bin for all the normally undesirables: docks,potato & tomato hulm, brassica roots, weeds in seed,pea sticks, rose prunings,citrus skins and those bits of cardboard with too much sticky tape or wicked staples. This will be rotted over winter and is destined to go beneath the bean trench come April It will be interesting to see if any ills emerge in year 14/15, but sadly there is the prospect of it "growing" houses by then.

Be careful with metal staples, they go right through gardening gloves and rose prunings are not much better -   ouch !!!

[ancellsfarmer]

Thanks Galina, It'll be a comfort to know your looking out for me!, but I've got a "Prong" (pitch fork ) for handling these heaps.