compost question

[justmama]

My landlords are extremely lazy. They are responsible for doing the lawn so instead of putting all the grass clippings from our very large yard into a bin for the garbage guys they just dump it into a pile in the corner of the yard on my neighbor's side(we share a duplex). I know very little other than you need a ratio of more brown to green and to turn it frequently and not to add animal-based scraps. Is grass a brown or a green? Could I start adding to this HUGE pile with . . . . .something? and make a compost pile out of their laziness? HELP!

[ktarsha]

I don't see why not! Just add your kitchen scraps, newspapers, leaves, etc., and let it do its thing. It might take a while longer for the things in a pile to decompose and turn into compost than it would if they're in a bin or whatever, but it will eventually happen. I think the main thing is that you probably don't want the grass clippings in your compost if the landlords treat the yard with chemicals, especially herbicides.

Fresh grass clippings are considered greens; once they're all shriveled up, I'm not sure if they are then considered browns or not.

[justmama]

no they don't. they don't do any pesticides or whatever. they just mow the lawn. so i can just start adding vegetable scraps and newspaper and such? sweet!

[mattemma04]

I have a lazy compost pile.I add and add and never turn.I have one that is ready to harvest,and the compost dirt is great! I would add to your pile.Maybe you can rake it into a long pile rather than a high one.

[mindymom]

If the object is to have finished compost for use in your garden, you might consider using the grass clipping pile as part of the materials to fill an actual bin. I'm just thinking that it will be a lot of work for you to sort through this pile to get out the finished compost if they are continually adding to it. (Or on second thought, maybe you live in an area that isn't mowed year-round and you could just harvest once in the spring?)
You can also use some of the clippings as mulch in your garden as long as they aren't too wet or too densely packed.

[Close2Me]

shred up your newspapers as much as you can or do it in a paper shredder if you have one.

[WeasleyMum]

When I was a kid, my parents dumped all their grass clippings in a pile hidden from view. It would break down... eventually... into awesome compost that I'd use in my little veggie gardens. You don't HAVE to add anything else, or even turn it-- mixing it around just speeds the process up, which is nice, but it's not strictly necessary. I wasn't allowed to add kitchen scraps or anything b/c our dog would get into it.

Whenever I read these super-precise compost instructions in gardening books, (you know, 4-5" of brown stuff then 2-3" of green stuff followed by 1/2" of soil etc) I just laugh, remembering the 5-6' pile of grass clippings slowly decomposing in our side yard...

ETA: I would dig deep down into the pile for compost, and use newer, partially-decomposed stuff as mulch. Worked great.

[JamieCatheryn]

Mulched up leaves or straw would be good mixed in to grass clippings for a good compost. More of those that grass and peels and such.