[bhawkins]

What do you do with the stuff that you're not supposed to compost, such as grease, spoiled meat, etc? I've always just thrown it out together, but I think that may be why my pile is not doing so well.

 

[nwaddellr]

I never put meat or dairy in my compost - only fruit, veggie, yard waste, bread - anything that used to be growing with roots. Seems to work well for me!

 

[ber]

I put that kind of stuff straight into the garbage.

 

[Wolfmeis]

The only ONLY animal stuff that goes into compost is egg shells. Otherwise you just get...nastiness. Compost is vegetable matter to vegetable matter. Don't forget your coffee grounds, too!

 

[Rhiannon Feimorgan]

Sometimes a little bit of meat or dairy finds it's way into my compost but not very often. When I had a dog, she would take care of that kind of thing. Now, soup or liquid things like that get flushed down the toilet and the rest goes in the garbage.

 

[4lilfarmers]

hmmm...i never knew there were issues with composting meat and dairy. we even compost our chickens when they die!?!... we have a mostly veggie compost pile and a manure/hay/occasionally-dead-chicken-etc sort of compost (much larger) also. (the fresh manure heats up the pile quickly and it composts rather fast!)

i remember in college (i went to school for organic agriculture) hearing about composting large animals like cows and horses too.

 

[Petersmamma]

I learned how to compost through the Cornell extension learning (I was SO bummed that I couldn't take their course to become a master composter since I was graduating and moving!

) and they said not to put any dairy or meat into the compost, so I feed that to the dog, and if he won't eat it (not usually a problem, it's the healthy stuff he won't eat, yk

) it goes in the trash.

I have to say though that I'm not that surprised you can compost dead chickens and what not, but I don't really understand the logic (I know, I make NO sense!

)....maybe it's because they are not processed like food scraps?

 

[sapphire_chan]

The type of bacteria present in the bodies verses the type that develops in cooked foods?

I do toss the filters from making yogurt cheese into my pile, it'll be interesting to see if they make it so I don't get compost. I'm not particularly worried since they're a teeny tiny amount compared to all the leaves and grass and vegetable scraps I've got in there.

 

[littlest birds]

I think dairy is fine in the compost.

Meat can just take a lot of time to break down, and can attract animals (as can dairy). I don't worry about meat in the compost if it is just mixed into food, though I typically throw it into the trash.

I think grease would really mess up the pile. We don't have grease to throw away, but I would also put it into the trash.

 

[Barefoot Farmer]

Can vegeterian households put their cooked leftovers in their compost -- the dairy free dishes, like rice and beans? Also, I know egg shells are fine. What about the egg itself? Left over scrambled eggs, uneaten hard boiled eggs?

 

[beanma]

here's an interesting read on the subject of composting dead animals -- http://www.mountaintimes.com/mtweekl...post_site.php3 .

i don't put meat in -- don't eat much of it anyway, but do put dairy in (like the mac-n-cheese the kids didn't finish). definitely put egg shells in.

i think vegetarians can totally put their unused cooked leftovers in. i'm not so sure about the hardboiled eggs.

 

[beebalmmama]

Everything I've read and heard suggests NOT putting dairy or meat products in the compost (not including egg shells). I think the odors attracts pests and you won't get a great working compost system with them. I don't think the occasional mac and cheese would hurt, but definately not lots of dairy or whole chicken.

 

[zaftigmama]

I have a compost question - what do you do about flies? I think they're fruit flies. I can't stand seeing them all over the compost when I put my scraps in.

I learned not to put any animal products (other than eggshells) in my compost because of bacteria growth.

I have to start cutting up some of my scraps smaller so they'll break down. I saw most of a watermelon rind on the bottom. Oh well.

Take care!

 

[4lilfarmers]

we compost eggie lefteovers and dairy products (like leftovers that include cheese or milk)... but then again, we also compost dead chickens and many people on this thread don't compost meat! i always thought you could compost pretty much anything that decomposes...having a compost pile speeds up the decomposing... maybe i'm way off here. we've composted disposable diapers that are cornstarch-based and biodegradable. (and they decomposed rather quickly)
i think the key to a "healthy" compost pile is maintaining it well... making sure it heats up and rotating/flipping it occasionally.

 

[sapphire_chan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zaftigmama I have a compost question - what do you do about flies? I think they're fruit flies. I can't stand seeing them all over the compost when I put my scraps in.

You're supposed to layer leaves, dirt, or grass onto the top of your pile and make sure that the scraps are covered. At least that's what people were saying in the compost sticky about flies.

 

[zaftigmama]

Thanks for the reply. I do always put grass clippings or leaves on top of the food layers, it doesn't seem to help. Maybe more grass, I kind of just put on a thin layer just to cover the food, because I never have enough yard type of waste. I'll rake more and do heavier leave layers and try that.

Thank you for the advice. I can't stand seeing the flies everywhere when I take the lid off to put stuff in.

Take care!