I don't measure anything I put in. I add stuff and mix it up, trying to keep the whole thing damp but not wet. If it stinks, I add more high carbon matter and if it's not heating up, I add more nitrogen.

The optimal mixture is 30 parts carbon to 1 part nitrogen. Since most things you add have some of each (for example, coffee grounds are considered a green, and are roughly 20:1, wood/sawdust is a brown and is something like 100:1) if you want to get exactly 30:1 C:N, you'd need to calculate and weigh what goes in. Since most things fall in a range, you can use a rule of thumb, like 3 parts green matter to 1 part brown matter and adjust if needed. I think the ratio is 3:1 green:brown, not brown:green. I suspect you may have gotten them switched because of the 30:1 C:N.

I've never heard that wet means high nitrogen and dry means high carbon. As far as I know, wet means water and dry means lack of water. Water has hydrogen and oxygen, so it doesn't affect the C:N ratio at all. If people use wet/dry, it may be because fresh plants are more likely to be wet and also more likely to have water in them. But you don't transform something that is high nitrogen into something that is high carbon by drying it out.

Fiber is cellulose (the main component of wood and sawdust), which has a very similar chemical formula to sugar and/or carbohydrates, so it's all carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. So woody=high fiber=high carbon=brown=low nitrogen.

Things that are low in fiber are probably higher in protein, so they're higher in nitrogen and greens.

Thanks, bp.

I wasn't planning on getting so anal-ytical that I'd use a scale or anything -- just something to give me a rule of thumb. I'd rather cover my bases instead of waiting for the smell of too much green sending me scrambling for cardboard or whatnot. Hubby still isn't on-board with the whole composting thing so I'm trying to make it as invisible as possible.

I think part of what got me was seeing the 30:1 carbon-to-nitrogen ratio and then bits like coffee grounds are 20:1 and they are a green. Is that saying that the grounds are 20N:1C or is it saying that they are 20C:1N but that is low so they are green?

The ratio is C:N, so the first number is C. Anything lower than 30:1 has relatively more nitrogen than carbon, so it's a green. Anything higher than 30:1 is a brown.

So, even though coffee grounds have 20 times as much carbon than nitrogen, since the optimal ratio is 30 times as much carbon as nitrogen, coffee grounds are a green.

You are getting two different ratios confused. The Carbon to Nitrogen ratio, 30:1, is the actual amount of Carbon and Nitrogne that promotes good digestion, all else being correct. The 3 parts of browns to 1 part greens is the material you are putting in the pile, roughly. Even your brown material will contain some Nitrogen, not just Carbon and your green material will contain some Carbon, not just Nitrogen.
One easy way I have found to get close to that optimal 30:1 C:N ratio is to pile up 3 parts browns to 1 part greens with just enough moisture to kind of slightly dampen the whole mix. So 3 inches of shredded leaves and 1 inch of some shredded green vegetable waste would get you very close to the 30:1 C:N ratio.

kimmsr -- see, that's why I'm confused. I thought it was 3 parts brown/carbon to one part green/nitrogen until I was reading the book I mentioned in my first post on this thread. Thompson advocates the opposite, saying that you need 3 times as much green as you do brown.

3 inches of cardboard for each inch of kitchen scraps means I really can't go asking other people for garden waste/bad veggies/etc. unless I also find a source for carbons.

Is there a better book? I've looked at lots of online resources but I need something portable for reading away from the comptuer.

wonderpets-- love your user name.

My hubby's not entirely on board either, probably because in my first week of composting I had a big pile of grass which steamed and stunk to high heaven.

Then he looked down from the porch one day and saw a pile of litter box waste (from our rabbits/guinea pig) mixed with coffee grounds and newspaper in plain view(our yard is small, so it's hard to hide in a far-away corner).

Now I cover everything with a tarp and hope he forgets about it.

Wonderpets, I am so glad you are finding such pleasure and satisfaction with gardening. Me too! I hope you will soon find the same satisfaction with composting. Don't make it complicated. You are ready to start now. You don't need to read another book, altho feel free to do so, of course. I read everything I can get my hands on about gardening. I love to go to the library and check out my limit of books and I have learned quite a bit along the way. I was the one who said something about wet/dry in another post, I think. That was just to give you an easy way to figure if something was likely a higher nitrogen-content material, or a higher carbon-content material. I still think my analogy stands. The wet coffee grounds and filter, the vegetable scarps, the old slimy lettuce leaves - these are all "wet" and would go towards nitrogen or greens. Shredded paper, twigs, fall leaves - these are all "dry" and would go towards carbon or browns. Just like someone said, plant material will have some of each but will be predominantly carbon or nitrogen as far as composting is concerned. You can just go ahead and start composting anything that you already have. The only time my compost really got slimy is when I used fresh and somewhat wet grass clippings that my neighbor had, and he gets his lawn treated and fertilized so it is very lush. I won't do that again. My grass clippings are not so lush, and not a problem. Also if I have watermelon rinds or melon rinds with some of the fruit still on it, I will see flies. I try to pour my shredded paper from the shredder over that, or my grass clippings, or some dirt if you have it. In addition to the very useful saying "IACBTC," here's another one: "Just Do It!" (I think I got that from NIKE shoes???). Anyway, go ahead and start. Nothing drastic should happen, and you can refine your system as you get more experience and read more. Have fun!

As I was shredding something just now, I realized why I'm wondering so hard on this -- If I need a lot of browns/carbons to match up against my kitchen scraps, then the paper and cardboard that I'm introducing to my pile can be chunkier. Chunkier slows down decomp.

If it is the other way around and I need 3 times more greens/nitrogens/veggie peels/etc. than I do browns, then I can run everything through the shredder.

Kimmsr is probably right on the amounts. I've never paid much attention. I just add stuff and adjust based on whether it stinks or doesn't get hot.

IACBTC!?!

There's your problem! It doesn't ALL 'C' Back to Compost. It All 'L' Back To Compost.

I can't let Professor Dirt and Jasmine go misquoted without saying something.

I'm glad you corrected that, I couldn't remember what the exact phrase was but I googled the "C" one. So is it "it all leads back to compost?"

Going back to what Sir ALbert Howard wrote about building a compost pile his "recipe" was 6 inches of vegetative waste (high Carbon material) to 2 inches of animal manure (high Nitrogen material) with 1/8 inch of good, rich soil, or 3 parts vegetative (high Carbon) waste to 1 part of a high Nitrogen source. I have seen some people that have no idea what they are talking about write something different than that so maybe the book you have is one to disregard.
However, "A balanced diet for your pile, of roughly three parts soft, green waste to one part woody stuff, will give you rich, dark compost." what he is taling about here can be confusing because the "woody stuff" he is talking about probably is a very high carbon material that would need a lot of a very high Nitrogen to balance, but it is still wrong as stated.

Wonderpets, This will add to your confusion even more (and I agree it is confusing). And yes I know you can just throw things in a pile and monitor it very loosely but I like to read and understand the reasoning behind the recommendations.

I got this link from another forum--talks about adding more green than browns to create a 'bacterial' ladened compost to make tea. It goes on to say that such compost is good for veg. and herbs.

Maybe this is the same reasoning behind the book that you read.

Ingham:
"For bacteria to dominate, compost should be made from a preponderance of green materials. You need a mix of 25 percent high-nitrogen ingredients, 45 percent green ingredients, and 30 percent woody material."

Here is a link that might be useful: 'Bacterial' Compost