After reading through all these messages I don't see that the OP ever got an answer to the question. I can't help you with information about nitrogen in pine needles, but I thought I would try to reengage the readers toward the original question. Still I have other thoughts on what you asked and what has been said. If you are getting temps anywhere above the outside air temperature, your pile has at least some "greens." At 145 degrees F your pile had plenty of greens. All the USDA requires to kill the pathogens is 120 if I'm not mistaken. Regarding green and brown leaves: the color of the leaves has nothing to do with whether they are "green" or "brown." Materials that are considered "green" are those with a relatively high amount of protein. Protein is made from amino acids which carry nitrogen in them. Thus high protein (but dry and brown) wheat and coffee grounds are much more "green" than most green tree leaves. Most grass plants carry their protein in the grass blades until the grass goes to seed. Then the protein is stored in the seed. On the other hand, "brown" plants simply are those that have minimal protein in them. Their physiology is dominated by carbohydrates (sugar and cellulose). Any material which is a seed, nut, bean, or is otherwise considered to be high in protein is a green. Most animal dung is considered to be green because it has plenty of protein left in it. Much of that protein is from the bacteria inhabiting it. Soil microbes do not eat (or decompose) nitrogen and carbon. They decompose protein and carbohydrates. This is very important to understand if you are trying to manage your pile. As soon as you drift away from the biology of the compost and try to make it a chemical process, it is very easy to become disoriented regarding how all this works. biological approach ==> protein and carbohydrates chemical approach ==> nitrogen and carbon Kimmsr said early in this thread that nitrogen was one of the more volatile nutrients in compost. This is because when you have too much protein, the protein decomposition process can result in ammonium materials. When they get wet the become ammonia which you can smell either as recognizable ammonia or as the sour or worse smells of rotting meat. In that sense, nitrogen is volatile, but you can control that off gassing by covering the pile with plenty of low protein materials like leaves (but not grass). These materials seem to absorb the odors and hold them in the pile. Note also that the chemical fertilizer suggested by spiced_ham above does not contain protein and thus is not a direct food for the compost microbes. It is usually a salt and probably responsible for more microbe deaths than for benefit. Spiced_ham went on to say, "You will end up with more finished compost in the long run because the pile will not have to respire off as much carbon to get to the final 10-15:1 C:N ratio of stable humus the way it would if you were adding high nitrogen vegetable matter." I think I would disagree with that but I don't really understand it. Compost piles do not normally respire carbon. Microbes digest it along with protein, vitamins, and minerals. If the pile is not managed you might get a "methane" smell which indicates gassing off of carbohydrates, but that would be abnormal rather than normal as he indicates. The lack of any gassy smells indicates you are not losing carbohydrates. If you are trying to tune up your pile and you have too much carbohydrate, the solution is to add protein, not salty chemicals. Personally I'm not that concerned with the ratios of materials in my pile. It starts with 20 or 30 bags of other peoples' tree leaves tossed on the open ground. Then we start burying banana peels, pumpkins, and kitchen scraps. It might be ready next year or not. It certainly never heats up with the minimal amounts of protein it gets, but it always decomposes.

Hi thought I'd pop in and see what's happening here...the Blue Hosta is one of ours a cross of Hearts Content Streak x Blue Mammoth....I've named it "Happy Hanna" after my mother....The hosta behind it is Abba Dabba Do....Bevie (Mrs. Hillbilly)

Mtnrdredux.. Not sure if you saw post on your other thread.. I took a photo of our MB with Theresa's Green and pale powder. The tricky thing with Theresa's green was the undercoat recommended by FnB - they recommend the dark undercoat which was really dark. I even called their Toronto office and talked to the main paint guy here who convinced me to give it a try.. It really seems to add a dimension to how the color feels.. Kind of like a darker petticoat under a silk gown. Every day, I catch myself looking at the color because it is such a changeling. Our bedroom faces east and I also have a couple of skylights on the ceiling. The dark wood is panel on the wall. Theresa's green is on the wall to the right. The ceiling and the wall to the left are pale powder.

Love this thread, thanks for bringing it back. My kitchen was done 8 years ago and I SOOO wish that Semihandmade had been around then (from DIY2's link). They would have saved me a lot of money and frustration with contractors. Anyway, my cabs are white and awhile ago, I saw a brilliant dark royal blue kitchen in a magazine. I thought maybe I'll do that some day, but don't think that's very realistic of me. However, it is time to repaint the walls, so I appreciate this discussion of color. They've been a cheerful cantaloupe and am thinking about a pale creamy yellow. The more dramatic option of the deep blue is also attractive. What to do...