Using shredded printer paper in compost for edible gardens?
8 years ago
Featured Answer
Sort by:Oldest
Comments (8)
8 years ago
8 years agoRelated Discussions
best use for shredded paper/cardboard?
Comments (6)I have been shredding ALL our household waste paper (bills, junk mail, newspaper, phone books, magazines, packaging, boxes, sacks, napkins, TP rolls, etc, etc, etc......) with a contraption I built as an "attachment" to my mulching lawn mower. As I am shredding, I have a chute blowing it into one of my compost bins. This fills up and I wet it down so it won't blow around. Then as I need carbon materials (I don't have any trees around to get leaves) I simply fork in the shredded paper material and mix it with the lawn clippings and other greens. It breaks down just as quickly as the other organic materials and creates a rich compost that has helped produce my last 3 years of amazing raised bed harvest of delicious veggies and beautiful flowers. No waste going to the landfill and I don't have to buy commercial fertilizer nor soil addatives....See MoreCow Manure and Shredded Office Paper
Comments (12).. The office paper will be absorbed pretty fast so use a lot. Plan on frequent turning. Really frequent turning if I understand things correctly. If I understand things correctly, cow manure is wet and will smother. Layers of office paper will not change this. Although office paper is a good source of carbons to feed your nitrogen heavy pile with lots of cow manure. I have not worked with cow manure but would expect a bunch of wet splats and there fore you want sticks and leaves and stuff that add texture so you get air pockets and things. Cow manure is wet and super nitrogen so you want to add a lot of browns and turn as frequently as possible. Grass is high nitrogen so adding grass to cow manure is like putting out fire with gasoline. I could see compost in 3 months if: - Your pile or bin assembled all at once. - Is kept moist -Has a good mix of nitrogens (cow manure is a lot nitrogen) with carbons ( dry brown stuff like leaves, cardboard, sticks or, paper). - That the mix is a bit rough and not just a big pile of cow sludge. - Is turned at least once a week. I kind of expect cow manure to require more turning than most. - You're OK with half decomposed sticks in the mix. (I'm cool with that. I just spread some of just that.) Sticks take a while to break down but are great at setting up air pockets and adding texture. I have to speculate without looking at the ingredients and the conditions. I think the very very very best you can expect is three months. I think you should plan on 5 months under good circumstances. You may want to plan your spring on the basis that you will NOT make compost in time and that it will be applied at the end of the growing season. to sense worth .....See Morecomposting green or blue bar computer paper
Comments (16)Lloyd, Well for quite some years, I was known for making HotOlives . I would make them simply by adding habanera peppers in solution to already processed queen or king green olive. I would them cure for about 30 to 45 days. It seemed that anyone that was willing to try these insanely hot olives would tend to ask for them again. So I became prone, not known to having people try them especially new people that would come over. My teenagers at the time would almost always make there friends eat at least one. Everyone of course would just watch the reaction because these things would make your eyes water. I would eventually give them some milk. Some of my teenage daughterÂs friends were over one night and I asked what would be a good user name for an online dating site. One of them said HotOlive, I said yes what a name for a dating site. So the name stuck. Take care David (hotolive)...See MoreAnyone use shredded computer paper?
Comments (3)Hello, We have a couple flower beds and shrubs in front of our house, nothing fancy (variegated weigela, burning bush, hydrangeas, geraniums, bulbs, shasta daisies). We shred all our junk mail, and now have more shredded paper than we can use for packing material! I'm intrigued by the idea of using it as mulch, since we probably need more mulch in the flower beds anyway. I have no idea if the inks in the junk mail are soy-based or not, and no means or inclination to try to chase down that information. However, we don't have any food plants in the garden and don't anticipate adding any. I read the 2005 post on another thread about filling a water bucket with shredded paper and laying down the mulch, and that sounds like the method we'd be most likely to use. Would our shredded junk mail make acceptable mulch for our nonfood garden? Or would something in the various junk mail hurt our plants? What do you think? I appreciate any advice you can offer. I'm interested in all this stuff but pretty clueless! :) Thank you in advance!...See More- 8 years ago
8 years ago- 8 years ago
- 8 years ago
- 8 years ago
Related Stories
GARDENING GUIDESGet on a Composting Kick (Hello, Free Fertilizer!)
Quit shelling out for pricey substitutes that aren’t even as good. Here’s how to give your soil the best while lightening your trash load
Full Story
FARM YOUR YARDHow to Grow Vegetables in Containers
Get glorious vegetables and fruits on your patio with a pro’s guidance — including his personal recipe for potting mix
Full Story
GARDENING GUIDESEssential Watering Tips for Your Edible Garden
To give your edible plants just what they need, check out these guidelines for how, when and how much to water
Full Story
GARDENING GUIDES9 Ways to Be Water-Wise in the Edible Garden
Consider these tips to get a healthy backyard crop that uses less water
Full Story
GARDENING GUIDES15 Favorites for Your Summer Edible Garden
Get your summer garden off to a good start with these popular fruits and vegetables
Full Story
EDIBLE GARDENSA Formerly Weedy Lot Now Brims With Edibles and Honeybees
Photographers transform their barren backyard into an oasis filled with fruit, vegetables, honey, eggs and more
Full Story
GARDENING GUIDESYes, You Can Grow an Edible Garden on a Hot, Dry Site
Difficult garden spots don’t need to deter you from planting trees, herbs and other delicious food plants
Full Story
EDIBLE GARDENS12 Essential Herbs for Your Edible Garden
Make home cooking and drinks even better with herbs plucked from your own backyard or windowsill pot
Full Story
GARDENING GUIDES10 Easy Edibles for First-Time Gardeners
Focus on these beginner-friendly vegetables, herbs, beans and salad greens to start a home farm with little fuss
Full Story
FARM YOUR YARDHouzz Call: Home Farmers, Show Us Your Edible Gardens
We want to see where your tomatoes, summer squashes and beautiful berries are growing this summer
Full Story
Don Elbourne