Welcome to my permaculture "explorer's notebook," so to speak. Some of these entries may be quite raw, as they may literally be my notes from watching a YouTube video or a thought captured as it was dancing through my head. Other posts might be more elaborate as I take an idea and explore it in more detail or transcribe or polish a lengthy observation from my field book. Either way, I hope to capture some permaculture ideas and methods here as a recollection for myself and a resource for others. Thank you for stopping by. - Karla

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Compost C:N Ratios

Did I mention I have been both super busy at work and also taking Geoff Lawton's Online PDC? So many notes, so little time.  One gem from the PDC, however,  is a list of the relative amounts of Carbon that a compost element had compared to its Nitrogen content.  Good to know, while keeping in mind that the goal is to build a compost heap with about 25 to 30 parts Carbon to 1 part Nitrogen.
  • 500 C:1 N : Sawdust
  •   25 C:1 N : Green weeds & grass clippings
  •   20 C:1 N : Horse Manure
  •   18 C:1 N : Cow Manure
  •   12 C:1 N : Chicken Manure
  •   10 C:1 N : Pigeon (Squab) Manure
  •     8 C:1 N : Rabbit Manure
  •     7 C:1 N : Fish (the dead fish or fish parts themselves)
  •     1 C:1 N : Human Urine
Looks like mixing sawdust with pretty much anything will help balance out that C:N ratio!

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