A bit of chemistry might be good for your compost. Actually, we need deal with only two familiar elements: carbon and nitrogen. They’re the ones for which the “bugs” that do the work of making compost are most hungry.
Work is too strong a word, though, because these composting bugs do nothing more than eat. And a balanced diet — one balanced mostly with respect to carbon and nitrogen — does them good.
‘Carbo’ loading
This time of year, the microorganisms’ smorgasbord is set with an especially wide array and abundance of carbon-rich foods — essentially, old plants or plant parts. They are mostly brown and mostly dry; autumn leaves, for example. Other carbon-rich foods include wood chips, straw, sawdust, hay and even paper.
Just as we humans can’t live on bread and pasta alone (carbon rich foods, as are all carbohydrates), so it is with composting microorganisms. So let’s now peruse the smorgasbord for some nitrogen-rich fare.