Composters

Brown stuff: dried leaves, newspaper, paper towels, twigs, chipped wood, dead plant material, husks, nut shells, small amounts of dried grass, grains, breads, straw and hay.

Other stuff: Coffee grinds & filters, egg shells

Do not add: bones, meat, fish, seafood, dairy products, fats, oils, pet waste, coal or treated wood ash, weeds that have gone to seed, crab grass, diseased plants or large materials, no coloured paper, no grass treated with herbicides or pesticides, no charcoal or coal ashes.

A compost pile is really a teeming microbial farm. Bacteria start the process of breaking down organic matter. They feed on plant tissue and are very effective composters. Fungi and protozoans soon join the bacteria and somewhat later in the cycle, centipedes, millipedes, beetles and earthworms do their part.

Carbon and nitrogen from cells of dead plants and dead microbes, fuel the tiny decomposers. Carbon in leaves or woodier wastes are an energy source and nitrogen provides microbes with materials to build their bodies

The technique is to fill a bin with layers of green and browns, all in a single day or week, and then turning them regularly without adding any more material until the composting process has finished. For this reason, if you have the space, having at least two composters is a good idea. One to start a new pile, while the other bin is composting. 

1. First loosen soil, then put down a layer of coarse material - corn cobs and husks, sticks, thick fibrous stalks from vegetable or tall flowers. This will improve aeration at the bottom of the compost pile if you are not able to start mixing pile right away.
2. Mix after 1-2 weeks to loosen material and allow circulation of air and then stirring weekly. Keep compost pile moist but not too wet. There should be enough moisture so the pile is about as wet as a wrung-out sponge. Add water if pile is too dry or dry materials if too wet. You should have compost in as little as three months.

It is encouraged that you leave grass clippings on your lawn to return nutrients to the soil. However if you wish to compost grass, do not add too much to your compost pile at one time.

Grass clippings tend to mat and develop an unpleasant odour. It is suggested that you add them in thin layers, allow them to dry in the sun before adding them, and mix them with dry materials such as leaves.

Odours:

Your compost pile should have minimal odour - only an earthy smell to it.

• If it has a bad odour, the compost pile may need air. Turn the pile with a pitch fork or shovel to aerate it. Or the pile may be too wet. Add materials such as dry leaves to absorb the excess moisture.
• If there is a damp, sweet-smelling odour, it means there is a lack of nitrogen. Mix in "greens" such as fresh grass clippings, manure or bloodmeal.

Nothing seems to be composting: 

• The compost pile may be too dry. Moisten and mix thoroughly until it is as moist as a squeezed-out sponge.
• OR it's frozen. Decomposition will begin in the spring. Consider insulating your compost in the fall by covering with a thick layer of leaves, hay or straw. (But unless your pile is very large, the insulation will only delay freezing.)
• OR there is a poor carbon-nitrogen ratio. Add "greens" (kitchen scraps, grass clippings) or "browns" (leaves), as required.
• Chop up your organic wastes to speed up their composting. Consider mulching leaves with your lawn mower before adding them to your composter.

The compost is too wet:

• If there is poor drainage at that site, move your composter to another location with proper drainage.
• Ensure the lid is on to prevent the compost pile from being soaked from rain.
• Mix in dry material such as leaves, sawdust or shredded wood. 

Insects and other pests:

• Avoid adding meat, fish, bones, and dairy and other fatty foods to your composter.
• Bury food scraps immediately. Cover with soil, leaves or other material.
• Keep the lid on. 
• Consider installing or digging in heavy gauge wire mesh around the base your composter. 

1. Choose a sunny spot in the garden — the sunnier the better.
2. The Green Cone converts food waste primarily into water and carbon dioxide. The water produced must be able to drain freely away; otherwise the Green Cone will become anaerobic (without oxygen) and will cease to work. It is therefore crucial to install your Green Cone in an area of good drainage. Under no circumstances should the base of the basket be below the water table or where water gathers. If you believe your soil drains well, dig a hole 32″ wide and 24″ deep. Then pour a bucket of water into the hole. If the water disappears in less than 5 minutes, you have good drainage. If the water remains for more than 15 minutes, you have poor drainage or if you live in an area of heavy clay or chalk where drainage isn’t as good, you will need to dig a hole 36″ wide and 28″ deep.
3. Mix some of the soil from the hole with gravel and/or compost for backfilling later. In areas of heavy clay or chalk, include gravel, small stones, small pieces of broken terracotta pots, or small pieces of broken bricks in the mixture to aid drainage.
4. Place the mixture in the base of the hole so that the base of the basket is 1″ below ground level at the base of the hole.
5. Place the assembled Green Cone in the hole. Ensure the top of the black basket and the bottom lips of the green outer cone and black liner are below ground level.
6. Backfill the gap around the Green Cone with the mixture until the bottom lip of the Green Cone is fully covered.
7. Your Green Cone is now ready for years of productive use. Be sure to periodically check your soil level, which may drop with heavy rain. To check, make sure that the bottom lip of the green outer cone is fully covered, adding backfill as needed.

1. The green cone requires a sunny location and where the surrounding soil is well-drained! Do not place in a shaded, cold, dark, wet, clay or sandy area in your yard.  Sunlight provides an energy source for the cone. The double-walled solar cone creates a heat trap of circulating air to encourage bacterial and micro-organism growth. It also insulates the waste during the winter season. The digestion chamber enables an aerobic condition (requiring oxygen) to be created and also reduces methane production
2. The black basket gets buried underground about 24 inches. Make sure is is not below the water table in your area.  Please be sure there are no underground wires where you intend to dig by calling Ontario One Call before you dig!
3. The soil filters odour and prevents access by flies. Micro-organisms and worms migrate freely in and out of the basket to aid in breaking down the waste.
4. The green cone is designed to handle 1 full kitchen caddy every 1-2 days during the summer, and 2-3 days during the winter.
5. Be sure not to drop any food waste outside of your green cone and keep the lid and outside of the container clean of food waste or it will attract wildlife.

The Green Cone is a sealed unit and when properly installed, emits no odours. It does not, therefore, attract flies. However, the eggs of fruit flies are already in the skins of many fruits and can hatch out in the Green Cone.

Similarly, if food or food waste is not kept covered prior to going into the Green Cone, it’s possible for a housefly to lay eggs before the food reaches the Green Cone. These would also produce maggots and flies in the Green Cone. Good housekeeping is therefore important.

Some people will freeze food scraps before depositing them into the Green Cone. This may significantly reduce the possibility of flies–should they occur at all.

If correctly installed, your Green Cone will not attract critters. By ensuring that the top of the black basket and the bottom lip of the green outer cone are below ground level, you will harmlessly filter out any odours into the surrounding soil. It is also important not to spill food near the Green Cone.

If you already have rats on the premises, they may try to chew through the Green Cone to access the food waste inside. If you think there is a chance of this happening you should put chicken wire around the black basket to prevent a rat or other critter from gnawing its way through into the waste.

Provided your Green Cone has been correctly installed:

• 1 full caddy (4 litres of waste) of food waste every 1-2 days (during summer)
• 1 full caddy (4 litres of waste) of food waste every 2-3 days (during the winter)

This amount is typical of that produced by a family of four. The precise quantity of waste digested by your Green Cone each day will depend upon the ambient temperature, the population of bacteria and the mix of food waste you produce.

• The Green Cone is installed in a very dark, shady area.
• The surrounding soil isn’t well-drained, or if the soil contains heavy clay or chalk.
• The black basket is below the water table or in an area where water collects.

In these circumstances, the Green Cone’s digestion process could turn anaerobic (without oxygen). You can tell that by examining the food waste. If it looks wet and slimy, the Green Cone should be reinstalled.

In periods of very cold weather the digestion process may slow down due to lack of natural bacteria. This would be evident by the level of waste in the basket not decreasing. Under these circumstances, the addition of the natural Green Cone Compost Accelerator should restore the bacteria population and restart the digestion process.

Use it the first week of your cone installation to encourage the initial growth of bacteria.  The compost accelerator vastly improves the cone's digestion process, especially when it can't enjoy a full day of sunshine, or during the colder months of winter.  Add the powder into the cone before adding your food waste.