Materials used for composting are no different for desert compost than they are for areas that are more humid.
There are a number of materials, which can be used for desert garden compost. Almost any organic matter can be used. Remember though that it needs equal amounts of green material (which provides nitrogen) and brown material (carbon).
- Grass clippings (if you don’t have a lawn, check around your neighborhood or area. Someone is bound to have a lawn and probably mows it or has it mowed regularly.) If so, ask them for the clippings. They are high in nitrogen and will help kick-start your compost.
- Leaves (preferably chipped or shredded)
- Pine needles (also chopped or shredded)
- Kitchen refuse (although not cooked foods, meats or dairy products.) Coffee grounds, tea bags (yep, bags, paper tags and all), eggshells, melon rinds, vegetable peelings, leftover lettuce, tomatoes past their time, eggshells and anything that is organic and not going to be used.
- Garden waste. Spent plants from your garden should also be added to the compost. If there are hard or woody parts, shred the plants.
- Manure. Horse, chicken, cow, rabbit, sheep. In fact, if you can obtain any of these raw manures, it is best to compost them instead of incorporating them into the soil immediately.
- Other items: sawdust, hair, newspaper, cardboard, nutshells (particularly pecan and peanut), hay or straw, seaweed. As long as it is organic, it can usually be used. There seems to be some confusion over using newspaper. At one time, people were cautioned not to use newspaper with colored ink (comics, magazine sections, etc.) and there were even concerns over some black inks as well. However, at least in the United States and Canada, newspaper ink, including colored ink, is made from soybeans, and along with the paper it is printed on, is completely biodegradable.
Items not to use
- Meat and dairy products. These will decay, but they have the tendency to draw unwanted animals (raccoons, opossums, skunks and other scavengers). They also exude a terrible smell while decaying.
- Wood ashes. Since desert soil is generally high in alkaline salts, it needs to be sweetened (made more acidic). Wood ashes are also high in alkalines, and therefore would not be appropriate to use in your compost.
- Pet droppings. Pet droppings, along with the droppings of pigs, are not recommended for compost. These may contain pathogens dangerous to humans and will not necessarily be killed by compost heat.
- Human waste. For the same reasons as pet droppings.
- Weeds. Some weed seeds may survive in compost and germinate after you use the compost in your garden. To be safe, don’t put weeds in your compost pile to begin with.
- Twigs and sticks. Although these will compost in time, unless they are chipped or shredded, it will take a long time for that to happen.
The copyright of the article Organic Matter for Composting in Desert Gardens is owned by Robert Dailey. Permission to republish Organic Matter for Composting must be granted by the author in writing.
