Most backyard systems will not reach high enough temperatures necessary to kill the pathogens and vermin present, so certain items such as meat scraps, dairy products and pet droppings are not advisable. A few leaf species such as live oak, the southern magnolia and holly trees are too tough and leathery for decomposition, also avoid all parts of the black walnut tree as they contain a plant poison that will survive composting. Common sense tells us to avoid using poison oak, poison ivy, and poison sumac in your compost. Home composting uses a variety of techniques, from extreme passive (cold) composting (throw everything into a pile and leave it alone) to active (hot) which consists of monitoring the temperature and turning or rotating the pile on a regular basis. A tumbler will give you the quickest results due to the ease of aerating the compost, so figure at least 8 to 10 weeks for decent compost to be ready to use. If at this point the temperature has dropped, turn the heat up by adding more nitrogen in the form of greens such as grass clippings or leaves from your produce trimmings, if manure is available it will get things cooking again. read more

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