Questions Submitted in

Can or should I mix my fireplace ashes into my shredded leaf compost pile.  I was told it would break the leaves down faster and was good for my soil.

Today I called the Master Gardeners number and was happy to learn about your own group.

I currently have two large containers with my attempts to compost. However, it is my first time composting and the first season that I hope to jump into gardening!  I’m writing to ask if you might have some time to stop by and look inside the bins and give me some input?

Thanks again and I look forward to hearing from you.  Zip code 87102.

Question from a Sandoval County Master Gardener: A Placitas woman (87043) has written to our Helpline asking why cockroaches keep infesting her compost tumbler. I've asked her for more information about how she composts, but while we wait for an answer, do you have ideas?

I use elevated tumblers without that problem, but I also keep a slash pile outside our walls that contains grass clippings, rocks and fill dirt. Last time I dug out some dirt, I uncovered a tidy little nest of cockroaches. Maybe your answer will also help me understand that.

Can you recommend a source to purchase red worms?

I live in Ruidoso, NM 88345 my email address is jscooking@aol.com and I've lived here for 7 years. I have composted all my life, had successful vegetable gardens in Texas and NM. Even when I lived in Truchas NM at almost 8500 feet, I had a successful garden.

Always I looked to my natural sources for composting. Here my natural resources are rocks, pinecones and pine needles. I have an abundant of shade, live on a slope and when something does grow, I have deer which delight in everything, even the "deer resistant" plants. They even ate the rhubarb leaves down to the ground and when the leaves grew back, ate them again.

I have been trying to compost pine needles for all these years, by layering with blood meal, but while I have a very small amount of needles breaking down, not much to work with. My kitchen scraps don't even compost, just sit there. A friend of mine in Silver City, totally different climate etc, said she puts her kitchen scraps in a 5gallon bucket and when it is a stinky sludge she puts it her compost of course, leaves and grass.

So I tried that last year. I haven't been out to the compost pile yet because I had major reconstructive back surgery this winter and can't bend, lift or twist for a year. To pass the time this winter I've been reading a fascinating book " Teaming with Microbes" by Jeff Lowenfels and Wayne Lewis. In the book they talk about the soil food web and how to restore your soil. There were several references to E.coli. The fact that I "brewed" my kitchen scraps until they smelled like my next-door neighbor's septic field, an indicator of anaerobic bacteria, did I unknowingly contaminate my composting pine needles with E. coli? I still have two buckets of "brew" which I didn't have time to put on my pile before the surgery and while they are not stinky, are they to be trusted to be OK for the compost?

I must say this the hardest place I've ever lived in to garden. No top soil, no soil texture, structure, erodes away with every rain, shade, and then deer. I've read tons about composting pine needles since it is my only natural resource; no "lawn" with grass clippings, no deciduous tree leaves, and most references say not to had more then 10% needles into your pile. Any experience with this?

I am going to try different clovers, winter rye, rye grass, buckwheat, as ground covers, for erosion control, and possibly a green source for my compost. I just might have more deer to the "green diner" than crops, but I'll give it a try.

Of course, there are but a few of us crazy enough to compost and have a vegetable garden under these conditions and they think I know something! Basically, everything I knew doesn't work here. Do you have anyone there with any experience gardening under these less than suitable conditions?

I look forward to hearing from you.

I live in Ruidoso, NM 88345 and I've lived here for 7 years. I have composted all my life, had successful vegetable gardens in Texas and NM. Even when I lived in Truchas NM at almost 8500 feet, I had a successful garden. Always I looked to my natural sources for composting. Here my natural resources are rocks, pinecones and pine needles. I have an abundant of shade, live on a slope and when something does grow, I have deer which delight in everything, even the "deer resistant" plants. They even ate the rhubarb leaves down to the ground and when the leaves grew back, ate them again.

I have been trying to compost pine needles for all these years, by layering with blood meal, but while I have a very small amount of needles breaking down, not much to work with. My kitchen scraps don't even compost, just sit there. A friend of mine in Silver City, totally different climate etc, said she puts her kitchen scraps in a 5gallon bucket and when it is a stinky sludge she puts it her compost of course, leaves and grass.

So I tried that last year. I haven't been out to the compost pile yet because I had major reconstructive back surgery this winter and can't bend, lift or twist for a year. To pass the time this winter I've been reading a fascinating book " Teaming with Microbes" by Jeff Lowenfels and Wayne Lewis. In the book they talk about the soil food web and how to restore your soil. There were several references to E.coli. The fact that I "brewed" my kitchen scraps until they smelled like my next-door neighbor's septic field, an indicator of anaerobic bacteria, did I unknowingly contaminate my composting pine needles with E. coli? I still have two buckets of "brew" which I didn't have time to put on my pile before the surgery and while they are not stinky, are they to be trusted to be OK for the compost?

I must say this the hardest place I've ever lived in to garden. No top soil, no soil texture, structure, erodes away with every rain, shade, and then deer. I've read tons about composting pine needles since it is my only natural resource; no "lawn" with grass clippings, no deciduous tree leaves, and most references say not to had more then 10% needles into your pile. Any experience with this?

I am going to try different clovers, winter rye, rye grass, buckwheat, as ground covers, for erosion control, and possibly a green source for my compost. I just might have more deer to the "green diner" than crops, but I'll give it a try.

Of course, there are but a few of us crazy enough to compost and have a vegetable garden under these conditions and they think I know something! Basically, everything I knew doesn't work here. Do you have anyone there with any experience gardening under these less than suitable conditions?

I look forward to hearing from you.

I attended a composting class in January and started composting in February. My husband and I decided on the cold chop and dump method using 5 gallon pails. I have questions about the best method to store my 5 gallon pails while waiting the 6 months for the composting process.

Where in the Albuquerque area can I take commercial composting? I need to direct some compostable KCups that are used in my office. Thanks!

I started composting in February using the 5 gallon pail method with drilled holes and my husband made a wooden stand for them to sit over dirt. Our household generates about a pail per month. 

My questions: 

Question #1: I remember hearing in the composting class that at some point in the summer you would need to move your composting to the shade because it would be too hot for it to be in the sun. At what temperature should I move those composting pails to the shade?

Question #2 :Cockroaches seemed to have moved into one of the pails for sure and perhaps more. Any thoughts on this? Cockroaches disgust me. Are they just part of the process? Is there anything I can do to deter them from making their home in my compost?

I'm looking for someone to help me establish a manure composting structure on my property in Peralta. I'm hoping someone in your organization could help me design and build a 3 bin system.

My zip code is 87110. After attending a how to compost class early this year, I started composting in February using 5 gallon plastic buckets method with chop and dump method. It seems our household fills about one bucket per month and the composting has been proceeding well it seems.

I bought a strainer and am ready to sift the first bucket that has aged 6 months. Question #1 the decomposing material is loaded with cockroaches. How do I  deal with those nasty critters when sifting? Do I just pour the bucket contents onto a tarp and let them crawl away before the sifting process? Will there still be cockroach eggs left in the sifted compost?

Question #2 regarding a worm-type creature that I didn't add in another bucket. When I remove the lid of the bucket to add my compost scraps, the surface and sides of the bucket are covered with 100 or more of these little white worms approximately 1/2 inch in length. By the time I run back into the house and grab my phone, 98% of them have disappeared back into the compost apparently. I got a picture of one of them. Any idea what these are? They seem to be doing a good job of assisting with the composting but could they be harmful? Thanks for your help. 

Last year I buried bokashi in a few backyard holes.  The intent of that was a mosaic of soil remediation. This month, I will bury more bokashi .. on top of a shallow layer of yard debris.  The situation is pictured --  two holes and shovels leaning on a basket of dried weeds. Is burying "yard debris" (dried weeds) ever appropriate?  My backyard -- Comanche at Tramway -- is too small for a composting pen. Please comment on this mosaic tactic.  Or send a link.

Thanks for your comprehensive website, nmcomposters!  There is lots of info for me there!

I graduated from your Master Composters program in 2016 or 2017, but I’m now living in Texas.   Do you have any resources for teaching kids in 1-3 grade about worm composting?   Worm composting toilets?

I've been composting for years. I had a multi section compost bin and I just had some work done in my backyard and I need to get a new setup. I hate turning the piles and I tend to put it off. I want to get a tumbler type, but not sure which one to get in our climate. There are just a couple of us in my house but I cook a lot, I'm a vegetarian, and compost everything we can. I know the rules of what to and not to put in the pile. Any suggestions for a tumbler? I do have an Amazon account.

I am employing the hot composting method and need to start a second pile. However, I am not quite sure where to place it. The house is predominately south facing and the first pile is along the north facing wall. The other options are the east and west facing walls in the back yard. The west wall will have more shade while the east wall will require more work to prepare. Is location of paramount importance?

Question asked by a Master Composter (RR): We advertise feathers as a green compostable. Has anyone ever actually used them in building compost? Or is it one of those things like compostable utensils that only break down in industrial compost settings? I'm doing some house cleaning and have some OLD feather pillows that were never comfortable and even worse now. Any experience out there? Thanks.