said:


I'm starting trying start my first compost. I keep seeing a carbon to
nitrogen ratio of 30:1. Is that by weight or volume?

C:N ratio is by (dry) weight, typically

Even using newspaper, that's a lot of newspaper compared to how
much kitchen scrap is generated daily. There's no way I can
compost all my kitchen scrap.

Oh, not really. Newsprint has a C:N ratio of somewhere over
400. That means they can balance 5-10 times as much 'green'
material as can autumn leaves or straw!

What are people using for brown material?

I use leaves which I pick up all around town in the fall, shred
and compact into contractor-grade bags, and store way in the
back for use in mulching and composting the next year.

I also use shredded paper (if the leaf supply is running low).

Wood chips are also a good (and very 'brown') ingredient.
They will make the compost mix a bit 'airier' (less apt to
compact).

This table might be useful:

http://www.css.cornell.edu/compost/O...apa.taba1.html

--
Pat in Plymouth MI ('someplace.net' is comcast)

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)