O.K. I got my composter delivered, I put in shredded paper and kitchen refuse.I also bought some steer manure since it will be a while before I can put grass clippings in.Shall I put the whole bag of manure in or just part?
If the manure is bagged it's probably already aged (composted), but it won't hurt to add it to the composter. If you have room, put it all in there. Coffee grounds are great for compost. Throw the filters in there, too. Also fruit and vegetable scraps, eggshells, any leftover fertilizer, and of course, grass clippings and spent flower blossoms, prunings, leaves, etc. Just don't add any meat, dairy products, diseased plant material or glossy paper.
Composting is a 3 to 1 ratio of brown material to green mater or carbon to nitrogen. This balance is very critical. So for every bucket of grass clippings (green, nitrogen), you need 3 buckets of brown (carbon, dead material such as dried leaves, shredded paper, etc.) Kitchen refuse is fine and mostly green. Do not put meat scraps or dairy in this waste. Coffee grounds and tea bags are fine. Your manure is green material so you could have an imbalance right now with your grass clippings and manure. You need to get a lot of brown in the mix.
