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Composting 20-Year-Old Beans and Popcorn

Old dry beans and popcorn can be composted. Crush them into pieces (not flour, which can cake) and layer thinly with leaves—alternate a layer of beans/corn with 2 inches of leaves. Dampen every few layers.

Turn the pile if it smells bad. The high carbon content of the beans/corn balances the nitrogen in green materials, creating good compost.

About Gardening: Composting Basics: Building and Maintaining a Pile; Composting for Your Herb Garden: Turn Kitchen Waste into Black Gold; Composting Dos and Don'ts for a Healthy Pile; Active Composting 101: Master Heat, Moisture & Microbes; Active Composting 101: Nailing the Carbon-to-Nitrogen Ratio for Peak Performance; Gardening Composting: Turn Waste into Black Gold for Free; The Science Inside Your Compost Bin: Elements, Microbes, and Management; Home Composting: Your Personal Contribution to Dining Sustainability; How to Heat Up a Compost Pile: The Four Keys to Active Decomposition; Unexpected Household Items You Can Compost (And a Quick Compost Primer)

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