Q: In attempting to make compost, I have no difficulty in rounding up plenty of brown material such as dried leaves and wood chips but I can’t seem to find enough green material to make up a 2:1 green:brown ratio. Can I use shredded vines from my property?

A: Anything green would work well, but you could also add a half-cup of 10-10-10 per cubic foot of brown material and get a similar composting effect as adding green yard waste. In my experience, the ratio between brown and green material is not critical, within reason. It is critical that the two materials be mixed with moisture and oxygen in the pile. In addition, the pile needs to be large enough to maintain the heat of composting, somewhere between 3’x3’x3′ and 5’x5’x5′.