Feedstock Sources
Photo courtesy of Diana Chantalle
The following businesses often have free compostable materials and will be happy to give you some for your compost:
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Pine Ridge Arabians, 7200 Corrales Road, Corrales, NM, offers free horse manure. You may take truckloads or smaller amounts. Please call 505-263-4316 to arrange a pickup.
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The Squeezed Juice Bar has lots of fruit and vegetable pulp to give away. Make arrangements with Ryan Fellows, the owner, to pick up the pulp. Call 505-389-5766. Note that the pulp is not available at the juice bar locations, only at their processing facility near I40 and Menaul. Ryan will give you directions and a pickup time.
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Many coffee shops often have used/damp grounds they are happy to give you. Just bring a bag or bucket and ask. Coffee grounds are a great source of nitrogen ("greens") in your compost.
If you are a business that has food waste to contribute, please contact webmaster@nmcomposters.org and we'll add your business to the list.
Your neighbors might have ripe cactus fruit, mowed grass clippings, leaves, rotting apples, halloween pumpkins, etc. that they'll be glad to see get recycled.
Many horse and other animal owners are happy to give away manure and bedding straw. Be careful that the animal has not been treated with de-worming medicine. Be aware that horse manure can be a source of weed seeds unless it is well hot-composted.
You can often pick up pine cones in the street. Great for bulking your compost to enhance aeration.
From your home you can compost your kitchen scraps, moldy leftovers, used paper towels, vacuum cleaner contents, dryer lint (if it's natural fiber), even shredded newspaper and other non-slick paper products.
And of course, when you clean up your garden, your pile will grow.
Be careful not to put weed seed or perennial weeds (such as bindweed or bermuda grass) in your compost unless you are doing a hot pile and you know it will get very hot.
Take care not to add plants that have been treated with persistent herbicides or manure from animals that have eaten such plants.