Flax seed meal

sprtsguy76 · June 25, 2012

My wife is quite the baker and she was cleaning out here pantry. She had a whole 4 lb bag of flax seed meal that was old and scheduled to be thrown out. I was wonder if it would be better suited being thrown in the compost pile. Any thoughts?

Damon

cornbreadlouie · June 25, 2012

Compost it!! Maybe mix it up so it doesn't get clumped up though.

Mudman · June 25, 2012

Definitely compost it. It will give the compost that nutty flavor. No really though, anything organic that is headed for the trash, I say compost it.

habitat_gardener · June 26, 2012

Last year I helped someone clean out a pantry and dumped all the organics into my compost pile -- protein powders, old pasta, grains, outdated boxed soups and soymilk, etc. And then I had to move the compost bins shortly after that, along with all the compost. That was the stinkiest compost I ever saw, because it all glopped together, and there was 5-10 gallons of stuff! But when I moved the compost I added more browns as I rebuilt the piles, and when I moved them again, it was just compost.

If I had that much outdated flaxseed meal, I'd research using it as a fertilizer.

Mudman · June 26, 2012

I didn't really think about it smelling it up bad. I guess only experience will tell. I no longer put any onions in my compost for that reason. There is nothing more repulsive in the compost to me than rotting onions.

habitat_gardener · June 26, 2012

Normal compost piles don't smell bad!

The smell was only because of all the gloppy stuff added together, and having to move it all before the bacteria had enough time to break it all down. If I'd let it be, the bacteria would have done their work, and all I'd find would be wonderful compost.

I wouldn't hesitate to do it again! I really enjoy composting everything I can. For the stinkiest stuff, all you have to do is bury it in the pile, or if you don't have enough of a pile going yet, cover it with some soil.

I cover my daily additions to the compost with green trimmings from my garden, and when I have a big-enough layer of kitchen and garden trimmings, I cover them with a layer of branches and wood chips that I sifted out of the last batch of compost.

dice · June 28, 2012

It works for fertilizer. I mixed it with alfalfa meal in a raised bed back
around 2007. The plants grew great. (They had lots of horse manure,
but one end of it was mostly oak leaves with handfuls of alfalfa meal
and the flax seed meal scattered around on it. Those plants did well,
too.) It is about like using soybean meal or cottonseed meal.

June 25, 2012	#1
sprtsguy76 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2007 Location: Santa Clara CA Posts: 1,125	Flax seed meal My wife is quite the baker and she was cleaning out here pantry. She had a whole 4 lb bag of flax seed meal that was old and scheduled to be thrown out. I was wonder if it would be better suited being thrown in the compost pile. Any thoughts? Damon

June 25, 2012	#2
cornbreadlouie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: SF bay area... north bay Posts: 242	Compost it!! Maybe mix it up so it doesn't get clumped up though. __________________ Do You Like Worms?

June 25, 2012	#3
Mudman Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: NW Wisconsin Posts: 910	Definitely compost it. It will give the compost that nutty flavor. No really though, anything organic that is headed for the trash, I say compost it. __________________ Mike

June 26, 2012	#5
Mudman Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: NW Wisconsin Posts: 910	I didn't really think about it smelling it up bad. I guess only experience will tell. I no longer put any onions in my compost for that reason. There is nothing more repulsive in the compost to me than rotting onions. __________________ Mike

June 28, 2012	#7
dice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: PNW Posts: 4,743	It works for fertilizer. I mixed it with alfalfa meal in a raised bed back around 2007. The plants grew great. (They had lots of horse manure, but one end of it was mostly oak leaves with handfuls of alfalfa meal and the flax seed meal scattered around on it. Those plants did well, too.) It is about like using soybean meal or cottonseed meal. __________________ -- alias

June 26, 2012	#4
habitat_gardener Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: California Central Valley Posts: 2,543	Last year I helped someone clean out a pantry and dumped all the organics into my compost pile -- protein powders, old pasta, grains, outdated boxed soups and soymilk, etc. And then I had to move the compost bins shortly after that, along with all the compost. That was the stinkiest compost I ever saw, because it all glopped together, and there was 5-10 gallons of stuff! But when I moved the compost I added more browns as I rebuilt the piles, and when I moved them again, it was just compost. If I had that much outdated flaxseed meal, I'd research using it as a fertilizer.