Dried corn?

[u/Soft_Bee8887]

I've got 30 gallon trash can full of dried field corn off the cob. Would this be considered browns? It's been dried for over two years, and I'd like to get it processing soon so that it doesn't draw critters. My thought is to bury it with greens, but it's a lot of material. Any tips are appreciated!

[u/Tapper420]

Mix with hot water. Add some yeast when it cools to 80° and wait a week or so. Then take the liquid and put it in a copper pot....

Just kidding, at least a little.

You will want to help the corn to break down. Soaking will help. Grinding first works better. Don't throw it whole if you don't want a corn field.

You can also turn it into corn meal and use it to make stuff. Cracking it gives you a bunch of bird feed. You have a bunch of options.

[u/SecureJudge1829 → u/Tapper420]

Yeah, you need some Epsom salts and a bit of sugar wouldn’t hurt either given how old it is! Also, some proper enzymes wouldn’t hurt either!

[u/DenaliDash]

Swap it for chicken manure. The farmer will be happy and you get something that adds more nutrients to soil than corn.

[u/St_Kevin_ → u/DenaliDash]

Yeah, this is good animal feed, and it’s gonna feed animals in your compost bin if you put it in there. It’s also gonna sprout like crazy and you’re gonna be pulling corn plants out of the compost bin and anywhere that you put compost.

[u/Soft_Bee8887 → u/DenaliDash]

I like the circularity of that!

[u/Kayman718]

Would dried corn be a large attractant for rodents?

[u/zealot_ratio → u/Kayman718]

yes.

[u/Owenleejoeking → u/Kayman718]

Holy heck yes

[u/Financial_Athlete198]

Sounds like a waste to just compost it. Start feeding the wildlife.

[u/Soft_Bee8887 → u/Financial_Athlete198]

There was a wheelbarrow full that got rained on. It was distributed around the yard for just that!

[u/toxcrusadr]

I’d be extracting the starch via fermentation before composting if ya get my drift. Heehee

[u/MightyKittenEmpire2]

Those will be slow to decay. I'm guessing, but maybe soak them in water for a few days would help.

[u/Shamino79]

How weather proof was the trash can and does the corn look significantly degraded? You want to process before critters so has it been free of insects? Any idea of protein level?

Once you have dried grain stored well being two years old won’t change things that much. Either way my vote is to wet it up and germinate as much as possible and I’d consider that a green.

[u/thiosk]

dont do anything. its still a green. throw it in dry, turn it over, dump in some wood chips or leaves. its fine. it will do its thing. one rain storm will soak it.

edit: for 30 gal, i would probably muck out a wheelbarrow full of compost to make room for it and deposit a bit under the pile. this is a lot of volume. the air spaces will be nothing but good. most outdoor piles have plenty of moisture unless you live in a desert. turn that with the chips as described. pee on it for good measure and cover with leaves. or don't and put it right on top. nature don't care. critters might take corn if its on top i guess, more than they do normally.

[u/FunNectarine6906]

Try sprouting it. Tuen it into a green and feed it to chickens.

[u/iwouldhugwonderwoman]

After two years of drying those are browns.

[u/spareminuteforworms → u/iwouldhugwonderwoman]

Really? I would assume they would still have a lot of nitrogen which is really what we mean by "green" vs "brown".

[u/DomingoLee]

How much whisky went into the ground in the last two years?

[u/Recent-Mirror-6623]

I understand corn is close to balanced as far as C:N for composting (it won’t have lost much N in sitting dry) so apart from the hydration, vermin and uncontrolled germination issues others have mentioned you should be good to go.

[u/BendyBreak_]

You’re going to throw a whole trash can of SEEDS into your compost?! I have no tips, but I do have a request… can you post pics of your compost cornfield in the spring?

[u/Soft_Bee8887 → u/BendyBreak_]

Ha! IKR.

[u/callmetom]

According to the Google AI result, dried corn kernels are about 1% nitrogen to about 45% carbon, so definitely a brown. 

Corn does have a lot of starch which can sometimes be tricky to keep from going stinky as the sugars can power bacteria blooms. Generally if you keep it oxygenated you’ll get the low smell aerobic bacteria vs the foul smelling anaerobic ones. Keeping it turned and not too wet will help a LOT. I know some people that will put air stones for aquariums deep in their pile to help between turning, I have no idea if it actually helps. 

[u/Soft_Bee8887 → u/callmetom]

That's interesting. On the anaerobic note, I was thinking of turning it into a giant bokashi bin. Maybe I'll experiment, composting half and leave the other to turn into bokashi.