Composting corn husks?

[i_am2bz]

My BIL gave me a large bag of corn husks, assuring me "of course you can compost them!" (he's also given me peanut shells & whole lemon rinds). I'm thinking they would take forever to compost unless shredded into small pieces...or am I mistaken?

 

[thistlebloom]

No, your not mistaken . Of course everything breaks down much faster when it's in smaller pieces.
You can run over them with a mower.

 

[Veggie PAK]

My BIL gave me a large bag of corn husks, assuring me "of course you can compost them!" (he's also given me peanut shells & whole lemon rinds). I'm thinking they would take forever to compost unless shredded into small pieces...or am I mistaken?

I agree with thistlebloom. mow them up thoroughly. At least the corn husks and peanut shells. What quantity of lemon rinds are we talking about? Home use quantities? If so, I would mow them as well, although it will be difficult for the mower blades to suck them up due to their weight. They will shrivel substantailly when dry so it might not matter. I put hand peeled orange rinds from our kitchen in my compost and they process fine. I would say they probably process faster than the corn husks. Probably because there's so much water in them and so little in the corn husks. Be sure to keep you compost damp with the husks going in there. They will process faster than if they were dry.

 

[Southern Gardener]

I composted my corn husks whole last year - I just threw them in and left them all winter.

 

[lesa]

I have added them whole, as well. If I have a normal "dinner" amount, I'll toss them right in. If I am doing several dozen for the freezer- I put them in the other pile. The one that is just a pile of wood, weeds, etc. I am sure someday it will turn into dirt- but I probably won't be around to see it!