Green to Brown?

If greens like grass clippings sit out and dry for a period of time, can they become browns, or will they always be greens becsuse of the original N content?

Green grass is greens. When dried and brown they are more brown than green. The same is true of most plants including corn. The neat thing is that green has the nitrogen and helps the total biology herd grow. Greens warm the pile and help the pile's micro herd move from greens to browns conversion. Experience with the piles will help anyone better understand the process. Just think of the compost pile as a living body constantsly converting from the parts of living plants and manures to a condition where none of the parts can be identified. At that point you have finished compost. The next changes move from humus to humic acids which a specialized zone around the roots and maintained by the roots further convert humic acids to specialized elements the plant can use to grow itself and it's fruit. This is the living biology that is stunted, harmed, or killed by man made fertilizers and other harsh chemicals. There is really no choice. Somehow and by some yet possibly unknown biological solutions we must stop the use of products that ruin our soils. The monoculture has a real problem with this issue.

This time of year there is shortage of browns other than the paper and cardboard I shred for the purpose. There is no shortage of grass however. If I can dry it out for a while then use it as a brown it will help. I like the finer compost this yields. There is much less sifting of the final product. Should it dry long enough for the green to turn completely brown, or just until it is dry and the moisture removed?

If you have the room, save your fall leaves in plastic bags. Come spring you will have plenty of "browns" for your compost pile.

I have the opposite problem - not enough "greens" We have taken out most of our lawn area and turned it into a vegetable garden.

As the grass clippings dry they will lose nitrogen to the atmosphere. Dried grass is more of a brown than fresh grass. Almost all OM contain both nitrogen and carbon, even manure. The browns have more carbon and the greens more nitrogen. There is a link in the sticky that helps you determine the C:N ratio of compost materials.