Pine cones for composting

My property is surrounded by pine trees. Every October/November are yard is covered with long pine cones. We were gathering them to use to burn in the fireplace after I dried them in the oven. Well after two chimney fires, our Fire Marshall advised against using them.

So now I have 2 garbage cans filled to the brim with pine cones. Can I grind them up with my leaf vac to add to the compost or should I just lay them out on the ground and mulch them with the lawn mower?

And, more importantly, are they beneficial?

Carol

Oh Carol,yes, and yes, I run every pine cone I can get my humas grubbing hands on through the chipper, and into the worm bin, or compost.We tend to over look the obvious, when it comes to conservation.Mike

Thanks for the reply, Mike. Well then those little goodies will get chopped up and added to the compost pile along with all the pine needles. I add lime to my compost pile to help sweetened the finished product. Because I'm surrounded by pine, my soil (if that's what you can call it) tends to be on the acid side.

I'm just so excited that I have some new materials now to add to the compost. And I was just reading on another website where a couple gathers bags of leaves from their neighbors to use in lasagna gardening. Guess what I'll be doing next fall!!!!!!

Carol

Carol, I thaught every one got the leaves from the "great unwashed", who waste all of natures resources, on expensive yard care, so as to appear another sultan of mediocraty in this "plastic" world.Concerning the soil, I was able to purchace two units, instead of one, because the land was a gully wash, and the rest of the plot had been farmed by growing soybeans for the last 10 Yrs.In all I was able to get just a little over 2 achers in this "white plastic" neighborhood.This is an idea of what the "dirt" looked like.


This is a pic of some of the impossible soil that I took as a before last Yr., then made a lasagna bed over it to use as after.Never quit, there is always a way. Mike

I chip up my cones here and use them for mulch. I probably will hardly need to over sew. Lasts a long time. Please note that I do not chip very small.