Mezclamos el material estructurante con los restos vegetales.

Mezclamos can mean either:

• we mix (present tense)
• we mixed (simple past / preterite)

Spanish has this overlap in the nosotros form for many -ar verbs.

So the exact meaning depends on context. In an instructional or process description sentence like this, it will often mean we mix.

• mezclamos ahora = we mix now
• ayer mezclamos = we mixed yesterday

The sentence by itself does not show which one it is, but the surrounding context normally makes it clear.

The infinitive is mezclar, meaning to mix.

This is a regular -ar verb. In the present tense:

• yo mezclo = I mix
• tú mezclas = you mix
• él/ella mezcla = he/she mixes
• nosotros mezclamos = we mix
• vosotros mezcláis = you all mix
• ellos/ellas mezclan = they mix

In this sentence, mezclamos is the nosotros form.

Spanish often uses definite articles more broadly than English does.

Here:

• el material estructurante = the structuring material / bulking material
• los restos vegetales = the plant remains / vegetable matter / garden waste

Even if English might sometimes say just structuring material or plant waste, Spanish commonly uses el / la / los / las when referring to specific materials or categories already understood in context.

So this is very natural Spanish.

Material estructurante is a technical or semi-technical expression, often used in composting, gardening, agriculture, or waste treatment.

It refers to material that helps give structure, aeration, or bulk to a mixture. Depending on context, it may be translated as:

• structuring material
• bulking material
• brown material (sometimes, in composting contexts)
• coarse material that improves airflow

So it is not just any material; it is material added to improve the physical structure of the mix.

Because estructurante means something like that gives structure or that helps structure something.

• estructural usually means structural, in the sense of related to structure
• estructurante has a more active meaning: structuring or structure-forming

So material estructurante is material that actively helps create the right texture or structure in the mixture.

No, not exactly.

Restos vegetales means plant remains, plant waste, or vegetable matter. It can refer to things like:

• leaves
• stems
• prunings
• garden trimmings
• plant scraps

It does not usually mean vegetables in the food sense.

Compare:

• verduras = vegetables / greens
• restos vegetales = plant remains / plant waste

So in this sentence, vegetales means related to plants, not vegetables to eat.

Con means with.

The verb mezclar is commonly used with the pattern:

• mezclar algo con algo = to mix something with something

So:

• Mezclamos el material estructurante con los restos vegetales
  = We mix the structuring material with the plant remains.

This is the normal preposition after mezclar when two things are being combined.

Yes, absolutely.

Both are correct:

• Mezclamos el material estructurante con los restos vegetales
• Mezclamos los restos vegetales con el material estructurante

The meaning is basically the same: the two things are being mixed together.

The choice of order usually depends on what the speaker wants to mention first or emphasize first.

Mezclar is normally not reflexive when you mean to mix something:

• Mezclamos el material... = We mix the material...

But mezclarse also exists and can mean to mix together or to get mixed:

• Se mezclan los materiales = The materials get mixed / The materials are mixed together

So both forms exist, but they are used differently:

• mezclar algo = to mix something
• mezclarse = to become mixed / to mix together

In your sentence, the non-reflexive form is correct because there is a clear subject doing the action.

Because Spanish usually omits subject pronouns when the verb ending already shows who is doing the action.

Here, mezclamos already tells you the subject is nosotros (we), so saying nosotros is unnecessary unless you want emphasis or contrast.

• Mezclamos el material... = normal
• Nosotros mezclamos el material... = more emphatic, like we mix the material

This is very common in Spanish.

In instructions, Spanish often uses impersonal or passive-style phrasing. For example:

• Se mezcla el material estructurante con los restos vegetales.
  = The structuring material is mixed with the plant remains. / Mix the structuring material with the plant remains.

This sounds more like a manual, recipe, or formal process description.

By contrast:

• Mezclamos... sounds like we mix and may be used in an explanation of a process, a guided instruction, or a collective action.

In standard Peninsular Spanish, it is pronounced roughly as:

mehth-KLA-mos in much of Spain
or mes-KLA-mos in areas without the th sound

More specifically:

• mez-: in much of Spain, the z sounds like the th in think
• cla: stress is here
• mos: final syllable, unstressed

So the stress is on -cla-:
mez-CLA-mos

Sometimes yes, but you need to be careful.

Restos often means:

• remains
• remnants
• scraps
• leftovers

However, leftovers in English often makes people think specifically of food left after a meal. In this sentence, that would be too narrow.

Because the phrase is restos vegetales, better translations are:

• plant remains
• plant waste
• vegetable matter
• garden waste (if the context is gardening/composting)

So leftovers is possible in a broad sense, but usually not the best choice here.