I've baked dirt to use it as potting soil, but I've switched to microwaving
it, about as described in the post by david. The stink of the baking dirt
filled the house for hours, but the microwave is almost odorless in
comparison, lets me prepare smaller amounts as needed, and gives fine
results.

"Julie" wrote in message
...

Hi all,

I've got a beautiful 2-y-o "compost" pile which yielded lots of bait
worms last year... but when I took some of this dirt to start seeds
in, all I grew were weeds.

It seems I've heard at one time or other you can bake dirt - - in a
pan, in the oven - - to kill weed seeds. Any truth to this?

BTW the reason I enclosed "compost" in quotes is I've never added any
manure, nothing to help it cook other than coffee grounds. Not sure
if this qualifies as compost or not, but it sure is rich looking.

Julie in kY

(Tshirt weather this afternoon, and I've got the first jug of 'sun
tea' cooking on the woodshed roof)

http://www.bobsloansampler.com/