"ArcherB" wrote in message
news
On Fri, 27 Jun 2003 18:09:39 -0500, Ruth Shear wrote:

G'day

Cindi wrote:

I'm fairly new to gardening and wondered how all of you keep roaches,
ants and rodents out of your compost heaps?

Elliot Richmond replied:

Keep it moist, well stirred, and well aerated

Do not keep it sealed

Also - do not add meat - keep it to plant material (produce), eggshells,
teabags - newspaper if they use soy ink (if you are going to use your
compost on a vege garden).

DrRuth

Which brings up a question I had. I was going to use "The Greensheet" as
a weed-stop mechanism, but read that some papers use lead in their ink.
How are we to know which use lead ink and which ones don't?

http://ohioline.osu.edu/cd-fact/0122.html
"Lead was banned as an ingredient in ink by the EPA in 1985 and is,
therefore, no longer a threat."

"Ingestion of inks used on newsprint has not been an issue because the
ingredients used in the inks are not considered toxic in either the liquid
or dry state."