In article ,
Wilson wrote:

sometime in the recent past AndyS posted this:

Penelope wrote:
Food cans are usually tin or aluminum. There are far better and less
toxic ways to get trace minerals into your soil.


Andy writes:

That's incorrect. You can tell by using a magnet. Beer cans are
aluminum.
NOTHING is made of "tin", since tin is much much more expensive than
iron...So
is aluminum , for that matter.

We burn our trash here. When the cans are dumped onto the ground,
and it rains a couple times, they are covered with rust --- iron
oxide.
THAT is the iron bearing nutrient that leaches into the soil for the
plants.,

Bones are heavy in calcium, and do not need to "decompose". They
are
already in the form needed by the plants. Just a little leaching .

Regarding botulism..... Botulism does not appear from the air
"magically".
Meat does not naturally contain botulism, and the only source would be
from
the dirt. If the dirt contains botulism spores anyway, a piece of
chicken won't
matter...

I think you are too cautious in your approach.

Andy in Eureka, Texas
Most composting frowns on using fatty meat bits as they attract flies &
other vermin besides all that protein breakdown problems. IF you put chicken
bones in your garden, you will attract dogs, skunks, raccoons, bears and any
other host of critters. Been there & done that. I suggest some bone meal as
in Rose food if you want to go the bone way, otherwise, roast the bones,
crush them up and go that way.

Pressure cooking is even more efficient for making bones soft enough to
crush, plus it has two other perks. You get to make stock, and the
bones are sterilized. ;-)

For all practical purposes, a pressure cooker is an autoclave...

I currently make ALL soups and stocks in the pressure cooker to resolve
the cooling issue that can happen with large batches. Prevents food
poisoning. I can leave the pressure cooker, still fully sealed, on the
stove top for several hours to cool stuff to room temp. before decanting
and refrigeration.

Pressure cooked bones can be crushed by hand. Chicken being the fastest
and easiest. Generally takes about 1 hour. Beef or pork take twice as
long!

Back when we used to keep poultry, we'd crush the bones and mix up the
stock remains and feed them to the chickens. The LOVED it.


Tin cans, now that's just silly. Research the Fe needs of your vegetables
and you'll find most will do nicely without it. It is usually added to help
make your soil more acid - remember 'Mir-Acid?'

Why not just purchase and use blood and bone meal if you are after Iron
and Calcium phosphate? It's not like it's expensive or anything...
--
Peace! Om

"Any ship can be a minesweeper. Once." -- Anonymous