writes:
[snip]

BTW, my one tomato plant that's downhill from the compost pile (where
among other things I've been dumping the cat box) is big and robust and
3 times the size of the other tomato plants. It's also the only one
that doesn't have any blight at all. Coincidence?

Bob

Or maybe healthy soil?

(though cat and dog feces are definitely not recommended for compost)

Glenna

In article fc.003d0941022f4ef43b9aca00aac8e619.22f4ef9@pmug. org,
(Glenna Rose) wrote:

writes:
[snip]

BTW, my one tomato plant that's downhill from the compost pile (where
among other things I've been dumping the cat box) is big and robust and
3 times the size of the other tomato plants. It's also the only one
that doesn't have any blight at all. Coincidence?

Bob

Or maybe healthy soil?

(though cat and dog feces are definitely not recommended for compost)

Glenna

They are if you COMPOST them first.
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

(though cat and dog feces are definitely not recommended for compost)

They are if you COMPOST them first.

A somewhat complicated issue...

See for example http://www.uaf.edu/ces/compost/dogs.html
http://www.extension.umn.edu/yardand...e-dog-cat.html

What we do is have a separate compost bin (buried trash can, with the
bottom cut out) for the dog waste. It will be a while before we need
to worry about what to do with the compost (it reduces in volume with
time), but probably we'll eventually rotate the fresh waste to a
different can and let the old one sit for a year or so and use it on
the garden. Despite the lack of high temperatures in this kind of
bin, I'm not persuaded that it is particularly likely to transmit
disease, especially compared with other activities like picking up the
dog doo in the first place (hand-washing after dog walks strikes me as
being at least as important as any composting protocol here).

Glenna Rose wrote:
writes:
[snip]
BTW, my one tomato plant that's downhill from the compost pile (where
among other things I've been dumping the cat box) is big and robust and
3 times the size of the other tomato plants. It's also the only one
that doesn't have any blight at all. Coincidence?

Bob

Or maybe healthy soil?



That's part of it, although the plant looks like maybe it got too much
nitrogen because it doesn't have many blooms nor tomatoes yet. I think
those will just come later than on the plants that aren't doing so well.

I think next year when I do the "spring cleaning" in my back yard, I
will follow that umn.edu page's advice about burying dog waste at least
6" deep in the soil. I'll bury it about 10" deep under my tomato
plants. ;-)


Bob

In article ,
Jim Kingdon wrote:

(though cat and dog feces are definitely not recommended for compost)

They are if you COMPOST them first.

A somewhat complicated issue...

See for example http://www.uaf.edu/ces/compost/dogs.html
http://www.extension.umn.edu/yardand...e-dog-cat.html

What we do is have a separate compost bin (buried trash can, with the
bottom cut out) for the dog waste. It will be a while before we need
to worry about what to do with the compost (it reduces in volume with
time), but probably we'll eventually rotate the fresh waste to a
different can and let the old one sit for a year or so and use it on
the garden. Despite the lack of high temperatures in this kind of
bin, I'm not persuaded that it is particularly likely to transmit
disease, especially compared with other activities like picking up the
dog doo in the first place (hand-washing after dog walks strikes me as
being at least as important as any composting protocol here).

I don't worry much about disease with well composted stuff.
I also compost for up to two years. Those heavy construction bags are
good for that as they hold up well. I've got some wild grape vines
started composting this year after I had Lynn' ruthlessly prune them. ;-)

Doggy doo goes into 5 gallon buckets. It's pretty rich stuff tho' and
needs to be liberally mixed with sand and other organic compost that is
not so high in Nitrogen. Dog doo compost is why those grapes needed
pruning.
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

In article ,
zxcvbob wrote:

Glenna Rose wrote:
writes:
[snip]
BTW, my one tomato plant that's downhill from the compost pile (where
among other things I've been dumping the cat box) is big and robust and
3 times the size of the other tomato plants. It's also the only one
that doesn't have any blight at all. Coincidence?

Bob

Or maybe healthy soil?



That's part of it, although the plant looks like maybe it got too much
nitrogen because it doesn't have many blooms nor tomatoes yet. I think
those will just come later than on the plants that aren't doing so well.

I think next year when I do the "spring cleaning" in my back yard, I
will follow that umn.edu page's advice about burying dog waste at least
6" deep in the soil. I'll bury it about 10" deep under my tomato
plants. ;-)


Bob

Make sure you compost it first. ;-)
One nice thing about black bag composting, leaving it (the bags) in the
sun heats it to high temps so kills any parasites.
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

In article ,
Omelet wrote:

In article ,
Jim Kingdon wrote:

(though cat and dog feces are definitely not recommended for compost)

They are if you COMPOST them first.

A somewhat complicated issue...

See for example http://www.uaf.edu/ces/compost/dogs.html
http://www.extension.umn.edu/yardand...e-dog-cat.html

What we do is have a separate compost bin (buried trash can, with the
bottom cut out) for the dog waste. It will be a while before we need
to worry about what to do with the compost (it reduces in volume with
time), but probably we'll eventually rotate the fresh waste to a
different can and let the old one sit for a year or so and use it on
the garden. Despite the lack of high temperatures in this kind of
bin, I'm not persuaded that it is particularly likely to transmit
disease, especially compared with other activities like picking up the
dog doo in the first place (hand-washing after dog walks strikes me as
being at least as important as any composting protocol here).

I don't worry much about disease with well composted stuff.
I also compost for up to two years. Those heavy construction bags are
good for that as they hold up well. I've got some wild grape vines
started composting this year after I had Lynn' ruthlessly prune them. ;-)

Doggy doo goes into 5 gallon buckets. It's pretty rich stuff tho' and
needs to be liberally mixed with sand and other organic compost that is
not so high in Nitrogen. Dog doo compost is why those grapes needed
pruning.

My understanding, no proof offered, is not to use pet or human waste
with non-acidic crops.
--
FB - FFF

Billy
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/

In article
,
Billy wrote:

Doggy doo goes into 5 gallon buckets. It's pretty rich stuff tho' and
needs to be liberally mixed with sand and other organic compost that is
not so high in Nitrogen. Dog doo compost is why those grapes needed
pruning.

My understanding, no proof offered, is not to use pet or human waste
with non-acidic crops.
--
FB - FFF

Billy

I saw an earlier post that showed the dangers of parasites harbored in
the manure. Long term composting is supposed to take care of it.
I compost most stuff for two years minimum.

I did not finish that sentence anyway. It only starts off in 5 gallon
buckets. From there it gets mixed with leaf or weed compost and placed
into those large construction grade (heavy mil) trash bags and placed
out along the back fence in a corner of the yard.

I've not actually used dog manure compost on crop plants (I had plenty
of chicken and emu manure for that). It's been being used on the fence
border for the honeysuckle vines and wild muscadine grape vines. We used
to use used cat litter for the flower beds. The Cannas are heavy feeders
and it did them a lot of good.

I had to quit doing that when we switched to scooping litter. That stuff
turns into a heavy, slick clay. Not a good idea at all!
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

I had to quit doing that when we switched to scooping litter. That stuff
turns into a heavy, slick clay. Not a good idea at all!

There's always one of the organic scooping litters. I know of two:

Sweat Scoop (made from wheat, I suppose the chaff or straw), and
The World's Best Cat Litter (made from corncobs)

These are flushable (which is what we do with them), but they'd
probably also compost well.

In article ,
Jim Kingdon wrote:

I had to quit doing that when we switched to scooping litter. That stuff
turns into a heavy, slick clay. Not a good idea at all!

There's always one of the organic scooping litters. I know of two:

Sweat Scoop (made from wheat, I suppose the chaff or straw), and
The World's Best Cat Litter (made from corncobs)

These are flushable (which is what we do with them), but they'd
probably also compost well.

But do they effectively clump cat urine?

Otherwise I may as well use Feline Pine.
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

But do they effectively clump cat urine?

I haven't used the clay scooping litter, so I can't give a direct
comparison, but yes the Sweat Scoop seems to clump OK. The clumps
have something of a loose structure (can tend to fall apart) when they
are still wet. If they dry out for a day or so they are more
cohesive. Sometimes you get wet litter on the bottom of the pan -
I've never seen this as a huge or unsolvable problem but some people I
know can't stand it.

Otherwise I may as well use Feline Pine. [a non-clumping but
flushable litter]

There's a strong element of preference in this (both your preference
and your cat's). My cat was very tolerant when she was new and I was
trying out different litters.

In article ,
Jim Kingdon wrote:

But do they effectively clump cat urine?

I haven't used the clay scooping litter, so I can't give a direct
comparison, but yes the Sweat Scoop seems to clump OK. The clumps
have something of a loose structure (can tend to fall apart) when they
are still wet. If they dry out for a day or so they are more
cohesive. Sometimes you get wet litter on the bottom of the pan -
I've never seen this as a huge or unsolvable problem but some people I
know can't stand it.

Otherwise I may as well use Feline Pine. [a non-clumping but
flushable litter]

There's a strong element of preference in this (both your preference
and your cat's). My cat was very tolerant when she was new and I was
trying out different litters.

We still keep one litter box of pine or cedar shavings for the cats that
don't like the clumping litter.

I'll have to experiment in a separate litter box with the new stuff. I'd
really like to start being able to put cat waste on my Canna bed again.
It did them a LOT of good.
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson