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#1
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Compost ingredients?
What do y'all put in your compost. Our pile is fairly far from the house, and we don't have a garbage disposal, so I put most everything in there--all organics (veggie cuttings, scrapings from the plates, oils, meat trimmings, etc]. But I've heard that one should stick to vegetable material. Is this so? Why? Andrew |
#2
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Compost ingredients?
"Andrew McMichael" wrote in message ... What do y'all put in your compost. Our pile is fairly far from the house, and we don't have a garbage disposal, so I put most everything in there--all organics (veggie cuttings, scrapings from the plates, oils, meat trimmings, etc]. But I've heard that one should stick to vegetable material. Is this so? Why? Andrew http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/s...647001285.html That may help you. Fito |
#3
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Compost ingredients?
On Wed, 30 Jul 2003 12:31:12 -0500, Andrew McMichael
wrote: What do y'all put in your compost. Our pile is fairly far from the house, and we don't have a garbage disposal, so I put most everything in there--all organics (veggie cuttings, scrapings from the plates, oils, meat trimmings, etc]. But I've heard that one should stick to vegetable material. Is this so? Why? I think it's because meat scraps, bones, etc. will encourage animals to feed from the compost (rats, mice, whatever). I don't put meat or oils in the compost for this reason - also ours is pretty close to the house and I don't want the smell of rotting meat. Pat |
#4
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Compost ingredients?
I had problems with neighborhood cats and things. But I understand that if you
BURY the stuff deep inside the pile, it's not that much of a problem. Also, I read in "let it rot", the master work on composting, that things with oils and fats sort of act like a varnish or waterproofing layer, and that slows down the bacteria from breaking things down. If you're going to use meat products, try to keep from using a lot of stuff with fat. I suppose drained meats, or low fat meats and bones, if you bury them deeply would be ok. Still, I'd add at least a couple of weeks to the composting process, just to make sure that the bacteria has "eaten" up the meats and oils and stuff. They can do it, it just takes a little bit more time. |
#5
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Compost ingredients?
A local dairy farmer sells compost and manure. Guess where his dead cows
go! Pat Meadows wrote in article ... On Wed, 30 Jul 2003 12:31:12 -0500, Andrew McMichael wrote: What do y'all put in your compost. Our pile is fairly far from the house, and we don't have a garbage disposal, so I put most everything in there--all organics (veggie cuttings, scrapings from the plates, oils, meat trimmings, etc]. But I've heard that one should stick to vegetable material. Is this so? Why? I think it's because meat scraps, bones, etc. will encourage animals to feed from the compost (rats, mice, whatever). I don't put meat or oils in the compost for this reason - also ours is pretty close to the house and I don't want the smell of rotting meat. Pat |
#6
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Compost ingredients?
Andrew McMichael wrote:
What do y'all put in your compost. Our pile is fairly far from the house, and we don't have a garbage disposal, so I put most everything in there--all organics (veggie cuttings, scrapings from the plates, oils, meat trimmings, etc]. But I've heard that one should stick to vegetable material. Is this so? Why? Andrew Before the day is long gone, you'll get a lot of different answers. Mine is that, if you have the carbon to go with it and a deep enough pit, you can compost an elephant. The answer to your question changes dramatically based on what sort of compost process you have in mind. If you are going to be attentive and ensure a "hot process" pile, you can chuck just about anything that comes to hand into the pile. Vermin and pets are not an issue with a pile that is cooking along at 135 degrees or better or that is enclosed in a composter such as the rotating models now available. Nor are they a problem with pit composting or any of a half-dozen variants on the theme of composting. On the other hand, builders of 'slow process' compost piles need to show greater restraint and avoid not only meat scraps but also pet and human manures of all sorts. Here's a link to a pretty exhaustive treatment of the topic. http://www.jenkinspublishing.com/humanure.html Bill -- Zone 5b (Detroit, MI) I do not post my address to news groups. |
#7
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Compost ingredients?
Fito wrote:
"Andrew McMichael" wrote in message ... What do y'all put in your compost. Our pile is fairly far from the house, But I've heard that one should stick to vegetable material. Is this http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/s...647001285.html That may help you. Hmmm, I'm in the market to try one this fall myself and from what I've read elsewhere one should turn the compose fairly often. How does one do that if you make a round wire affair as suggested in this FAQ? |
#8
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Compost ingredients?
Andrew McMichael said:
What do y'all put in your compost. Our pile is fairly far from the house, and we don't have a garbage disposal, so I put most everything in there--all organics (veggie cuttings, scrapings from the plates, oils, meat trimmings, etc]. But I've heard that one should stick to vegetable material. Is this so? Why? Normally people don't have their compost 'cooking' enough to bury meat and bone scraps in without risking serious odor or vermin problems. If I have a hot batch that is really cooking I can throw in shrimp peelings, fish bones, dead birds and mice and other stuff that is usually 'not allowed' in the compost guides. Once we even splurged on lobsters for the family and buried the leftovers in the middle of a really hot batch. No smell, and the shells all broke down. The only thing we recognized when sifting the compost later were the tips of the biggest claws. I can email some information on hot, batch composting (written originally by an professional compost man) to those who are interested. -- Pat in Plymouth MI Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced. (attributed to Don Marti) |
#9
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Compost ingredients?
Wow, pat! Gormet compost? I'm sure the plants love you for it as much as your
family! My pile sort of has the "college student diet" of lots of veggie scraps, whatever I can scrounge up off the curb, the occasional Raman Noodle feast..... |
#10
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Compost ingredients?
On Wed, 30 Jul 2003 21:53:41 -0600, John DeBoo
wrote: Hmmm, I'm in the market to try one this fall myself and from what I've read elsewhere one should turn the compose fairly often. How does one do that if you make a round wire affair as suggested in this FAQ? Pull up the wire circle - pull it off the compost. Or un-hitch it so it's not a circle anymore. Move the wire circle to a new spot. Fork the compost into the new spot. We use a wire fencing circle for compost too, but we just leave it, all this forking business is too much work - it will slowly decompose all by itself. Slowly. Pat |
#11
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Compost ingredients?
On 30 Jul 2003 23:56:52 GMT, "TomC" wrote:
A local dairy farmer sells compost and manure. Guess where his dead cows go! Not in the manure/bedding, unless he wants a lot of trouble from (at least!) the local health department. |
#12
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Compost ingredients?
TomC wrote:
A local dairy farmer sells compost and manure. Guess where his dead cows go! Cow heaven? Andrew |
#13
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Compost ingredients?
In article ,
Pat Meadows wrote: On Wed, 30 Jul 2003 21:53:41 -0600, John DeBoo wrote: Hmmm, I'm in the market to try one this fall myself and from what I've read elsewhere one should turn the compose fairly often. How does one do that if you make a round wire affair as suggested in this FAQ? Pull up the wire circle - pull it off the compost. Or un-hitch it so it's not a circle anymore. Move the wire circle to a new spot. Fork the compost into the new spot. We use a wire fencing circle for compost too, but we just leave it, all this forking business is too much work - it will slowly decompose all by itself. Slowly. Pat Yep, we do the same. Our piles are slower but have always performed well over the years. |
#14
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Compost ingredients?
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#15
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Compost ingredients?
On Wed, 30 Jul 2003 20:13:21 -0400, Noydb
wrote: ... but also pet and human manures of all sorts. Bill After living in Italy for several years where they routinely use human manure for fertilizing and seeing several Americans struck with Hepatitis I am totally against using dog or human manure anywhere near my edible plants! Have also read in several places that cooked meat, bones, and human/pet manure should not be included in compost materials. Lee JMTCW |
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