il Tue, 23 Mar 2004 12:44:52 GMT, Frogleg ha scritto:

On 22 Mar 2004 05:32:56 -0800, (JP) wrote:

Ok, the following question might sound weird... I know that I should
put grass-clipping, leaves and fruits and vegetables cutting... But,
what kind of other food item can you put in a compost pile? Is there
any items you SHOULD NOT put in the compost pile? (I.e.: Old milk,
yogurts or cheese? left over from beer or wine bottle? left over from
soda bottle? what about meat left overs?)

Keeping the pile strictly vegan (except for rinsed, crumbled
eggshells) minimizes problems with odor and animal attraction. Some
people do 'compost' meat and bones in a 'hot' pile, but few use it as
a place to put *all* their garbage. The purpose of composting isn't to
dispose of garbage; it's to produce a healthy organic soil ammendment
for your garden.

Or to recycle :-). Occasionally I bury meat bones rather than send
them to the landfill. That way they are adding nutrients to the soil
and food for worms but don't attract dogs or cats or flies. The dog
doesn't seem to know they are there once I've put them in the shallow
hole, perhaps because it hasn't been dragged to the spot and leaving
a tempting smell trail. (in NZ we have no raccoons, wolves, bears or
whatevers to snuffle around)
--
Cheers,
Loki [ Brevity is the soul of wit. W.Shakespeare ]

il Tue, 23 Mar 2004 12:44:52 GMT, Frogleg ha scritto:

On 22 Mar 2004 05:32:56 -0800, (JP) wrote:

Ok, the following question might sound weird... I know that I should
put grass-clipping, leaves and fruits and vegetables cutting... But,
what kind of other food item can you put in a compost pile? Is there
any items you SHOULD NOT put in the compost pile? (I.e.: Old milk,
yogurts or cheese? left over from beer or wine bottle? left over from
soda bottle? what about meat left overs?)

Keeping the pile strictly vegan (except for rinsed, crumbled
eggshells) minimizes problems with odor and animal attraction. Some
people do 'compost' meat and bones in a 'hot' pile, but few use it as
a place to put *all* their garbage. The purpose of composting isn't to
dispose of garbage; it's to produce a healthy organic soil ammendment
for your garden.

Or to recycle :-). Occasionally I bury meat bones rather than send
them to the landfill. That way they are adding nutrients to the soil
and food for worms but don't attract dogs or cats or flies. The dog
doesn't seem to know they are there once I've put them in the shallow
hole, perhaps because it hasn't been dragged to the spot and leaving
a tempting smell trail. (in NZ we have no raccoons, wolves, bears or
whatevers to snuffle around)
--
Cheers,
Loki [ Brevity is the soul of wit. W.Shakespeare ]

il Tue, 23 Mar 2004 12:44:52 GMT, Frogleg ha scritto:

On 22 Mar 2004 05:32:56 -0800, (JP) wrote:

Ok, the following question might sound weird... I know that I should
put grass-clipping, leaves and fruits and vegetables cutting... But,
what kind of other food item can you put in a compost pile? Is there
any items you SHOULD NOT put in the compost pile? (I.e.: Old milk,
yogurts or cheese? left over from beer or wine bottle? left over from
soda bottle? what about meat left overs?)

Keeping the pile strictly vegan (except for rinsed, crumbled
eggshells) minimizes problems with odor and animal attraction. Some
people do 'compost' meat and bones in a 'hot' pile, but few use it as
a place to put *all* their garbage. The purpose of composting isn't to
dispose of garbage; it's to produce a healthy organic soil ammendment
for your garden.

Or to recycle :-). Occasionally I bury meat bones rather than send
them to the landfill. That way they are adding nutrients to the soil
and food for worms but don't attract dogs or cats or flies. The dog
doesn't seem to know they are there once I've put them in the shallow
hole, perhaps because it hasn't been dragged to the spot and leaving
a tempting smell trail. (in NZ we have no raccoons, wolves, bears or
whatevers to snuffle around)
--
Cheers,
Loki [ Brevity is the soul of wit. W.Shakespeare ]

On Mon, 22 Mar 2004 19:51:17 +0200, Henriette Kress wrote:

"Ray Drouillard" wrote:

What do you do with the diseased plants? Toss them into the trash? Burn
them? Bury them really deep?

Take your pick.

Henriette

This contradicts much of what you have just been told.

If you know how to reliably make a compost pile 'go hot', compost them in
a hot pile. Keep that compost separate from any other compost until it has
aged 2-3 years. Apply as per usual.

Diseases have specific requirements for life and the heat / steam of a
compost pile rarely matches what they were hoping to find. Moreover, even
even bacteria and viruses have enemies and they will likely encounter them
in a healthy pile.

I refer you to http://www.jenkinspublishing.com/humanure.html
for further discussion of the topic matter.

Composting, done intelligently, knows few limits.

Bill

--
http://cannaday.us (genealogy)
http://organic-earth.com (organic gardening)
Uptimes below for the Linux machines that created / host these sites.
22:45:01 up 20 days, 2:08, 3 users, load average: 0.20, 0.22, 0.45
22:40:00 up 80 days, 2:52, 8 users, load average: 0.00, 0.00, 0.00

Anonymous wrote:

If you know how to reliably make a compost pile 'go hot', compost them in
a hot pile. Keep that compost separate from any other compost until it has
aged 2-3 years. Apply as per usual.

Do you have _room_ in your garden for 3 full-sized compost heaps, so your
hot heap has time to mature? I don't, and turn and spread compost 2x/year:
after thaw and before frost, putting everything that's not yet done into
the foundation of the new compost heap.

Henriette

--
Henriette Kress, AHG * * * * * * * * * * *Helsinki, Finland
Henriette's herbal homepage: http://www.ibiblio.org/herbmed

Anonymous wrote:

If you know how to reliably make a compost pile 'go hot', compost them in
a hot pile. Keep that compost separate from any other compost until it has
aged 2-3 years. Apply as per usual.

Do you have _room_ in your garden for 3 full-sized compost heaps, so your
hot heap has time to mature? I don't, and turn and spread compost 2x/year:
after thaw and before frost, putting everything that's not yet done into
the foundation of the new compost heap.

Henriette

--
Henriette Kress, AHG * * * * * * * * * * *Helsinki, Finland
Henriette's herbal homepage: http://www.ibiblio.org/herbmed

il Wed, 24 Mar 2004 22:55:13 -0500, Anonymous ha scritto:

This contradicts much of what you have just been told.

If you know how to reliably make a compost pile 'go hot', compost them in
a hot pile. Keep that compost separate from any other compost until it has
aged 2-3 years. Apply as per usual.

Diseases have specific requirements for life and the heat / steam of a
compost pile rarely matches what they were hoping to find. Moreover, even
even bacteria and viruses have enemies and they will likely encounter them
in a healthy pile.

I refer you to http://www.jenkinspublishing.com/humanure.html
for further discussion of the topic matter.

Composting, done intelligently, knows few limits.

That may be so. But I know that I for one have yet to create the
perfect compost pile. And since archaelogists are finding bubonic
plague in cemetaries all these centuries later, i think I'll keep
burning diseased plants and satisfy the pyromaniac in myself at the
same time :-)

--
Cheers,
Loki [ Brevity is the soul of wit. W.Shakespeare ]

il Wed, 24 Mar 2004 22:55:13 -0500, Anonymous ha scritto:

This contradicts much of what you have just been told.

If you know how to reliably make a compost pile 'go hot', compost them in
a hot pile. Keep that compost separate from any other compost until it has
aged 2-3 years. Apply as per usual.

Diseases have specific requirements for life and the heat / steam of a
compost pile rarely matches what they were hoping to find. Moreover, even
even bacteria and viruses have enemies and they will likely encounter them
in a healthy pile.

I refer you to http://www.jenkinspublishing.com/humanure.html
for further discussion of the topic matter.

Composting, done intelligently, knows few limits.

That may be so. But I know that I for one have yet to create the
perfect compost pile. And since archaelogists are finding bubonic
plague in cemetaries all these centuries later, i think I'll keep
burning diseased plants and satisfy the pyromaniac in myself at the
same time :-)

--
Cheers,
Loki [ Brevity is the soul of wit. W.Shakespeare ]