When I was growing up, my parents put food refuse in milk carton. Let if
ferment for awhile, them mixed it in the soil or just dumped it in the
garden. They dumped it when the fungus started growing on top.

I tried that, but the hungry ants got the topside stuff right away, and
somehow got to anything buried a few inches in the earth.

Know this may sound "gross", but I went a bit further with the ferment
process. I used an airtight container. After 2 weeks, a white fungus
starts growing on the top. That's when I stopped putting in more food.
Left it sealed. 6 weeks later, a greenish/yellow very watery broth was the
only thing left. It stank like a septic tank. The ants won't eat it, and
doesn't seem to bother the tomatoes and jalapenos so far. Don't put any
food refuse with seeds, nor bones in the pot. Animal fat/grease, and
vegetable oil is no problem. All else is consumed, if you will. If you
have problems with insects toting off your food refuse, you might try this.
The smell will permeate most plastic containers. Stick with glass or metal,
airtight of course. Can't vouch for positive results, just no negatives so
far. Let you know next spring. I'll be growing more juice in the meantime
and giving it to the soil on one side. The other side, I'll leave as is.

--
Jonny

You are far better off burying the food in the ground. Ants are the
earths aerators and help to break down organic matter into nutrients a
plant can use. Same thing with worms. If you bury fresh food instead
of pouring it out as an anaerobic, funky soup, most micro and macro
organisms will not be able to use it. Life in the soil is the main
thing to encourage.

On Thu, 17 Aug 2006 03:30:06 GMT, "Jonny"
wrote:

When I was growing up, my parents put food refuse in milk carton. Let if
ferment for awhile, them mixed it in the soil or just dumped it in the
garden. They dumped it when the fungus started growing on top.

I tried that, but the hungry ants got the topside stuff right away, and
somehow got to anything buried a few inches in the earth.

Know this may sound "gross", but I went a bit further with the ferment
process. I used an airtight container. After 2 weeks, a white fungus
starts growing on the top. That's when I stopped putting in more food.
Left it sealed. 6 weeks later, a greenish/yellow very watery broth was the
only thing left. It stank like a septic tank. The ants won't eat it, and
doesn't seem to bother the tomatoes and jalapenos so far. Don't put any
food refuse with seeds, nor bones in the pot. Animal fat/grease, and
vegetable oil is no problem. All else is consumed, if you will. If you
have problems with insects toting off your food refuse, you might try this.
The smell will permeate most plastic containers. Stick with glass or metal,
airtight of course. Can't vouch for positive results, just no negatives so
far. Let you know next spring. I'll be growing more juice in the meantime
and giving it to the soil on one side. The other side, I'll leave as is.

"Jonny" wrote in message
ink.net...
When I was growing up, my parents put food refuse in milk carton. Let if
ferment for awhile, them mixed it in the soil or just dumped it in the
garden. They dumped it when the fungus started growing on top.

I tried that, but the hungry ants got the topside stuff right away, and
somehow got to anything buried a few inches in the earth.

Know this may sound "gross", but I went a bit further with the ferment
process. I used an airtight container. After 2 weeks, a white fungus
starts growing on the top. That's when I stopped putting in more food.
Left it sealed. 6 weeks later, a greenish/yellow very watery broth was
the only thing left. It stank like a septic tank. The ants won't eat it,
and doesn't seem to bother the tomatoes and jalapenos so far. Don't put
any food refuse with seeds, nor bones in the pot. Animal fat/grease, and
vegetable oil is no problem. All else is consumed, if you will. If you
have problems with insects toting off your food refuse, you might try
this. The smell will permeate most plastic containers. Stick with glass
or metal, airtight of course. Can't vouch for positive results, just no
negatives so far. Let you know next spring. I'll be growing more juice
in the meantime and giving it to the soil on one side. The other side,
I'll leave as is.

--
Jonny

In addition to not smelling very good, anaerobic composting allows some
fairly nasty beasties to thrive. Be sure to wash well and cook thoroughly
any produce you grow using your stinky stew.
--
Mike Harris
Austin, TX

Concerning processing food refuse by direct burial vs the method I
presented: Neither agree, nor disagree. I don't have any present
information to make that assessment. So, I will pursue the truth based on
long-term observation.
I do agree that earthen type worms process food by ingesting it for better
use by microbes. They leave a wake trail of excrement in their travels.
Two species of ants seem to be primarily carnivorous in my area, eating, it
seems, primarily insects, and wildlife carcasses. The acrobat ant seems to
want my dogs food near the house on the porch. Still another species, a
very small, non-biting, orange colored version, wants to enter the house for
water at the plumbing drain trap in the kitchen. That tells me the yard is
way overdue for irrigation. Another species of ant in the garden totes off
the food refuse someplace, I can't find the antbed. Its probably nearby as
the area not immediately around the garden is very dry. Its a raised bed
garden, an oasis in the middle of native TX hill country soil. I've never
heard anyone claim ants process food refuse for better use by soil oriented
microbes before.

Am certainly not discouraging lifeforms in the soil with either method of
food refuse disposal.
--
Jonny
"Jangchub" wrote in message
...
You are far better off burying the food in the ground. Ants are the
earths aerators and help to break down organic matter into nutrients a
plant can use. Same thing with worms. If you bury fresh food instead
of pouring it out as an anaerobic, funky soup, most micro and macro
organisms will not be able to use it. Life in the soil is the main
thing to encourage.

On Thu, 17 Aug 2006 03:30:06 GMT, "Jonny"
wrote:

When I was growing up, my parents put food refuse in milk carton. Let if
ferment for awhile, them mixed it in the soil or just dumped it in the
garden. They dumped it when the fungus started growing on top.

I tried that, but the hungry ants got the topside stuff right away, and
somehow got to anything buried a few inches in the earth.

Know this may sound "gross", but I went a bit further with the ferment
process. I used an airtight container. After 2 weeks, a white fungus
starts growing on the top. That's when I stopped putting in more food.
Left it sealed. 6 weeks later, a greenish/yellow very watery broth was
the
only thing left. It stank like a septic tank. The ants won't eat it, and
doesn't seem to bother the tomatoes and jalapenos so far. Don't put any
food refuse with seeds, nor bones in the pot. Animal fat/grease, and
vegetable oil is no problem. All else is consumed, if you will. If you
have problems with insects toting off your food refuse, you might try
this.
The smell will permeate most plastic containers. Stick with glass or
metal,
airtight of course. Can't vouch for positive results, just no negatives
so
far. Let you know next spring. I'll be growing more juice in the
meantime
and giving it to the soil on one side. The other side, I'll leave as is.

In article . net,
"Jonny" wrote:

When I was growing up, my parents put food refuse in milk carton. Let if
ferment for awhile, them mixed it in the soil or just dumped it in the
garden. They dumped it when the fungus started growing on top.

I tried that, but the hungry ants got the topside stuff right away, and
somehow got to anything buried a few inches in the earth.

Know this may sound "gross", but I went a bit further with the ferment
process. I used an airtight container. After 2 weeks, a white fungus
starts growing on the top. That's when I stopped putting in more food.
Left it sealed. 6 weeks later, a greenish/yellow very watery broth was the
only thing left. It stank like a septic tank. The ants won't eat it, and
doesn't seem to bother the tomatoes and jalapenos so far. Don't put any
food refuse with seeds, nor bones in the pot. Animal fat/grease, and
vegetable oil is no problem. All else is consumed, if you will. If you
have problems with insects toting off your food refuse, you might try this.
The smell will permeate most plastic containers. Stick with glass or metal,
airtight of course. Can't vouch for positive results, just no negatives so
far. Let you know next spring. I'll be growing more juice in the meantime
and giving it to the soil on one side. The other side, I'll leave as is.

Try "Black bag" composting... It's not as smelly. ;-)
GOOD compost allowed to cure long enough smells like rich earth.

Mix the refuse with either weeds or dead leaves. Bag it and leave the
bag in the sun for at least 6 months.

Pressure cooked bones work well and add valuable phosphates to the mix.

The heavy duty construction bags work well for this. I've got several
bags of raked leaves composting at the moment. I'll spread them this
winter after a 1 year set.
--
Peace!
Om

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

In article ,
Jangchub wrote:

You are far better off burying the food in the ground. Ants are the
earths aerators and help to break down organic matter into nutrients a
plant can use. Same thing with worms. If you bury fresh food instead
of pouring it out as an anaerobic, funky soup, most micro and macro
organisms will not be able to use it. Life in the soil is the main
thing to encourage.

He needs to learn how to build a properly managed compost heap for best
results. :-)
--
Peace!
Om

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

Good luck. You are creating conditions for pathogens which are toxic
to soil biota as well as human biota.

On Thu, 17 Aug 2006 14:02:45 GMT, "Jonny"
wrote:

Concerning processing food refuse by direct burial vs the method I
presented: Neither agree, nor disagree. I don't have any present
information to make that assessment. So, I will pursue the truth based on
long-term observation.
I do agree that earthen type worms process food by ingesting it for better
use by microbes. They leave a wake trail of excrement in their travels.
Two species of ants seem to be primarily carnivorous in my area, eating, it
seems, primarily insects, and wildlife carcasses. The acrobat ant seems to
want my dogs food near the house on the porch. Still another species, a
very small, non-biting, orange colored version, wants to enter the house for
water at the plumbing drain trap in the kitchen. That tells me the yard is
way overdue for irrigation. Another species of ant in the garden totes off
the food refuse someplace, I can't find the antbed. Its probably nearby as
the area not immediately around the garden is very dry. Its a raised bed
garden, an oasis in the middle of native TX hill country soil. I've never
heard anyone claim ants process food refuse for better use by soil oriented
microbes before.

Am certainly not discouraging lifeforms in the soil with either method of
food refuse disposal.

In article ,
Jangchub wrote:

On Thu, 17 Aug 2006 14:02:45 GMT, "Jonny"
wrote:

Concerning processing food refuse by direct burial vs the method I
presented: Neither agree, nor disagree. I don't have any present
information to make that assessment. So, I will pursue the truth based on
long-term observation.
I do agree that earthen type worms process food by ingesting it for better
use by microbes. They leave a wake trail of excrement in their travels.
Two species of ants seem to be primarily carnivorous in my area, eating, it
seems, primarily insects, and wildlife carcasses. The acrobat ant seems to
want my dogs food near the house on the porch. Still another species, a
very small, non-biting, orange colored version, wants to enter the house for
water at the plumbing drain trap in the kitchen. That tells me the yard is
way overdue for irrigation. Another species of ant in the garden totes off
the food refuse someplace, I can't find the antbed. Its probably nearby as
the area not immediately around the garden is very dry. Its a raised bed
garden, an oasis in the middle of native TX hill country soil. I've never
heard anyone claim ants process food refuse for better use by soil oriented
microbes before.

Am certainly not discouraging lifeforms in the soil with either method of
food refuse disposal.

Good luck. You are creating conditions for pathogens which are toxic
to soil biota as well as human biota.


Agreed... The stench is from anaerobic fermentation.
This is not good.

He really really really needs to do some googling on proper composting!
Just because his parents did it does not make it a good thing. :-)

That is something I've had to learn during the human maturation process.
Sometimes mom and dad were actually wrong. G
--
Peace!
Om

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

OmManiPadmeOmelet wrote:
|| In article ,
|| Jangchub wrote:
||
||| On Thu, 17 Aug 2006 14:02:45 GMT, "Jonny"
||| wrote:
|||
|||| Concerning processing food refuse by direct burial vs the
|||| method I presented: Neither agree, nor disagree. I don't
|||| have any present information to make that assessment. So,
|||| I will pursue the truth based on long-term observation.
|||| I do agree that earthen type worms process food by
|||| ingesting it for better use by microbes. They leave a wake
|||| trail of excrement in their travels. Two species of ants
|||| seem to be primarily carnivorous in my area, eating, it
|||| seems, primarily insects, and wildlife carcasses. The
|||| acrobat ant seems to want my dogs food near the house on
|||| the porch. Still another species, a very small,
|||| non-biting, orange colored version, wants to enter the
|||| house for water at the plumbing drain trap in the kitchen.
|||| That tells me the yard is way overdue for irrigation.
|||| Another species of ant in the garden totes off the food
|||| refuse someplace, I can't find the antbed. Its probably
|||| nearby as the area not immediately around the garden is
|||| very dry. Its a raised bed garden, an oasis in the middle
|||| of native TX hill country soil. I've never heard anyone
|||| claim ants process food refuse for better use by soil
|||| oriented microbes before.
||||
|||| Am certainly not discouraging lifeforms in the soil with
|||| either method of food refuse disposal.
|||
||| Good luck. You are creating conditions for pathogens which
||| are toxic
||| to soil biota as well as human biota.
|||
||
|| Agreed... The stench is from anaerobic fermentation.
|| This is not good.
||
|| He really really really needs to do some googling on proper
|| composting!
|| Just because his parents did it does not make it a good
|| thing. :-)
||
|| That is something I've had to learn during the human
|| maturation process. Sometimes mom and dad were actually
|| wrong. G --
|| Peace!
|| Om
||

Next thing you will be telling me that not everything I read on
the internet is true.

BJ :-)
--
--
"Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts,
and murders itself. There was never a democracy yet that did not
commit suicide." -- John Adams

http://www.obsessionthemovie.com
http://www.americanpatrol.com/REFERENCE/isacrime.html
http://home.swbell.net/bjtexas/SS/

In article ,
"BJ in Texas" wrote:

Next thing you will be telling me that not everything I read on
the internet is true.

BJ :-)

Neither one of us is that naive... lol

But, trust me.....

Composted refuse should _not_ stink.

There is a better way!
--
Peace!
Om

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

OmManiPadmeOmelet wrote:
|| In article ,
|| "BJ in Texas" wrote:
||
||| Next thing you will be telling me that not everything I read
||| on the internet is true.
|||
||| BJ :-)
||
|| Neither one of us is that naive... lol
||
|| But, trust me.....
||
|| Composted refuse should _not_ stink.
||
|| There is a better way!

:-)

--
--
"Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does
with what happens to him." -- Aldous Leonard Huxley British
writer

http://www.obsessionthemovie.com
http://www.americanpatrol.com/REFERENCE/isacrime.html
http://home.swbell.net/bjtexas/SS/