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GDPR Article 89.
Re: Unknown Compost
In California at least, all municipal compost is tested and has to
meet rigorous requirements before it is distributed to the public.
On Jan 15, 2008, at 6:25 PM, Molly Day wrote:
> Scott -
> You are no doubt correct about compost being possibly contaminated.
>
> Municipal compost is suitable for roadside application where
> construction
> has disturbed the soil.
>
> Entire beds of flowers, bulbs and vegetables can be ruined easily by
> herbicides and other chemicals.
>
> It is recommended that before applying large quantities of anything
> to a
> garden that the product be
> tested at a laboratory such as ones available through extension
> services.
> The $10 per sample prices is well worth it.
>
> I did a story about a manure-waste compost producer who bragged
> that the
> product was not actually as low in nutrients as the bag said. He
> thought he
> was doing a good thing by giving gardeners a product with much higher
> nutrients than the bag advertised.
>
> I used the product but only after it had composted another year.
> Martha
>
> On Jan 15, 2008 8:10 PM, Scott Vlaun <scott@moosepondarts.com> wrote:
>
>> I only throw that thought about contaminated compost out there
>> because a lot of people use free municipal compost and/or use grass
>> clippings that may be contaminated in their own piles. The tomato
>> seedling idea sounds really smart unless you absolutely know where
>> all your ingredients are coming from.
>>
>>
>> Scott Vlaun
>> Moose Pond Arts+Ecology
>> Design Solutions for a Sustainable Future
>>
>> 450 Main St. Studio 2
>> Norway, Maine 04268
>> 207-739-2409 Studio
>> 207-890-4099 Cell
>> http://www.moosepondarts.com
>>
>>
>>
>> On Jan 15, 2008, at 1:24 PM, Kathryn Marsh wrote:
>>
>>> Commercial/municipal compost is an altogether different matter. That
>>> absolutely has to be thermophillic and properly made and cured and
>>> residue tested before unless you can guarantee the absence of
>>> herbicides and pesticides in the basic material. But we aren't
>>> talking about teaching people to make compost in this case - which I
>>> think is where we started from. I always issue caveats about using
>>> such compost and suggest that a few tomato seedlings are tried in it
>>> before it gets near anything else since tomatoes are so usefully
>>> sensitive and the seeds come free with tomatoes.
>>>
>>> Kathryn
>>>
>>>
>>> On 15 Jan 2008, at 18:13, Scott Vlaun wrote:
>>>
>>>> And we must not forget the contamination of many batches of
>>>> commercial/municipal compost with persistent herbicides like
>>>> clopyralid. The scene you describe was a common one for people who
>>>> used the contaminated compost. Plenty of info on the web about it.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Scott Vlaun
>>>> Moose Pond Arts+Ecology
>>>> Design Solutions for a Sustainable Future
>>>>
>>>> 450 Main St. Studio 2
>>>> Norway, Maine 04268
>>>> 207-739-2409 Studio
>>>> 207-890-4099 Cell
>>>> http://www.moosepondarts.com
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Jan 15, 2008, at 9:17 AM, frielster@aol.com wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> I beg to differ re the need to be picky about composts if
>>>>> applying
>>>>> them to soil. We killed or crippled hundreds of plants at a trial
>>>>> garden one year by applying insufficiently-composted hardwood
>>>>> mulch. I took pictures in the morning of lovely flowering
>>>>> perennials, and returned in the afternoon to a scene of slaughter.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>> From: Miranda Smith <mirandaconstance@gmail.com>
>>>>> To: Garden Writers -- GWL -- The Garden Writers Forum
>>>>> <gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org>
>>>>> Sent: Tue, 15 Jan 2008 9:10 am
>>>>> Subject: Re: [GWL] Compost
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Hi,
>>>>>
>>>>> We were working with Woods End Lab --
>>>>> http://woodsend.org/pdf-files/Analysis_overview.pdf -- and put the
>>>>> composts
>>>>> through their analysis. Please follow the link to see what they
>>>>> test--I
>>>>> can't say enough good things about this lab. If you are
>>>>> interested in
>>>>> learning about your composts, they are invaluable.
>>>>>
>>>>> In short, our well-constructed and well-tended piles had a more
>>>>> balanced
>>>>> nutrient content, higher OM content, and became biologically
>>>>> stable
>>>>> much
>>>>> earlier than the haphazard ones. I have no idea what happened to
>>>>> our test
>>>>> results, but it was clear that quality was influenced by initial
>>>>> ingredients
>>>>> and technique. The Composting Council
>>>>> http://www.compostingcouncil.org/section.cfm?id=39 has a fair
>>>>> amount of
>>>>> information about quality, too. And, Cornell has great composting
>>>>> information: http://compost.css.cornell.edu/
>>>>> Compost_Resources.html .
>>>>>
>>>>> Naturally, my orientation is towards farm-scale composting. That's
>>>>> hardly
>>>>> relevant to gardeners, unless they are buying composts, in which
>>>>> case, it's
>>>>> REALLY relevant. I have had some unfortunate experiences in this
>>>>> regard--one
>>>>> year, a well-respected dairy farm/commercial compost operation
>>>>> sold an
>>>>> organic potting soil made with a compost that was still so active
>>>>> that it
>>>>> killed most of the seeds planted in it. Scores of farmers were
>>>>> affected--it
>>>>> put a lot of people behind on their starting schedules. The silver
>>>>> lining
>>>>> was that we all became much more aware of compost quality.
>>>>>
>>>>> I agree that you don't need to be picky about composts if you are
>>>>> applying
>>>>> them to soil; it's when they are the major ingredient in a potting
>>>>> mix or
>>>>> you are using them to suppress plant pathogens that you want to
>>>>> take care.
>>>>> For those reasons, it's worthwhile to educate readers--let them
>>>>> know that
>>>>> different composts have different uses; as long as the compost is
>>>>> appropriate to the use, you can't go wrong.
>>>>>
>>>>> Miranda
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Jan 15, 2008 7:36 AM, Lee Reich <garden@leereich.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> What kind of "testing" did you do to see the differences in your
>>>>>> composts? And was the only difference imposed in curing time?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Lee Reich, PhD
>>>>>> http://leereich.com/
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Books by Lee Reich:
>>>>>> The Pruning Book
>>>>>> Weedless Gardening
>>>>>> Uncommon Fruits for Every Garden
>>>>>> A Northeast Gardener's Year
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Jan 14, 2008, at 12:07 PM, Miranda Smith wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Hi,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Yes, the way that you compost determines the quality of the
>>>>>>> finished
>>>>>>> project. I've done enough research, complete with testing all
>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>> way
>>>>>>> through and at the time that it was stockpiled for curing, 3
>>>>>>> months
>>>>>>> after
>>>>>>> that time, and 6 months after that, to know that is so--the
>>>>>>> "formal" way,
>>>>>>> with or without composters in tuxedos and tiaras, gives the
>>>>>>> highest
>>>>>>> quality
>>>>>>> product.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> But there is a huge caveat. Unless you are using the compost
>>>>>>> as a
>>>>>>> disease
>>>>>>> suppressant, in greenhouse containers or starting mixes, or
>>>>>>> composting
>>>>>>> something smelly in a suburban environment, does improved
>>>>>>> quality
>>>>>>> matter
>>>>>>> enough to inspire you to monitor the piles every day and adjust
>>>>>>> accordingly?
>>>>>>> I don't think so. For ordinary uses, sloppy compost works
>>>>>>> fine--as
>>>>>>> long as
>>>>>>> it's really broken down. And you can tell that with a simple
>>>>>>> "cress
>>>>>>> test."
>>>>>>> Before you buy compost, do a cress test with it: take a sample,
>>>>>>> plant land
>>>>>>> cress in it--no additives like peat moss or vermiculite--and see
>>>>>>> how they
>>>>>>> do. If they are fine, you can use it in starting mixes. If not,
>>>>>>> you
>>>>>>> know
>>>>>>> that it requires a few more months of curing before it is
>>>>>>> safe to
>>>>>>> use for
>>>>>>> sensitive applications.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Best,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Miranda
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Jan 14, 2008 11:37 AM, <loisdan@juno.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Hi Everyone,
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Last week I posted a piece to my blog on troublefree
>>>>>>>> composting.
>>>>>>>> Out of
>>>>>>>> curiosity, I browsed several GWL member sites to see what
>>>>>>>> you all
>>>>>>>> have to
>>>>>>>> say on the topic. Of those I read, while most gave at least an
>>>>>>>> obligatory
>>>>>>>> nod to the "rules" of composting, nearly everyone seemed to use
>>>>>>>> some type
>>>>>>>> of desultory method similar to my own. What say you? Do any of
>>>>>>>> you
>>>>>>>> compost only by the rules? It might be an interesting exercise
>>>>>>>> for
>>>>>>>> us to
>>>>>>>> discuss whether formal composting actually has much effect
>>>>>>>> on the
>>>>>>>> final
>>>>>>>> product.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Regards,
>>>>>>>> Lois
>>>>>>>> Visit http://loisdevries.blogspot.com
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>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Post gardening questions/threads to
>>>>>>>> "Gardenwriters on Gardening" <gwl-
>>>>>>>> g@lists.ibiblio.org>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> For GWL website and Wiki, go to
>>>>>>>> http://www.ibiblio.org/gardenwriters
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Post gardening questions/threads to
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>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>> http://www.ibiblio.org/gardenwriters
>>>>>>
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>>
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>>>>>>
>>>>>> Send photos for GWL to gwlphotos@hort.net to be posted
>>>>>> at: http://www.hort.net/lists/gwlphotos
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Post gardening questions/threads to
>>>>>> "Gardenwriters on Gardening" <gwl-g@lists.ibiblio.org>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> For GWL website and Wiki, go to
>>>>>> http://www.ibiblio.org/gardenwriters
>>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>
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>>>>>
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>>>>>
>>>>> Post gardening questions/threads to
>>>>> "Gardenwriters on Gardening" <gwl-g@lists.ibiblio.org>
>>>>>
>>>>> For GWL website and Wiki, go to
>>>>> http://www.ibiblio.org/gardenwriters
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
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>>>>> _
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>>>>> g@lists.ibiblio.org>
>>>>>
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>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>
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>>>>
>>>> Post gardening questions/threads to
>>>> "Gardenwriters on Gardening" <gwl-
>>>> g@lists.ibiblio.org>
>>>>
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>>>> http://www.ibiblio.org/gardenwriters
>>>>
>>>
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>>> "Gardenwriters on Gardening" <gwl-
>>> g@lists.ibiblio.org>
>>>
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>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>>
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>>
>> Send photos for GWL to gwlphotos@hort.net to be posted
>> at: http://www.hort.net/lists/gwlphotos
>>
>> Post gardening questions/threads to
>> "Gardenwriters on Gardening" <gwl-
>> g@lists.ibiblio.org>
>>
>> For GWL website and Wiki, go to
>> http://www.ibiblio.org/gardenwriters
>>
> _______________________________________________
> gardenwriters mailing list
> gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/gardenwriters
>
> GWL has searchable archives at:
> http://www.hort.net/lists/gardenwriters
>
> Send photos for GWL to gwlphotos@hort.net to be posted
> at: http://www.hort.net/lists/gwlphotos
>
> Post gardening questions/threads to
> "Gardenwriters on Gardening" <gwl-g@lists.ibiblio.org>
>
> For GWL website and Wiki, go to
> http://www.ibiblio.org/gardenwriters
>
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For GWL website and Wiki, go to
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