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Re: Compost

Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html

Hi Andy,

Dog manure can carry parasites that herbivore manure doesn't. These days,
even herbivore manure can carry vermicide residues that could disrupt your
soil ecology if they aren't thoroughly composted first.

To condition dog manure for composting you need to heat it in a controlled
environment for an adequate time frame---3 days at 55 degrees C (131 F), for
example.

I hate to see any organic matter go to waste, but animal wastes do need
special treatment, especially carnivore wastes and manure from CAFOs
(Confined Animal Feeding Operations)---what with parasites and
pharmaceutical residues you have a Devil/Deep Blue Sea situation...

Plant-based compost is simple and safe to make and use; the more animal
stuff you add, the more careful you must be.

Your system sounds good and once the pile moves from Bin 1 it becomes a
batch, right? Worms are always good for composting, IMHO.

Good composting and gardening,

Frank Teuton
-----Original Message-----
From: Andy Arkusinski <a.e.arkusinski@ieee.org>
To: Square Foot List <sqft@listbot.com>
Date: Sunday, November 29, 1998 12:06 PM
Subject: Compost


>Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html
>
>I've been reading the posts regarding compost that recommend no animal
>matter in the pile.  I'd like to revisit that question.
>
>I have a 3-compartment homemade compost bin.  The compartments hold 10-12
>cf each.  I use the "archeological" method.  Material goes into Compartment
>1 (C1) on an as-available basis.  This includes kitchen waste regularly,
>and other yard waste as available.  When C1 gets full, or a large batch of
>new material is expected, C1 gets forked over to C2.  C3 holds the finished
>product.  When C3 is empty, the contents of C2 are forked over to it.  It
>takes at least 3 months, depending on demand for finished compost, for
>material to make it from C1 to to garden.  All the compartments are stocked
>with redworms which multiply as needed to process the compost.
>
>One of the ingrdients to C1 is rabbit droppings from four dwarf rabbits.
>Also, if I use a lot of compost at once, I "jump start" C1 by filling it
>with horse manure from a local stable.  Actually, this is mostly sawdust
>with some horse droppings mixed in.  Results are excellent.  I don't have
>any concern about using manure from herbivores in the compost bin.  After
>all, on the farm I grew up on, we used cow manure as fertilizer on the
>fields.
>
>Recently we acquired a dog.  This is a big dog -- Great Pyrenees --
>weighing 112 lbs.  This dog produces a fair amount of waste.  I'm wondering
>whether I can dispose of this waste in the compost bin?  On the one hand,
>it should decompose just like any other waste.  On the other hand, is waste
>from a carnivore like a dog qualitatively different from manure produced by
>an herbivore like a horse?  Also, my compost is not scientifically mixed,
>so it does not get very hot, relying mostly on worms to process it.
>
>An interesting side note: When I first moved to New Mexico three years ago,
>I tried to make compost like I did in Michigan, by just putting the
>ingredients into the compost bin.  But with the high temperatures and low
>humidity here, instead of compost I got hay and dried weeds!  Now I have
>run drip irrigation across the top of the compost bin.  It's tied to the
>garden drip zone, so whenever the garden is being watered, the compost gets
>watered too!
>
>Andy Arkusinski
>a.e.arkusinski@ieee.org
>
>
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