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Re: compost/bloodmeal

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

This is a great explanation.  I've never heard of a batch pile before.  How do
you assemble all the ingredients of the pile before you build it?  Also please
tell me more about your blender method.  Weren't there things (broccoli stems
and canteloupe rinds come to mind) that just wouldn't blend?  Eagerly awaiting
more...

Mary

Frank Teuton wrote:

> Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html
>
> Hi Mary,
>
> Milk and dairy do go into my piles in small amounts; but I have large piles.
> Someone with a Soilsaver sized composter (11 cubic feet) might easily
> overload the pile if they added lots of dairy to it, which would lead to
> evil things like fly problems...
>
> When we lived on a second floor and composted on the balcony all our wastes
> went through the blender and were then mixed with enough peat moss to make a
> not too wet soil-like consistency.
>
> Not everybody likes to use peat this way; but if yer going to use it anyway
> getting double duty out of it in the compost seems like a sensible idea to
> me and it is the champion odor and moisture absorber.
>
> The other trick with anything potentially unsavory is to put it well into
> the pile.
>
> Also such piles should be made strictly on the batch method basis.
> Archaelogical piles are OK for purely plant matter but not with the animal
> stuff, as I see it.
>
> (FYI--batch means you take all the stuff to be composted, put it together at
> the beginning, and keep it separate until it is finished. An 'archaelogical'
> pile has stuff added to it on an ongoing basis, and liquid animal protein
> materials flowing through such a pile could cause problems---I'd say leave
> such a pile alone for a good six weeks in warm weather before harvesting.
> The other problem with the archaelogical method is that the stuff on top is
> never finished--but it can be set aside and the bottom stuff sifted for
> usable material)
>
> Frank---who cleans up milk spills with brown paper towels for composting...
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mary Thorp <maribou@infocom.com>
> To: Frank Teuton <fteuton@total.net>
> Cc: Unlisted <THYME@OREGON.UOREGON.EDU>; sqft@listbot.com <sqft@listbot.com>
> Date: Friday, October 23, 1998 5:58 PM
> Subject: Re: compost/bloodmeal
>
> >Okay, here's a detailed question...what about milk?  We're
> near-vegetarians, so
> >throw out very little meat or related waste, but it seems like lots of
> oatmeal,
> >cheerios, etc. get thrown out because I've been afraid to add the skim milk
> to
> >the compost pile.  Would it be okay to add it?  (BTW, it is organic
> free-range,
> >happy-cow, $#&%$*-expensive milk, no nasty chemicals).  Also the occasional
> >fragment o'cheese, drip o'yogurt, etc. Any suggestions?
> >
> >Mary
> >Zone 5
> >Richmond, IN
> >
> >Frank Teuton wrote:
> >
> >> Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html
> >>
> >> Concerning animal ingredients in compost, I would just like to offer some
> >> thoughts:
> >>
> >> 1)They are not necessary for good compost; alfalfa meal and rock
> phosphate
> >> are good sources of N and P respectively. Phosphorus shouldn't be added
> to
> >> compost unless the soil the compost is destined for is really deficient
> in
> >> P, as shown by a soil test...
> >>
> >> 2) There are concerns around bonemeal that may have European (and
> especially
> >> British) origins and be carrying prions which are the causal agent of
> >> spongioform encephalopathy (e.g. Mad Cow Disease) and which are
> apparently
> >> *not* destroyed in the composting process
> >>
> >> 3) as mentioned already, blood meal used to excess, especially in an
> overly
> >> moist compost, may be attractive to what are euphemistically referred to
> as
> >> 'vectors'--which range from flies to grizzly bears depending on yer
> >> location.
> >>
> >> Having said all the above, let me admit that I do put small animal
> >> mortalities like birds and baby rabbits into large compost piles in the
> >> early (hot) phase of composting---maybe half a dozen total in the last
> three
> >> years--but they are always placed deep in the pile out of reach of flies
> or
> >> animals...
> >>
> >> I think the usual advice against animal matter in compost piles is
> basically
> >> well founded; if I needed to purchase an N source for composting it would
> be
> >> alfalfa (rabbit pellets, horse feed, alfalfa meal) rather than blood
> >> meal--check the feed stores for good prices. I just got a note from a
> friend
> >> in BC saying that horse feed could be had at 6$ per 40 kg (that's 88
> pounds
> >> for you non-metric types...:-)
> >>
> >> Finally, even leaf compost has nutrients in it and when kitchen scraps
> are
> >> added can provide everything your plants need...with clean grass
> clippings
> >> too, yer all set to grow...
> >>
> >> Frank--noting that since all flesh is ultimately grass, plant matter
> compost
> >> will get you there...
> >>
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: Unlisted <THYME@OREGON.UOREGON.EDU>
> >> To: sqft@listbot.com <sqft@listbot.com>
> >> Date: Tuesday, October 20, 1998 2:39 PM
> >> Subject: compost/bloodmeal
> >>
> >> >Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html
> >> >
> >> >it's fine to include bloodmeal in your compost, but be aware it may
> attract
> >> >pests.  our dogs adore bloodmeal-very primative.  they will eat it by
> the
> >> >boxful if i leave it in their reach.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >thyme
> >> >
> >> >
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> >>
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> >
>
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