RE: Soil Improvements -Reply

Wise words, Sally.  Always pays to check things
out, even if you're no scientist or garden wizard.  I
love flowers, but have no head for all the details of
compost ratio stuff (I tried, honest!).  But you can
enough investigation to make sure you're not
poisoning stuff!

Susan Saxton

For mine is just a little old-fashioned garden where
the flowers come together to praise the Lord and
teach all who look upon them to do likewise.
Celia Thaxter
1835-1894

>>> sally knauss <sjknauss@webtv.net> 01/14/99
10:09am >>>
   Mushroom compost is not available in all parts of
the country.  Here
in west KY, they don't even know what it is!  If you
could mail order
it, it would cost a bundle. 
    "Composted" anything can good for your plants,
if you know what's in
it.  Some are warning of salts in mushroom
compost, which we all know is
bad for our plants, but what about other
"composted" material?  Do you
know what's in the compost your city makes and
sells?  Here they put
composted sewer sludge in it.  And I won't buy, use
or reconmend it to
anyone.
   I'm in two garden clubs, one of which has a lot of
projects that we
work on.  The latest one was a science garden at a
local middle school.
The first thing the teachers did was to have a load
of composted sewer
sludge dumped and worked in.  I was concerned
about it, so had a sample
of the "compost" tested.  It not only contained heavy
metals but had a
large amount of deisel fuel in it!   The soil was
removed.  
   Some companies are selling potting soil with
biosolids (sewer sludge)
in it.  The best thing you can do for your garden soil,
plants and self
is know just what your putting down, over, on and in
your soil/plants.
I wouldn't want to have to wet down 10 tons of
mushroom compost enough
to leach out all the salts just to be able to use it, or
to get a great
price on city compost only to have it kill everything it
touches.  Just
because something is labled "Composted" doesn't
make it better.  If you
don't make it yourself, then at least know who did.
Sally
zone 6, west KY

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