# Compost



## SolarAndWood (Sep 16, 2010)

Our county has a pretty cool program for food waste.  From their website:

..."The food waste collected for the pilot project is pre-consumer food waste. Pre-consumer food waste is usually generated during meal preparation at large institutions or at grocery stores."..."
What Happens to the Food Waste


The food waste is mixed at a 3 to 1 ratio with a bulking agent (yard waste and wood chips) and is placed into extended aerated static piles with piping and blowers. The pipes allow air to circulate through the piles and create optimal conditions for decomposition. After the food waste has decomposed and has met all of the temperature and monitoring requirements, the finished compost is screened for use as a soil amendment. This composting process is considered a form of waste recycling."...


Is it possible to have too much of this in a vegetable garden?  I built our garden terraces with the glacial till onsite and then had to import everything we grow in as there is little to no topsoil here.  We compost but it doesn't really put a dent in the needs of a large garden.


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## begreen (Sep 16, 2010)

The problem is that you have no idea what went into this compost. Could be fine or could be a disaster.  If it is lawn clippings that have been treated with a persistent broadleaf weed killer it is going to wreak havoc on the garden. Yard waste in this country is a risky business because of the incredibly wide amount of toxic choices open to the homeowner.

Locally this battle between the growers and the chemical companies have almost shut down some large local composting operations. Clopyralid is now banned in Western WA after it was noticed to be destroying gardens. It just about put Cedar Grove out of business.
http://www.puyallup.wsu.edu/soilmgmt/Clopyralid.htm
http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/organics/threats/clopyralid/

Now there is another version, aminopyralid, that currently is unregulated. It showed up in the state and nearly wiped out several Skagit Valley (rich agricultural area) farmers crops this year.  Gee, thanks Dow. Better living with chemistry, right. 

http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2010/08/01/1549538/herbicide-tainted-manure-wilts.html


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## SolarAndWood (Sep 16, 2010)

That's a good question.  I'll stop by and ask them tomorrow where the bulking up product comes from.


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## zknowlto (Sep 17, 2010)

There's also some evidence that municipalities are using "composting" programs as a way to get rid of untreated sewage.  For example, in San Francisco:

Sewage Sludge Everlasting


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## Adios Pantalones (Sep 17, 2010)

Most chemicals will have a short half life in a hot compost operation like that, but there could be schmootz.  I have talked to people that ended up with plastic or painted wood scraps in municipal compost.

I compost at home- food scraps, lawn stuff, small branches, leaves, whole squirrels and woodchucks, and the remains of a butchered deer have all been fed to my pile.  The only issue with too much compost in a garden, that I've found, is that some taller plants need to be staked very well because they will produce well, and the soil is too loose to them upright by the roots.  Most of my yard waste is now hit with the ride-on mower and added directly to garden beds as a mulch- reduces the need for water quite a bit, and little/no weeding is necessary.


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## BucksCoBernie (Sep 17, 2010)

My rule of thumb is if you dont know whats in it then it goes into the flower beds, not in the edibles. The edibles get a few bags of Bumper Crop compost each season and some salt hay for mulch.

I recently built a compost area w pallets for my chickens to work...its near their pen so i just open the door and they go into the pile and help work it.


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