City compost a NO-NO?

[Jardin du Fort]

I will hopefully be building up my soil this coming spring in order to build a raised-bed organic vegetable garden. One of the needs I will have is a source of quite a bit of compost. Our city (Fort Wayne) makes compost from collected yard waste and sells it for a cheap price, almost free for the taking. My question is whether or not it would be "good". Tree trimmings, leaves, and grass clippings are all components used to make this compost. Since quite a few people use chemicals on their lawns, I have my doubts as to the freedom of this compost from these chemicals. What say ye?

[ReptileAddiction]

I say yes and that it is totally fine.

[cynthia_h]

You have to make your own decision.

What comes out is 100% dependent on what went in. If "many" people use chemicals, then some of that chemical residue will still be there in the compost. Not all of it--some high temps will deactivate/decompose certain chemicals--but the resulting compost will not repeat not be organic, if you're looking to start out 100% purely organic.

Howsome-ever, if you plan to mix this city compost with organic potting soil/mix in the raised beds, the % chemical residue of course will drop as a % of the total growing medium. If there's a soil company (around here I use American Soil & Stone aka American Soil & Rock) nearby, they may make home deliveries of __ cubic yards of organic potting soil, organic compost, or what-have-you.

Tip: You want **container** potting soil or mixes for those raised beds, not regular soil consistencies. Raised beds, if bounded by walls/sides, act like large containers. They need larger pore spaces, on average, for drainage; otherwise, they can act like wonderful mud-filled bathtubs and simply drown your seedlings, young plants, or even mature veggie plants (via root rot). I solved the quandary of a fellow El Cerrito raised-bed gardener who kept adding compost, compost, and more compost to her 20- or 24-inch wheelchair-accessible raised beds when they became--and stayed--waterlogged in the extremely wet winter of 2010/11. (She asked me these questions summer 2011.)

She was working literally upstream against two problems:

1) The designer of her beds wasn't aware of the needs of container soils for those larger pore spaces. He filled the beds with regular pore-space potting soil, designed for in-ground use.

2) The only advice she had previously received was to "add compost for better drainage."

I suggested that she add sand, although I almost never suggest it, because I *knew* she wasn't dealing with native California adobe clay (hint: clay + sand = what well-known, hard-surfaced mortar?). Feedback from the 2011/12 winter was good, although last winter was much drier than 2010/11 was. This year will probably give us the best test.

Good luck finding organic compost! If you purchase in cubic-yard amounts, the price drops amazingly.

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[PunkRotten]

They have the same thing around here. But they dump it at a location and you can go and pick it up and take as much as you want for free. I used it once and I found lots of foreign materials inside it like plastics, metal, rubber etc. You have to think, all this comes from the green bins that people use and a lot of these people do not use these bins responsibly. They put all kinds of junk in it and you never know what they have sprayed/treated their yards with. I don't use it anymore and glad I only used a tiny bit. For an ornamental garden I think it is ok, but would not use it for an edible garden.

[ElizabethB]

Jardin - my community does the same thing. I have used it a lot and so have my sisters, my Mother and many Master Gardener friends. Some loads are better than others. I have had to remove foreign material - plastic, wire stuff that home owners put in with their yard waste. I have used it straight up in flower beds. In the garden I mix it with my own compost or get broken bags of soil cheap from Lowe's and mix that with it. The stuff from Lowe's is usually a mixed pallet - top soil, compost, potting soil, garden soil - what ever the nursery specialist has at the time. I also add rabbit manure that I get free from local breeders. Our compost is free and they even load it on your trailer or in the back of your truck for you. My sister has 5 acres with lots of beds. It was cost effective to hire a local soil company to pick up and deliver the compost by the 14 yard dump truck. They charged $75 to deliver. Well worth it since she lives 35 miles from the facility and can only transport 2 yards at a time in her trailer. The results have been good. Very good growth and excellent production of fruits and vegetables. I have used bulk organic soil with no noticabe difference in the result - big difference in the price. Even getting it wholesale it runs between $33 and $35 per yard - 7 yard minimum for delivery.

If you only need a yard or 2 you may want to buy bulk organic. If you need a lot then the price is certainly right on the city compost.

Good luck.

[tomc]

I will hopefully be building up my soil this coming spring in order to build a raised-bed organic vegetable garden. One of the needs I will have is a source of quite a bit of compost. Our city (Fort Wayne) makes compost from collected yard waste and sells it for a cheap price, almost free for the taking.

I guess the answer is: how willing are you to gamble with supper?

If some kind of organic certification is the minimum, this compost does not rise to your need.

[Jardin du Fort]

Okay then. I think that the city compost will not be up to snuff for the veggie garden. I'll be happy to get a truckload of it, sift it, and spread it on the LAWN! That leaves me with a continuing negative supply of soil for the veggies, as I still am removing the roots from the pernicious vines that are going into the trash (feeding the city compost!!). I would be happy to add sawdust, sand, gypsum, worm castings and other components to build up the soil, but I'll definitely be wanting a goodly supply of compost......

Any of you gardeners within hollering distance of the Fort have a pickup truck extra compost you want to get rid of?

[rainbowgardener]

check craigslist and Freecycle. Look for stables near you and ask them about composted manure. Most of them are happy to give it away if you can pick it up.

[tomc]

When I had to move (2010) I posted on my local free cycle...

I'm just sayin'.

[Jardin du Fort]

Thanks tomc and rainbowgardener. I am now a member of the local Freecycle group. Now all I have to do is find someone who will respond to my need for the compost and manure etc. that I will need for the garden!

[imafan26]

We also have a private company Hawaiian Earth products that processes greenwaste from the city. Some stuff does get in. This company does post its' technical data. I have posted the link below. I have seen some other compost analysis at other places and we tested both the vermicast and compost that was delivered and made on site. The results from Hawaiian Earth was typical. pH 7.76 (I have seen some higher), but relatively low in heavy metals. You might research the company that processes your compost they may also publish their analysis, or for a small fee you can have the compost tested.
https://menehunemagichawaii.com/docs/CompostTDS.pdf
Hawaiian earth products sells sifted and screened finished compost. They also have piles that are free of the mulch (what is left over after screening and shredding) The mulch piles are where you will find metal, pieces of plastic bags (less now that the city has green cans island wide), roots, beer caps and centipedes. Even the composted processing does not necessarily mean that the product is clean. Sometimes the more persistent weeds survive.
I include a link to ATTRA's publication on manure and recommendations. I have heard that ATTRA has changed its' stand and now recommends the waiting period to be extended to all edible crops not just those that are eaten raw. [https://counties.cce.cornell.edu/washing ... uction.pdf