Compost potatoes safe to eat?

[cedillamuerta]

Hello all. You may be aware that it has been consistently wet down here for at least a month (feels like a lot more) and my clay soil has been bogged down with moisture for the whole time. According to the LSU planting guide I've been using (thanks to you all) it's just about too late to put potato starts in the ground. I've got some starts in large pots, but I have a lot of potatoes still left over and I really don't want to waste them.
I have found, however, that some potato peels I put in the compost pile have sprouted into little plants, and I was wondering: Are compost-grown potatoes safe to eat? There's no guarantee they'll even survive or produce anything, but if they do, will they contain any nasty bacteria or not-fully decomposed chemical compounds? I tend to put a lot of printed cardboard in the pile (cereal, macaroni boxes) and I'm pretty sure I've composted some poisonous plants (no Toxicodendron though). Thanks for your input.

[cynthia_h]

DH and I have added compost-pile spuds to our regular-grown spuds, cooked 'em up, and eaten 'em a few times (we've only grown spuds two full seasons: 2008 and 2010).

They were very good. No bad effects, either short- or long-term. I have GOT to grow spuds again this year.

Potatoes in by St. Patrick's Day! (at least, that's what I remember hearing as a kid)

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[rainbowgardener]

Perfectly safe. The inks are probably soy based and the toxic compounds in poisonous plants are organic and break down as the plant breaks down.

The only thing I would worry about at all is if you are putting fresh manure in your compost pile. There are diseases that can get passed along that way. Short of that or if you put things like commercial (non-organic) insecticides in your compost pile, it should be perfectly safe and your potatoes will love it.

Cynthia, you remember applestar's sign - plant potatoes when the forsythia blooms? Do you even have forsythia where you are?

[toxcrusadr]

Eat up! Just wash them first, and don't eat compost. Always a good rule of thumb to remember.

[cedillamuerta]

Don't eat compost. Always a good rule of thumb to remember.

That's actually what made me think of this question. I thought to myself: if compost is potentially bad for you to eat, would anything directly in contact with it also be bad?

Potatoes in by St. Patrick's Day!

So do you think I still have time to put them in the ground? Another week or so of dry weather and the soil should be good for planting.

Thanks all for your help once again.