But I have to wonder what the park folks used as their nitrogen source: grass clippings, manure, or, shudder the thought, municipal sewage waste (aka biosolids)?

When I brought the plastic garbage bag of free compost home and placed it in the garage with the plastic bag opened at the top for air, within 20 minutes my garage was stinking up a storm. Oh my gosh. It smells kind of like doo doo, not exactly but similar.

I've read that biosolids smell like doo doo. I sure hope they didn't use treated sewage waste as their nitrogen source. Hopefully they used horse manure or grass clippings or something like that. Or maybe their compost became all anaerobic? Maybe they never turned it for aeration, so the anaerobic bacteria took over?

I really don't know which scenario above accounts for the deep doo doo smell. The smell remained on my fingers for many hours, even after washing with soap, and of course, it's still smelling up the garage.

I'm worried about using this compost for my lawn and garden now. Can compost made with grass clippings smell that bad if it goes anaerobic? Like I said I sure hope biosolids wasn't used as the nitrogen source. I would prefer anaerobic compost to compost derived from biosolids.

If you live in the St. Louis area and need some free compost for your own home use, please consider driving to Shaw Park in Clayton. Let me know what you think about this compost. (From Brentwood Avenue turn onto Shaw Park Drive and go past the tennis courts and past the baseball diamond until you see the compost.)

Another thing about their compost is it's still steaming and hot. When you dig into their pile you can see steam rising up. Insert your hand a couple inches, and you can feel the heat. The compost is a dark color and crumbly. What does the steaming hotness say about the possible nitrogen source, if anything? Thanks very much.

I bring home bags of leaves all fall, and sometimes they are stinky. I figure it's either plant matter starting to decompose, or maybe somebody raked up some dog doo with their leaves or something. I'm not storing them in the garage, they are outside overwintering!

Grass clippings can smell just like crap when they go anaerobic!

We once had a problem with a forage wagon and the chopped hay sat inside for a few days while we waited for parts. By the time we finally got the wagon fixed, it was all we could stand to just dump the load in the pasture.

Ever go to a nursery that sells bulk mulch, especially the fine shredded hardwood? Go there early in the morning, especially on crisp mornings after a few days of warm weather. Gotta love the smell of mulch in the morning.

When i have collected shredded leaves from the site close to me, the hug pile of freshly shredded leaves will steam away once you dig in a bit... not the best smell.. but i wouldn't say it's bad.

On the positive side this is the second load I had delivered in the last year or so and EVERYTHING is growing
and thriving real well, and I have no weeds growing where I spread it.

When i have collected shredded leaves from the site close to me, the hug pile of freshly shredded leaves will steam away once you dig in a bit... not the best smell.. but i wouldn't say it's bad.

I'll try to talk with someone in person. I didn't have much luck by phone. Guess I'll have to drive over there again today.

It is just leaves, the knowledgeable-sounding rep said when I asked if there was a nitrogen component like grass clippings, manure, or sludge.

The compost is just decomposed leaves from Clayton's residential leaf collection program. They vacuum up the leaves curbside. I think the leaves decomposed for about 2 years.

By the way, I moved that stinky compost outside to the vegetable garden from the garage yesterday. All is well in the garage now - Lol.

I'm guessing the unfinished compost may have gone anaerobically stinky while sitting in the plastic garbage bag with only the top of the bag open for air. The compost was wet inside the bag. So now it's getting a lot of air outside to turn aerobic again. If the compost had been finished, maybe it wouldn't have gone stinky anaerobic--not sure though.

Incidentally, the Clayton rep did say that he wasn't certain, but compost from the cities of St. Peter's and St. Charles might have sewage sludge in it. Oh, joy for them.

But when I bagged the active, unfinished compost in the plastic bag and placed it in my garage, then I first noticed something stinking within 30 minutes to an hour. So I dug around in the bag with my hand, and felt a whole lot of water. There was no water visible in the park's compost pile outdoors, and only steam visible when you dug into the pile.

So I'm guessing and hoping it's just a simple matter that the plastic bag prevented the unfinished compost from evaporating the water and prevented enough oxygen exchange that the compost became anaerobic for a while.

Everything in the bag has been dumped outdoors now, with a tarp placed over it. If I notice bad smells in spring, I won't use the compost, but I'm hoping the problem's been solved now. I don't smell anything bad now outside.

Maybe you're only suppose to bag finished compost, not unfinished compost.

Lloyd

Here's what Sandy Baker says in "The Complete Guide to Organic Lawn Care":

"How the compost smells is an indication of its maturity. You want compost that smells as earthy and rich as possible. If the compost emits a strong, unpleasant odor, this indicates that the organic material has not decayed and will not be good for your grass. Your compost should not be hot and steamy, as this is another indication of compost that has not fully matured."

"....if you find the compost has not matured sufficiently when you get it home and the store will not provide a refund on an opened bag, add it to your backyard compost pile if you have one, and allow it to ripen."

The compost I bought during the summer from STL Composting in Fenton didn't smell badly at all. I think it's really good stuff. I just hope it's not chuck-full of unseen NON-organic nasties like pesticides. It doesn't have the OMRI seal, but I think nothing here does, or at least very little does. Maybe if you empty out your wallet at Worm's Way, they might have some OMRI stuff - Lol