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No longer finding composted manure
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Posted by
ShenandoahJoe 6 (
My Page) on
Sun, Apr 29, 12 at 22:39
| Every spring, I buy a trunk load of composted manure for the gardens. This year, the bags all say "compost and manure" where they used to say "composted manure". What changed? Is this a different product, or did some regulation get amended? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: No longer finding composted manure
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| I was thinking the same thing. I have noticed the bags have been saying steer manure "blend" |
RE: No longer finding composted manure
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Unless you know that the producers of the manure you are buying have followed the National Organic Program rules there is no way to be sure that those bags of manure were actually composted. There are no requirments to not use the term composted manure, or organic, even if it is not.
Most all of the bagged manure sold comes from Confined Animal Feeding Operations, CAFOs, and it is neither organic or composted, even though labeled as such. |
RE: No longer finding composted manure
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| I compost it myself...lol Ive had six bags sitting in my garage for a year. They are dry and smell great!! Every time I open my garage people make jokes about how it smells like home depot in there. I used 2-3 bags on my trees this spring and so far the vegetative growth on my peaches and orange are green and full. |
RE: No longer finding composted manure
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| They are probably mixing in other organic material like shredded yard waste, bark from sawmills, etc. so it's not all manure. I hate to admit it but they may actually be engaging in truthful labeling. :-p |
RE: No longer finding composted manure
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| We bought 45 bags of "composted manure" for a patch of sandy soil where we wanted grass to grow. As time went on, we discovered the reason the bags were so heavy...they were full of rocks and glass dipped in manure! I'm talking LOTS of rocks, including some as big as my daughter's palm. No wonder it was so hard to till it in, and the grass all died on the first hot day. My lesson learned...Buyer Beware! Who knows what companies really put in those bagged fertilizers we're buying? Hope your bags were full of rich additives! :) |
RE: No longer finding composted manure
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| Buying some in the past from big box places... it seems like the same "composted & manure" varies quite a bit from one shipment to the next.. all from the same manufacturer. Sometimes it almost just a black powder.. no texture at all. Sometimes its got a ton of grit/sand.. and other times its just perfect (for my needs). I have ended up just looking for a torn bag to see what's its like before i buy. |
RE: No longer finding composted manure
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| Definitely good advice nevermore. I have noticed in the last few years that there is a lot more of apparently soil in bags of 'compost'. The lab tests I ran last year bore this out - some of the products had no more organic matter than good topsoil - I'm talking 5-10%. I don't buy anymore without looking inside. I have complained to store managers and they don't get too excited about it. |
RE: No longer finding composted manure
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| yup... always check out the goods before you buy. At my local store.. . the have the "compost + cow manure" and then "topsoil" by the same brand. Many times you can see the torn bags sitting off to the side and the product is exactly the same or opposite of what you would expect. |
RE: No longer finding composted manure
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| That's an excellent suggestion, Nevermore. From the way it's working so far this spring, I think I'm buying an inferior product. |
RE: No longer finding composted manure
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| Yeah. I go by smell and the torn bag method..lol I got lucky and got some bags of nice brown manure. It did look like it had some kind of soil in it but not too bad. Thats good advice! Buyer beware! |
RE: No longer finding composted manure
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- Posted by pt03 2b Southern Manitob (My Page) on
Wed, May 2, 12 at 8:34
| If they call it composted manure they ought to be able to prove it has met some degree of a standard. By calling it just plain manure they don't have to. My guess is this is a 'legal department' decision. Lloyd |
RE: No longer finding composted manure
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| Assuming that the gorillas that run some of these bagging facilities actually have a legal department. I'm not sure some of them can spell 'legal' :-] |
RE: No longer finding composted manure
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- Posted by pt03 2b Southern Manitob (My Page) on
Wed, May 2, 12 at 10:54
| :-)...If the bagging companies are that bad, then they are probably already fully aware of 'legal ramifications'. But seriously though, the big box stores retailing the products know about 'legal'. Lloyd |
RE: No longer finding composted manure
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| No doubt! Actually I've gotten to where I don't buy much anyway, because I have a glory hole dumpster diving spot where any and every product in a torn bag gets discarded. Since I get it for free I don't complain about the content. Miracle Gro potting mix, topsoil, sand, you name it. Treated my whole lawn with premium weed n feed this spring, cost $0... :-] |
RE: No longer finding composted manure
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| Sweet! Toxcrusadr thats my style!! The Lowes by my house used to have to discount racks for trees and plants. They would mark stuff down to %75 off! Basically if I wanted something all I needed to do was wait and sure enough the last of the product would end up on the "racks"...lol They even had a pile for torn bags that they would tape up and re bag in a clear bag and mark down %50! Man I loved that place..then they went out of business! Beach Blvd and the 22 Freeway In Westminster CA Now I go to every Lowes in the area (Not many) like a crack fiend asking "Got any discounts??" "Wheres the discount rack??" Their reply is always the same...Oh we send what we dont sell back to the manufacturer for a refund. DOH! |
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