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| This has been bothering me recently. All of the guides I can find on composting state specifically not to include meat or fish scraps in compost. This seems really strange to me, because its pretty well known that native americans used to use fish as part of their soil to grow corn. So, what is different about compost? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| I do not use cooked meat wastes in my compost pile. I do love small bluegill and wastes from bass. BUT they are put into the middle (core) with a temp of 130F+. No problems with my dog, or other pests. So let us say, beginner composters should not use fish parts in their compost pile. If you have a compost thermometer, and a large enough pile to retain a core temp of 130-160F, go ahead and use the material. |
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- Posted by toxcrusadr (My Page) on Thu, Dec 15, 11 at 17:37
| You're right msarro, they are very compostable. They are also left out of most composting guides mainly because of potential odors and attraction of pests (flies, raccoons, dogs, lions, etc.). Many of us have composted meat and dairy products just fine. VERY important to bury it and cover well, and preferably in an enclosed bin if you have critters around. The example I like to give is composting a Thanksgiving turkey carcass after boiling for soup stock. I've done this in hot 1-cu yd piles for years and usually find only the breast bone in the spring. Our Dept. of Transportation experimented with composting roadkill in a giant sawdust pile. All the way up to deer size. Worked pretty well. |
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- Posted by novascapes none (My Page) on Thu, Dec 15, 11 at 17:42
| I've done an entire cow in a very large manure/hay mix pile. |
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| Roadkill and any scraps from my omnivorous diet go in mine. Nothing should be wasted - the food chain goes both ways. |
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| While some people may compost whole cattle most compst piles will have a difficult time digesting the fats that meats have, and that is why many composting web sites recommend against composting meats. I addition the odors produce by these meats and fish as they rot, because they often are not being digested by the aerobic bacteria, attract unwanted vermin to your compost pile. Those that do compost meat and fish waste usually bury that material quite deeply in their compost piles. |
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- Posted by tropical_thought San Francisco (My Page) on Fri, Dec 16, 11 at 10:02
| Fish bones do work, but chicken bones will not break down. If one could grind up the bones, it would just be bone meal right? But whole pieces of meat will bring you maggots. I have to turn my pile, so I don't want to deal with maggots. But, I have found left over dog and cat canned food does work fine. I am not sure that whole pieces of meat really add that much to the pile. Once the maggots start eating they eat everything and then what you don't want is no compost left for you to use afterwards. I am sure the smell of a whole cow would make a big problem. I hope the police don't come and check see if that is a body. I have to wonder if that is a joke about the whole cow. It would take years and be a huge mess. |
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| "I have to wonder if that is a joke about the whole cow." No joke, it's done a lot. Meat and fish are on the 'not recommended' list because most of these are geared for backyard composters and a lot of people would quickly get overwhelmed if they used these types of materials in their bins. It is best to keep it simple in an urban area. Lloyd P.S. I recommend you DO NOT read the attached link if you are squeamish, eating or have recently eaten. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Carcass composting
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- Posted by fabaceae_native (My Page) on Fri, Dec 16, 11 at 12:00
| I think it's a shame that so many sources of composting information just say no to animal products in the pile without an explanation, and it is taken as composting dogma. I know many people who are compost nazis, not allowing any animal products, bread products, and many others in their pile, without even knowing why. That said, I tend to limit meats in my pile somewhat because of the smell. The only vermin that visit are mice, which would be there no matter what I put in the pile. |
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- Posted by toxcrusadr (My Page) on Fri, Dec 16, 11 at 13:23
| Winter is a good time for this, because there are no flies about, cooler temperatures mean less odor floating around, and people aren't outside as much anyway. By spring any minor meat scraps in the pile have decomposed enough that they're past the stage of causing problems. Bird bones are mostly hollow and I've found they will compost pretty well in a hot pile. |
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| I recently burned up the blender making ground fish "sauce" for the compost pile. had some freezer burned trout and couldn't just through them out. got the pile steaming good. |
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| Let's consolidate some info here: Reasons NOT to include animal waste (meat, bones, offal, feces) Smell if improperly applied All compost contains elements of non-plant inputs... billions of organisms die and decompose in the course of the composting process. It is the concentration and overall percentage of animal matter to vegetative matter that causes problems. If animal-based inputs are included in a form that is easily decomposed by soil-born organisms, most of these problems would be minimized, but few people are willing to puree their roadkill before adding it to the pile. It is relatively easy to find multiple sources for animal-based garden products - bone meal, blood meal, fox urine. Go to a good retail outlet and take a good whiff of any of these and you'll have some idea of the potential odors that might arise from a concentration of these ingredients. This can be an issue whether your neighbors are bipedal, feathered, or furred. The reason we use particular practices for human burial is likely evolved from aesthetic, rather than religious, practices. There are a variety of reasons why we don't leave corpses lying around - they're buried, burned, or dumped at sea in order to remove them from our community. Those same fundamental considerations apply in the garden. All this being stated, I DO compost animal products, but having the luxury of space, I do so in a designated bin system, removed from my immediate production area. I let these bins decompose over a long period, and I do not use this compost on edible crops. This is also my depository for noxious weeds, diseased plant material, and other decomposables that are, to my way of thinking, nutrient resources but not necessarily appropriate for food production. I also use marine wastes directly in my regular composting bins, generally after passing through some sort of shredding process, and accept that this will likely encourage the occasional visit from one of my four-footed omnivorous neighbors. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Composting meat and dairy
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- Posted by tropical_thought San Francisco (My Page) on Sat, Dec 17, 11 at 15:27
| The above link is for a tiny compost kitchen thing, that would be strictly for amateurs. I moved beyond that sort of thing many years ago. If you are too lazy to walk to your pile you can put the stuff in the refrigerator or freezer, those little bins collect fruit flies. |
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- Posted by gonebananas 7/8 (My Page) on Sat, Dec 17, 11 at 15:42
| Compost has a great ability to absorb odors, so when meat and bones go in my compost I cover them with some older compost. Also, "unwanted vermin" sometimes enter my compost in ways they had not intended. |
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- Posted by albert_135 Sunset 2 or 3 (My Page) on Sat, Dec 17, 11 at 15:54
| In a course on how to write short articles one section was on including lists. The lists should include positive and negative bullet points. Since some waste could attract vermin or cause odors it is easy to include these in a list as negative bullet points. Then many writers just copy/paste so the lists get propagated. |
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| Tropical thought - the link to the Bokashi system is not traditional composting, it is an anaerobic process that takes place in a sealed system, and is designed specifically to address the problem of using animal-based kitchen wastes as a nutrient source. Admittedly, it is not appropriate for the occasional bull that might end up in your pile, but it is hardly amateurish, nor, properly used, will it attract flies.It is, in fact, a system that is particularly appropriate for urban composters. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Bokashi process explained
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- Posted by tropical_thought San Francisco (My Page) on Sat, Dec 17, 11 at 21:33
| I thought the link must be a mistake. I thought it was just a cute little plastic storage container for counter scraps. I see it is something else now. |
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