Gregory's Server@compost Any reservations about using composted manure from a large dairy farm? I know little about the source, so I’m reluctant to use it. Any instances of PFAS contamination?
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7 comments
@urbanmicrofarmer @compost I know that using manure from cows that eat hay treated with dicamba and similar herbicides would be bad. I saw on an extension service site that if legumes can grow in it, it would indicate that it's clear of that one. There's also the issue of any meds fed to the cows. If you can raise chickens, that's great. @Bon_Jardin @compost I have a garden plot on the edge of town. The land owner says he will bring in the composted cow manure for his use and mine, if interested. Since I don’t know the source, I will decline. At my backyard / home garden I have laying hens. I know what they eat, and I’m glad to get their manure. Today I connected with the local microbrewery. I now have a source of spent brewing grains (free)!  @urbanmicrofarmer @Bon_Jardin @compost Are you aware of sharewaste.com? That's how I found my current composter who takes the output from my guinea pig cages. (Our municiple contractor stopped taking anything but food scraps and plant cuttings, so the newpaper would have otherwise gone to landfill.) @urbanmicrofarmer @Bon_Jardin @compost Composter reported that two cubic yards of finished compost went to the tree planting project at a local high school a month or so ago. This made me very happy. @cavyherd @urbanmicrofarmer @Bon_Jardin @compost I like ShareWaste - when I had bins out on the front berm I was happy to have people drop stuff off, less so now (a) the bins are in the back, guarded by the ducks (b) the city now does food scraps collection. @rupert @urbanmicrofarmer @Bon_Jardin @compost Yeah, they're thin on the ground, it's true. My composter is biking range—at a distance that's basicaly at my range these days. (I'm not in as good condition as I've been in the past.) I think the next nearest is probably 20km or so. |
@urbanmicrofarmer
It is always good to know your local farmer and ask them what medication they use or how they feed their animals.
Here we have many dairy farms around us but we can't be sure about what they use so we do not use their manure.
The best manure in the world is made by composting worms and we exclusively use this kind of manure.