Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>]

FYI from
http://cwmi.css.cornell.edu/milorganite.pdf

"Milorganite (and all sewage sludge products)
contain organic material (materials derived from
living things). However, they are not allowed for
use in certified organic agricultural production
according to US Department of Agriculture 
regulations. So, if Milorganite or any sludge product
including composted sewage sludge were used on
a garden, the produce would not be considered
organically grown."

"Milorganite
and some other sludge products meeting certain
criteria are approved by the US Environmental
Protection Agency (USEPA) for distribution for
any use, including home gardens. However, some
people remain concerned about the safety and
environmental impacts of possible contaminants,
many of which are not tested. In particular,
pharmaceuticals and many toxic organic chemicals
are present in sludges but are not regulated or
monitored."

paul tradingpost@lobo.net

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 12/6/2007 at 4:34 AM Ralph Thurston wrote:

>I've hauled in "milorganite" from the local waste
>treatment plant (it's low in heavy metals) but I was
>wondering if worms would "improve" it before I
>incorporated it into the soil. I don't have a warm
>place to keep worms--one of the questions I would have
>had--but I assumed there might be some lo-tech way to
>keep them warm, as surely the compost itself would
>generate some heat. I don't use cover crops, as I drip
>irrigate and there is no surety that we would have
>enough fall rain to bring up a cover crop, and I would
>be left with seeds on the ground in the spring which
>would be the equivalent of weeds (unwanted, in other
>words). My ground is very clean and I do not want any
>extra work. 
>
>--- TradingPostPaul <tradingpost@riseup.net> wrote:
>
>> 
>> I don't often promote other lists but you should
>> check out
>> the_worm_bin@yahoogroups.com
>> 
>> paul tradingpost@lobo.net
>>