Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>]

Yep, make your own compost is probably still the safest advice. BTW I 
understand there are no organic standards for compost. They can call it 
natural or anything that sells. And what I see usually says "forest 
products". Which means slow to break down and depletes nitrogen. Maybe OK for 
mulch?

paul tradingpost@lobo.net

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

On 3/21/2010 at 7:11 PM yarrow@sfo.com wrote:

>Quoting Ken Hargesheimer <minifarms2@yahoo.com>:
>> ...I had [a soil test] and 2 yrs later another one.  My opinion is
>> that it is a  poor use of money. Do three things and do not worry
>> about the soil.
>>  
>> 1. Add organic matter
>> 2.Add organic matter
>> 3.Add organic matter
>>  
>I agree that adding organic matter is the key. But I know of a local
>organic gardener and garden-book writer who bought compost from the
>same source she'd been buying it for years, except one year it killed
>her plants. So she had it tested and found out it contained toxins
>(probably one of the three nondegradable poisons that Paul originally
>mentioned -- I've been hearing the clopyralid warnings for years).
>Compost producers are required to test their products, afaik -- if in
>doubt, ask for the test results before buying. Or better,  make your
>own and don't add ingredients whose source you don't know.
>
>I add kitchen waste from 1-3 households to my compost, so that is my
>main source of unidentified inputs. Oh, and the occasional bagful of
>coffee grounds from local coffee shops. And the bales of hay that are
>donated to the community garden in the fall. But besides that, my
>compost inputs are garden waste from organic gardens.
>
>
>
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