[UrbanCropCircle] Cedar Grove and meat in compost

Mon Apr 14 11:55:02 PDT 2008

Allison,
Ever since I got the mailing from the City that people will be encouraged to
put meat in their yard waste, I have been worried about the safety of Cedar
Grove compost. I wrote to them and to the City and asked why they were doing
this. My information is that no matter how much heat Cedar Grove uses to
cook the compost, the prions and some strains of e.coli may still survive. 
Cows are forced to be cannibals, when they are given ground-up beef to eat.
The prions that pass into their system, into meat scraps and thus into Cedar
Grove compost could spread Mad Cow disease. I think I will cancel my yard
waste contract with the City and buy only guaranteed vegetarian and organic
compost. 

Thanks for the information about Ann Lovejoy's views. I trust her judgment.
I wish EVERY prominent gardener and garden organization, as well as the
Washington Toxics Coalition and other groups would make this into a very big
issue. The City just wants to save money on landfill costs and this is a
stupid way to do it. The City should ban syrofoam containers and other
useless plastic, which would be far more effective in saving money, while
doing no damage to the environment or to compost. 

Susan Helf 

  _____  

From: urbancropcircle-bounces at lists.sustainableballard.org
[mailto:urbancropcircle-bounces at lists.sustainableballard.org] On Behalf Of
Sustainable Ballard Urban Crop Circle
Sent: Sunday, April 13, 2008 9:09 PM
To: Sustainable Ballard Urban Crop Circle
Subject: Re: [UrbanCropCircle] Cedar Grove and meat in compost

Yeah, 

I went to the recent workshop with Ann Lovejoy, and she was saying they seem
to be getting a little too big to handle their compost without meat... it's
a bit clumpier than before.... and we don't want compost with less than
fully composted meat-- bleah (I'm a veg too.) Besides the veg bit...

I'm wondering if we can see if they have some guidelines and standards that
we can get for their planned meat inclusion, and if they will have a
non-meat options (doubtful if they allow everyone to include meat.) I just
wonder if they are really ready.

Alison

Sustainable Ballard Urban Crop Circle
<urbancropcircle at lists.sustainableballard.org> wrote: 

Hello fellow urban gardeners,
Sky is a great source of soil. I miss the soil one could get from Denny Hill
fuel at 90th and Aurora. Did you know you can get Ballard Tree Service &
most other tree services to dump the contents of their closed trucks into
your driveways? You can get yards of free wood chips for composting
ornamentals. 

I wanted to let you know that the City of Seattle is encouraging homeowners
to put meat and other animal products into the yard waste containers
starting in 2009. I am afraid that meat-tainted Cedar Grove compost (made
with City of Seattle yard waste) will contain e.coli and possibly prions
(Mad Cow disease.) Cows are forced to be cannibals and eat food up of other
cows. I don't want to risk of using soil that contains prions that may cause
Mad Cow disease. 

I've written to the City and to Cedar Grove Compost. I would never THINK of
putting animals meat scraps in my compost. I'm a vegetarian and an organic
gardener. I'm considering canceling my yard waste contract with the City and
never buying Cedar Grove Compost again. What do you all think? 

Susan Helf 

-----Original Message-----
From: urbancropcircle-bounces at lists.sustainableballard.org
[mailto:urbancropcircle-bounces at lists.sustainableballard.org] On Behalf Of
Sustainable Ballard Urban Crop Circle
Sent: Saturday, April 12, 2008 10:22 PM
To: Sustainable Ballard Urban Crop Circle
Subject: Re: [UrbanCropCircle] Welcome to the UCC Group!

Rhonda,

Sky nursery in Shoreline on Hwy. 99 has good prices on dirt. When I was
buying dirt for my tiny garden plot/patch, we filled up the back of my
neighbors pick up truck with dirt and got a good bulk price. They have a
backhoe and just dump it in for you.

I am also excited to have other gardeners to talk with and learn from. I am
learning as I go and am having a lot of fun with my little patch of earth.
Swanson's Nursery has been really helpful and they often have Master
Gardeners on hand to answer questions.

Lisa

On Fri, 11 Apr 2008, Sustainable Ballard Urban Crop Circle wrote:

>
> Welcome everyone to Sustainable Ballard's Urban Crop Circle Gardening
Group!
>
> I don't know about you, but I'm really excited about having folks to talk
to about gardening. Even though I've read books and dabbled with planting
things over the years, this year I'd like to really plant a garden. To that
end, Jim and I are installing raised beds on the side of the house with the
most sun. The next step is bringing home the dirt, and if anyone has
suggestions for what kind of soil and where to get it from, I'd appreciate
it!
>
> Do let me know if you have any suggestions for this group. It really
belongs to all of us. If you have questions, or answers!, feel free to post
them here.
>
> Thanks, Rhonda
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> Going green? See the top 12 foods to eat organic.
> http://green.msn.com/galleries/photos/photos.aspx?gid=164&ocid=T003MSN
> 51N1653A

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