Dekalb County compost - what's the story?

[Adria Stembridge]

Good morning gardeners,

I have a question about the free mulch/compost available from Dekalb
County and hope some of you can shed some light. I brought in 10
cubic yards of this for my backyard garden, which was heavy red clay
(a lot DHS was in the beginning). I thought that adding all that
wonderful organic matter would have substantially improved the quality
of my soil. My sweet peas are doing ok, but just about everything
else in the garden is growing very slowly, and several plants have
bolted (all of the lettuce and broccoli).

Someone here mentioned that the dekalb compost wasn't the best way to
amend soil, but I couldn't resist the price (free). Now I wonder if
I'm learning first hand about the quality of this compost. The man
who delivered it said that the county grinds up the yard waste, then
cooks it over a week period.. so it only takes a couple weeks to go
from limbs & leaves to the black dirt they deliver.

Has anyone had the dekalb compost tested? More importantly, is there
anything I can do now, to save my plants?

Many thanks,
Adria

[Diane Loupe]

I don't know anything first-hand, but I know Farmer D doesn't like the free
DeKalb compost. But then, he sells his own brand.
I also see that it seems to be high in wood chips.
We've wondered if that stuff has a lot of pesticide in it.
Maybe a call to the DeKalb extension agents?
Maybe you just need to fertilize the garden plants more?
You haven't killed your plants..they're just not growing as fast as you'd
hoped?

BTW--THANKS for all your fabulous work in our garden. The garden has never
looked better, thanks in large part to your efforts.
Get me receipts for your tractor parts, and we'll reimburse you.

Diane

[Adria Stembridge]

> We've wondered if that stuff has a lot of pesticide in it.

I'm concerned about this too. It looks so rich and useful, but we
don't know how much roundup or other pesticides/herbicides were
sprayed on material that winds up in that compost. The extension
agent said that any remnants will leach out of the compost within a
few rains, but who knows. The cost of other compost is so high, I
thought I could save money using the free stuff.

I'm going to take a couple soil samples over to Memorial drive & have tested.

-a

[Anna Rose]

I'd love to see the results of that test. My main complaint about the county compost is that it can be full of weed seeds – I had no nut sedge until I added it to the small plot right by the school. I also trust it less and less ... if they get it so hot that it breaks down in a week, I'd imagine that all the bio-lovelies get killed off, and most of the chemicals remain, which is really just not that helpful.

Sure wish there was a better option ... Growing Power in Milwaukee has this amazing system where the kids who work there collect food waste from all over the city and make "compost cubes" out of six pallets, which they can then sell in bulk (and use for their own purposes, of course). I've done a little experimenting with worms this year, and will say that worm castings really do seem to be every bit as amazingly useful and easy to create as people say they are.

Good luck! It certainly is hard to resist that stuff -- it looks awfully nice. I think I'll stay away from now on, though.

Anna Rose

P.S. YOU GUYS I can't wait to see the garden when I get back from school!!

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[Adria Stembridge]

I dropped off 3 samples this morning - the office worker said it takes
7-10 business days. As soon as I hear back with results I'll
definitely share with the group!

Just to be clear, the samples I'm testing are after I mixed the Dekalb
compost with existing red clay and sand. One of my samples has a very
high concentration of the dekalb compost, so it will be interesting to
see what comes back.

The extension agent also pointed out that with any compost, content
varies from batch to batch depending on what it was made out of.

-Adria

On Tue, May 10, 2011 at 10:20 AM, Erin Croom <erin@...> wrote:
> Please let us know what you find out!

[Jan Gable]

Is this the same mulch I got from behind the Decatur Fire Station/Library? I was under the impression that comes from the City of Decatur yard waste pick up, as opposed to DeKalb County.  We used some compost for the HTP plots that was in a big pile in the DHS garden a few weeks ago -- it looked identical to what I brought over from the fire dept. Was it the same? (I hope it was for general use . . . )
Jan

[Lexie Parker]

Adria,

I haven't used the free compost so I cannot speak to it's content.

I can tell you that the lettuce and broccoli bolting likely has nothing to
do with the compost - it has been too warm. They really are cool season
crops and when we have a few days above 75 - they go to town! Mine have done
the same in my backyard garden. That's why I prefer to plant them in the
fall, but then I have to handpick all the caterpillars off of them!

Gardening is just choose your poison - weather, bugs or weeds!

Lexie

[Adria Stembridge]

Lexie,

That makes sense, what with the 85 degree highs we've had lately. I
set out 90+ lettuce, spinach and chard plants last fall but the
foraging squirrels nibbled on or ate almost every plant. I lost just
about all of them. This fall I am prepared with a fence and
low-voltage (non-lethal) electric line across the top.

Adria

[Adria Stembridge]

Dear gardeners,

I received test results today.

The county said that their method of creating the compost accelerates the decomposition process, and that the material can be used in a few weeks.   I erred in taking this at face value. 

The master gardener for Dekalb said that while the material looks dark and rich, it is not fully broken down.   He generally does not use it as a fertilizer or soil amendment for vegetables until it has adequately decomposed (one year).   He said it is fine to use as a mulch while still "fresh".   In fact he referred to the material as a mulch, not compost. 

While the material is still decomposing, microorganisms breaking down the wood & plant matter leach nutrients out of the soil in order to do their work.   Once this process is more or less complete, you'll have a very rich, nutritious compost.   Until then, plants will have a hard time growing and thriving due to competition for available nutrients.

That said, it appears that the Dekalb compost is fairly nutrient rich.   Summary results of my soil tests are at the URL below.

Sample AB was richest in the dekalb compost.    Sample C and D were taken from other places in the garden. 

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AuxT_hK8mDagdE9tYmt6SXluWEZPRkt1M0pYcHc1aEE&hl=en&authkey=CLaapIsJ


The actual Extension Service report is below, but contains recommendations for various crops and was a pick through at first with three samples and various crops (hence the summary above).

In the Extension report, the top row shows a bar graph showing content, based on the listed Crop (varies).   The row right below, "Soil Test Index", contains the routine test raw data (same regardless of stated crop, reproduced in summary spreadsheet above).  Additional recommendations for the stated crop are listed in the second row. 

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B-xT_hK8mDagOGVkOGY4YTEtYzkyZi00YWZlLTg4NTItNDU3NzA3NzRhZDA3&hl=en&authkey=CLqY9_gN


At DHSCG, we spread around 60 cubic yards of Dekalb compost between the four large ground plots.  More was placed in the lower plots because the upper area had been planted before we could get more organic matter mixed in. 

Last year the okra and corn seemed to struggle, but the sweet potatoes thrived.  This year everything appears to be growing very well.   We also did not have easy access to water last year, which probably had a bigger impact than the actual soil makeup.

-Adria

[Gillig, Richard (Rick) (ATSDR/DHAC/CAPEB)]

Adria,

 

I agree that aging the compost for at least a year is advised for optimal plant growth. Last year I put quite a bit of compost in my plot and had minimal plant growth. I was later advised by an avid gardener that the compost was still breaking down and thus derived my plants of nitrogen and other nutrients.  I contend that the county compost is an appropriate soil amendment, but should be given time to decompose before adding to active growing areas.

 

Thanks  

 

From: dhs-g...@googlegroups.com [mailto:dhs-g...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Adria Stembridge
Sent: Thursday, May 19, 2011 11:33 AM
To: DHS Garden
Subject: Re: Dekalb County compost - what's the story?

 

Dear gardeners,

--

[Diane Loupe]

With that in mind, should we get a load of the compost in the garden and let it "age"?

Also, I scrounged a few pallets from a dumpster near the CVS...could use some more. Want to build a compost bin near the other side of the garden.

 

Anybody know where we could find 4-8 pallets? The Farmer's Market doesn't have any...they used to, I know.

 

Diane

[Adria Stembridge]

Yes --- since it takes so long to age, it makes sense to order some to have on hand.  Dekalb will deliver to the school for free.  A full load of 20 yards goes faster than you might imagine.. if they can send 40 yards it would be better.

[Gillig, Richard (Rick) (ATSDR/DHAC/CAPEB)]

I know others would disagree with me but I suggest we get more compost and let it age. Others may be reluctant to use the compost in their plots  but we will need it for the flower beds this fall.

[Adria Stembridge]

I wrote the Dekalb Master Gardener volunteer this morning about the test results and my yellowing plants.   She replied via voice mail in detail, saying that the dekalb compost is fully composted and she didn't think that was the problem.  She said that I likely have a nitrogen deficiency. 

At the end of the call she thought it would be good to have a soil test done, so she did not see the results I sent her before making her recommendation of adding cottonseed oil or a 18-6-6 fertilizer. 

So -- take that for what its worth.  This is the third person (and first Master Gardener) to say that the Dekalb compost is fully ready to use as delivered. 

Adria