In yesterday’s Goodstream, I covered yet again the danger of long-term herbicides in compost, manure, hay and straw. I also covered a few things you shouldn’t compost for other reasons.

Here are my notes:

What is not safe:

Biosolids (heavy metals and other industrial toxins)

Hay (herbicides)

Probably straw (herbicides)

Manure (herbicides)

Grass clippings (herbicides)

Mushroom compost (herbicides)

Purchased compost (herbicides)

Cat manure (toxoplasmosis)

What is safe:

Meat (compost in a pit or in a hot pile protected from vermin)

Manure from animals not fed purchased grass feed

Alfalfa

Peanut hay

Cottonseed meal (except potential pesticide residues)

Wood chips

Leaves

Chicken manure (unless chicken are bedded on hay/straw)

Chemical fertilizers (what an irony!)

Kitchen scraps

Bread

Shredded paper

Junk mail (note: some political ads may be toxic) *except for the plasticky stuff (Thanks, Allan)

Yard waste from your own, un-sprayed yard (Thanks, Dan S.)

If you are looking for ways to compost safely, mainstream lists are not particularly helpful. You can compost a lot more than you think you can; however, you also have to avoid a lot of things due to evil herbicides which will destroy your garden.

Watch this and see what I mean:

If you don’t own it yet, I highly recommend reading this book:

It is a game changer.