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Compost /Top Soil?
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Posted by hungrypeanut (My Page) on Fri, Mar 6, 09 at 2:09
| Any recommendations on where to get good affordable compost or top soil in Salt Lake? Is the compost from Salt Lake County any good? The cost seems very affordable but I wonder... |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Compost /Top Soil?
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| The municipal compost is good for a lot of things, however I personally do not use it for edibles. The material as it is composted gets to about 160 degrees F which will kill weed seed and bacteria. It will not kill heavy metals if any are present. And because the composted material includes treated lumber it is likely that arsenic and chromium are present in small amounts. I also do not know what 160 degrees does to petroleum based chemicals that are present in the material, specifically herbicides and insecticides. I think you have to be closer to 1000 degrees F to destroy organics. All that said, I use municipal compost for landscaping where I am not eating products from the plants. |
RE: Compost /Top Soil?
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| I'm north of you, but would probably use the municipal compost if I could get it, even for edibles. Edibles don't readily absorb heavy metals in any setting and in our high pH soils, they're even less likely to do so, especially when they're there in small amounts. |
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