Composting Mistake

[Alarry31]

so i have this very nice compost bin i have been working on since we bought the house last july. The other day i noticed that there hadnt been any dog poop in the dog poop bucket in a while so i check our doog poop area on the property. and it was barley used so i asked my 12 year old were he has been putting the dog poop and he tells me of in the big bin with the leaves and grass in it. I planed to use that for my wicking beds i plan to build for vegetables. i have read you can use it and that you cant. I am using the lazy mans method and dont turn my compost and add water in the warmer months. Is my Compost pile now ruined or can I still use it for garden beds and is there any way to fix it now that there is dog poop in it

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

On the bright side, at least the kid did their chores!

The general consensus is that carnivore feces should not go into compost for food crops, but could be used for ornamentals.

I’m not sure how big the risk really is…but likely best to play it safe. Getting the pile really hot would reduce the risk as most pathogens would break down.

Still might be best to use that batch in the flower bed and buy some compost for the garden. On the bright side, 12 year olds make GREAT compost haulers!

 

[Acre4Me]

Agree, you should not use it now for food crops. It’s all about the pathogens.

Good advice above.

 

[gtaus]

so i asked my 12 year old were he has been putting the dog poop and he tells me of in the big bin with the leaves and grass in it.

That's just precious! Got to love the kid for trying.

I think you have a real win-win potentially. You could tell your son that he is doing a great job cleaning up after the dog and disposing of the poo in the compost bin. That will make excellent compost for the flower beds. And he can continue to put the dog poo in that compost pile. Appreciate the work, son!

But then make another compost bin (with him) and label that compost bin for the garden and people food. Explain why you should not put dog poo into the compost bin that you will use for the food garden. At 12 years old, I think he will understand. And you can thank him again because now you will have 2 compost bins for your flower beds and your food garden. You always wanted 2 compost bins, anyway! Right?

I don't know really how much of a concern dog poo would have in a compost pile, but I have always been told that cat and dog poo compost should not be used on a food garden. I would not take a chance on using dog or cat poo in my garden compost. Better to start another compost bin now and take the win with your son.

BTW, if you also have chickens, you can tell your son that the spent coop litter can be added to the food garden compost bin, that the chicken poo will make excellent compost, but that it needs to sit for 6 months or so before it can be used. That would be a great way to teach him the differences between your chickens, cats and dogs. If you have rabbits, then that dried rabbit poo pellet can immediately be used in any of your gardens. Never too young to learn about all the wonderful things we can get from our animals.

 

[artbykarenehaley]

Another good thing to note, the dog waste won't actually go to waste now, if used for fertilizing the decorative plants.
I have two big dogs and they produce an unreal amount of dog dirt. Seems a shame that such a resource gets wasted, when I know with just the right mix of other materials and time, it would be useful at least on the flowers I don't really have the option to compost it here, since I only have space for the food safe compost pile.