[compost_tea] Alaska Humus History, ODTS

From: Kirk Leonard <kirk_at_oregonatural.com>
Date: Mon, 19 May 2003 13:48:29 -0700

A driveway water sweeper as a lawn tea sprayer! This is great, Jeff. Thank
you for your continuing creativity. You suggested Friday we might get
some insight yesterday into how AH was formed, though. I am disappointed
not to hear anything about that. I suspect there are other places on the
planet where such material may be found, so I still await your geo-story.

Your tale about fungal contamination is disturbing and worthy of alarm. I
assume it was one of those gray, lumpy, gungi fungi no one saw or suspected.
Better that we look for them now, and are learning how. I think good
vermicompost is as likely not to pass them as AH, since I've never seen
anything like that around a worm bin.

> Ever since then, I have been very careful when I deal with compost,
> vermicompost and mulches. <
AS well we all should. Easy to do with some attention and good we're paying
more attention to it. Good we have noses and eyes and can smell and
see rotten things, too. Has anyone else heard any authoritative rumor about
O157:H7 actually being let loose from a US germ weapon research lab
somewhere east of the Mississippi? That thought spins me about when I
reflect on USNOP and CT.

----- Original Message -----
Message: 18
   Date: Fri, 16 May 2003 15:31:55 -0800
   From: "Jeff Lowenfels" <jeff_at_gardener.com>
Subject: Re: Re: Compost, Vermicompost, Etc.

<<<I must insert a tweak here to the extent that I think Jeff has correctly
perceived that vermicompost is the principal competition for Alaska Humus,
and has thus brought up "ODTS" as a vermicompost issue,>>>

> No,no,no. Woooooah. Wasn't I the guy who put Mary Applehof's piece on
here? Don't I raise worms, too? Alaska Humus can stand on its own as there
is no comparison. We are not "afraid" of the competition with vermicompost
and for lots of reason there is no competition between the two. There is
room for both and differences in both and that is NOT why I mentioned ODTS.
Here is why I am so concerned about ODTS and impacts from "molds" (remember
the flame with Jose).....I know people who have had serious problems. YOu
can get ODTS from compost (though I doubt from Alaska Humus, but that is not
the point). Just by way of example, we had a dog that got very serious
lesions and almost died. Two days later, my mother got the same
lesions........she almost died as well. Turns out there was a bad fungi in
some straw we were using as mulch on our strawberries.
[Note straw, often today posing a clopryralid question...damn Dow!]
Thank goodness for the soil scientists at Cornell who were able to identify
what was going on and correct the situation. Ever since then, I have been
very careful when I deal with compost, vermicompost and mulches. Don't
breathe in the dust. If you have cuts, wear gloves and if you get sick, make
sure people know what you have been working with. <
[The gloves may be a bit much, as ODTS seems air-based, but the admonition
is appreciable...]

> So, this is not a matter of Vermi vs Alaska Humus. Never was. Again, I
repeat: we have to be careful when we are dealing with microbiology. That is
all. <
Good Ideas! But no it isn't all. Seems to me we should recognize that
chemistry, which we've made a much more dangerous set of things, is a small
piece of biology, not the other way around as current thought would have
it...hmm?

I still wonder why you introduced ODTS vav vermicompost, but I trust that's
just because compost became a current topic. Personally, I would not let my
vermicompost get that dry. I work on that and I'm sure AH could get that
dry, too. -- Kirk











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Received on Mon May 19 2003 - 20:27:42 EDT

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