this post was submitted on 09 Feb 2024
6 points (100.0% liked)

Composting

873 readers
1 users here now

Anything related to composting, vermicomposting, bokashi, etc.

Ask any question, or show us your black gold or your family of wigglers!

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

My city collects waste food for composting. There is /no seeds/ rule, likely because whoever uses the compost wants to control what they grow.

I make veg. broth by boiling veg. scraps for ~30—60 min., some of which are loaded with seeds. I’m wondering if the boiling kills the seed, in which case I wouldn’t likely cause problems by tossing the boiled scraps into the city’s compost.

top 12 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] evasive_chimpanzee@lemmy.world 12 points 9 months ago

Technically, proper composting itself should be hot enough to kill off any seeds. Boiling should definitely be good enough. My guess is they don't want people just loading up the compost with weedy yard waste

[–] Slatlun@lemmy.ml 12 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I am surprised a city would have a rule against seeds. Their industrial composting should be good enough to kill seeds. That said, boiled seeds should be super dead.

I am curious- what veggie scraps you use that have seeds?

[–] activistPnk 7 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Bell peppers (“paprika” outside the N.America) and butternut squash (I toss the slimy sludge with seeds into the freezer scrap bag which then eventually goes into the veg stock).

[–] LilNaib 7 points 9 months ago

Proper composting not only destroys seeds, it also kills pathogens like e. coli and salmonella while even breaking down things like diesel and TNT.

There's a ton of misinformation about composting and I think the central cause is that multiple decomposition methods that produce different results are all lazily called composting by lay people.

As an example, composting uses biological heat produced by thermophilic microorganisms (mostly bacteria) to destroy pathogens etc. and which eat the material to produce compost. Worms, used in vermiculture, do not raise the temperature, have much less success destroying pathogens, and produce worm castings, which are physically distinct from compost and typically sell for around 10x the price.

I've even seen discussions where people think that fire, which produces ash, is compost. Like... you can see a pile of compost, and a pile of ash, and literally can't tell the difference? Add water (and oxygen) to compost and you'll get compost tea for plants and trees. Add water to ash and you'll get lye used in drain cleaner products. They are not the same.

[–] cerement 5 points 9 months ago

(I would’ve normally said no, but then I remembered there are seeds that require a wildfire to germinate)

[–] LallyLuckFarm@beehaw.org 3 points 9 months ago

Assuming you're bringing your stock to a boil before reducing to a simmer, thirty minutes ought to be more than enough time to kill the seeds in your vegetable scraps.

[–] FfaerieOxide@kbin.social 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

/no seeds/

...what about stems?

[–] activistPnk 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Stems are not mentioned in the rules.

[–] FfaerieOxide@kbin.social 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

'cause usually when people are being picky about this sort of things, "...no-stems-no-seeds" are listen in succession.

[–] activistPnk 2 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Right, but the city also requires people to separate food waste from garden waste. I’m not sure why, because I would expect both kinds of waste to be going to the same place. Garden waste would be full of stems (I haven’t read those rules on that), but stems that would turn into clones are probably less common in food waste.

[–] FfaerieOxide@kbin.social 2 points 9 months ago

the city also requires people to separate food waste from garden waste.

Edibles hit different.

[–] Redfox8@mander.xyz 2 points 9 months ago

Probably because food waste may also contain meat which therefore carries a health risk and has to be processed separately.