Contaminated Manure in the UK

[Oola]

Through a blog that I read, I found this article on the Guardian website:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jun/29/food.agriculture

"Home-grown veg ruined by toxic fertiliser
Gardeners across Britain are reaping a bitter harvest of rotten potatoes, withered salads and deformed tomatoes after an industrial herbicide tainted their soil. Caroline Davies reports on how the food chain became contaminated and talks to the angry allotment owners whose plots have been destroyed "

[Pippa]

I have often wondered about 'farmyard manure' that it may contain anit-biotics that the animals have been on and try to use my own compost. Do you think Horse manure, very well rotted so it is reall crumbly would be ok to use?

[Oola]

Not sure Pippa, given this paragraph in the article:

"Guy Barter, the RHS head of horticultural advisory services, said they were receiving more than 20 calls a week. 'Our advice is not to eat the vegetables because no one seems to have any idea whether it is safe to eat them and we can't give any assurances,' he said. 'It is happening all over the country. A lot of cases we are seeing is where people have got manure from stables and the stable have bought their hay from a merchant, and the merchant might have bought hay from many farmers, possibly from different parts of the country. So they have no idea where the hay came from. So finding someone to blame is quite difficult.' Weedkiller in the soil should dissipate by next year, but in stacks of contaminated manure it might take two or more years to decay, he added."

[Healing Hands]

Pippa, I have heard that very rotten horse manure is fine as long as it is well rotted though. I remember once many moons ago putting some horse manure on the garden and it killed everything off.

My allotment is blooming as I used the compost from my garden, you should see my onions!

[Pippa]

Boasting again HH!!

[jazzactivist]

I think that well rotted horse manure is fine, pippa, especially if you know the source/horse! I get mine from my neighbours whose horses graze the fields round about, so I know that they are not eating grass or hay containing herbicides. I agree with HH about home made compost, but sadly my compost doesn't produce onions as big and bountiful as hers!

I also read in the Guardian about a man who became seriously ill and died when turning his own compost. Apparently, it was extremely well rotted and dusty and contained dangerous microspores. However, it was later discovered that his compost contained a lot of bracken, and the male plants do often have a disease that can be dangerous to humans if breathed in. Although it is sad when people suffer in this way, i think that a lot of this recent bad publicity about home composting is to stop people doing it as no-one is making a profit!

[Ivy]

I tried to start two compost heaps in my life and both disasterously failed but I never put anything like cut flowers (from shops) on there for fear of the remains of the pesticides they were sprayed with. anybody who can give me advice on how I get those composts heaps composting please do not hesitate to tell me how to get them started. (spent a fortune on compost starter packs that are supposed to be made from eco friendly ingredients)

[jazzactivist]

Hi Ivy, I think that the key to good compost is to make sure that your bins are in the hottest part of the garden where they will get maximum sun to heat up, and also make sure that you layer the material carefully with rough woody stuff or paper shreds and wet vegetable matter. Then mix and stir from time to time. I believe that urinating on the heap helps break it down too. However, this is easier for men, as I tried it by discreetly taking out a jug of my own urine very early one morning only for my neighbour and her three year old daughter (who wouldn't sleep) to be out in their garden and came right over to the fence to find out what I was doing...