Dangerous Composts and How to Avoid Them 

When I first started making my own compost, I was getting grass from high end neighborhoods which in all likelihood contained Weed'n'Feed and insecticides, and caused some issues the first season. AVOID GRASS FROM MAINTAINED YARDS! Last year, I bought a bagger for my mower as well as a wood chipper,, and now make all I need from my own grass, leaves and yard waste, and I know it is all herbicide free. I also add fresh clippings each time I turn the pile, and can keep it at 145F for months.

This issue can’t be talked about enough! Am glad people are finally talking about it. Nothing like putting in all the grunt work for great soil, and having a contaminated garden. It’s sick seriously!

I almost feel, as hard as I try to compost and garden organic, it's a losing battle. Sooo much to take in. Thank you. Be blessed.

I bought 1.5 tonne of compost to establish my no-dig garden 4 years ago. It contained used mushroom compost which was contaminated with aminopyralid. It wasn't the compost suppliers fault, he was let down by his supplier. I helped him in his defence of the lawsuit which resulted from him refusing to take possession of the mushroom compost, refusing to pay, and asking the supplier to remove it from his yard. I supplied my bioassays to help his case. We grew it out using corn and mustard, which we sent to the landfill on harvest. since grew potatoes on the plot and they appeared fine. this year I planted broad beans, it is now fully flowered up and ready to pod, and yesterday I noticed a plant right in the middle of the patch showing signs of aminopyralid contamination. Sigh, not quite gone yet I guess.

I used a biological product called OP8 that's good for digesting chemical residues to remediate the soil in my high tunnel. Saved my tomato crop from pyralid contaminated compost. I had crinkly small leaves with little to no fruit set. Two weeks after my first application I saw larger flat leaf development and fruits setting. I've applied OP8 three times now and my plants look fantastic!

I was told by a University of FL agricultural extension agent that commercial compost (at least the kind created by the industrial composter used by Orange County FL gov't on collected yard waste) generates significantly higher temperatures than my backyard pile, high enough to break down the complex molecular chains of any herbicides or pesticides in the yard waste (a function of the temp plus the amount of time the compost cooks). This was six or seven years ago - his opinion was that it was completely safe to use any compost generated by the county w/out fear of hidden herbicides, pesticides, etc. If people are seeing problems with commercial compost do you think this is a problem with how the company is composting (not hot/long enough) or have we learned since then that not all chemicals are destroyed by the heat levels in a commercial composter?

The forever chemical discussion reminds me of a quote from Ianto Evans “The Hand Sculpted House” that stuck with me. Something like “Anything chemical with seemingly unnatural qualities should be regarded with suspicion as potentially toxic to living systems.”

Yeah this is a sad one , even some of the nop complaint compost we have seen herbicide contamination and almost all of them still extremely hot and very unbalanced in the mineral balancing side. 99% of the time you will have better results just using your native soil and mineral balancing it for such little money and adding compost extracts. Id say focus more on making a small pile of very good inoculating compost and save your money!

Last year I came across a RU-vidr named Scott Head who seems to have found success remediating persistent herbicide contamination by planting (ornamental) corn in the beds that killed his tomato plants. By seasons end, he was able to grow healthy beans in the same bed so it seems as though the corn drew most of the herbicide out of the soil. While he did lose his summer crop, he didn’t have to wait the 3, 4, 5 or more years it takes for some of these herbicides to break down on their own.

"you probably want to buy your compost from the nerdiest person you can, if they want to geek out on the phone that's probably a good sign". That is excellent actionable advice... Thank you.

actually compost that has too much carbon is fine to use as a thick layer of mulch that will slowly decompose and help fungal development mainly because it will reduce water loss to evaporation. i have tried many things in my veg garden and it wasnt until i put down mulch that almost looked more like compost than the compost i had also put down that i found the mulch doing what my agricultural plastic didnt do. i almost completely stopped the weeds and i just rake aside a small layer and theres moisture there

Troy was awesome. Get him back ASAP please!!!

Comments unrelated to compost but we shared earlier this year about garlic and growing in hoop house in 6a zone. Success!! Great bulb size. Sorry haven’t weighted them.

thanks for sharing. on PFAs, we can only do what we can, considering RAIN WATER is unsafe (see "Rainwater everywhere on Earth unsafe to drink due to ‘forever chemicals’, study finds")

Thank you guys for sharing this important information and knowledge.

I always had a bad feeling about that idea of "better living through chemistry"... didn't know it should have been this bad of a feeling, sheesh. Talk about horror stories! Regardless, thanks for the info.

I was dealing with a banana planting that was completely destroyed by Picloram contamination. Horse manure applied to the banana plants caused them to look like they had sigatoka. Eventually most of the plants died. The area had to be cleared and the soil removed. Getting rid of the contaminated soil was not possible so it just sat there, for several years. Even after 5 years the soil was still contaminated. Now as an experiment I put some of the soil in the burn pit and that seemed to break down the herbicide. It appears that oxidizing some of these persistent organic chemicals actually works.

Mandatory composting will be a nightmare. Everyone throwing in what ever they feel like. I have been geeking out on compost and worms for about a year now. I could do this as a side hustle no problem.

Add moisture until a handful of compost when squeezed releases a drop of water...perfect 👌

And when we see how devastating this is to the soil. Just think, the animals we eat are eating this stuff!! No wonder there is so much cancer etc!

I'm here for the dad jokes, the gardening knowledge is just icing on the cake. 🍰😜

This raises an interesting question regarding the use of teflon plumbers tape to seal NPT joints, which we all likely have SOMEWHERE (if not everywhere) in our irrigation systems. Are we actively spraying PFAS around the farm when we water? Is UMHW tape a safe(r) alternative?

Bad compost is an issue over here in the uk. Last year I bought a load of bagged compost contaminated with fungus gnat. These flies and larvae wiped out all my seedlings, sowing after sowing until I figured it out. They were a nightmare to get rid of. I grow for my family and for fun. I’d hate to see this hit someone growing for a living.

I lost most of my spring crops due to bad compost.

Very informative. Thank you for all the work you do.

Many decades ago, we bought a worn out farm field and started our homestead. The 1/2 acre garden was amended with hay, straw, and manure from our chickens and rabbits. The first 3-4 years, I struggled with my hands and arms breaking out with rashes when working in the Spring soil. I didn't think much about it as I had eczema in those early years. We didn't think about herbicide residual 40 years ago and literature was scare for homesteaders back then. Only in recent years, and after moving many times, did I remember those skin issues. No doubt, residual herbicides played a big part in my health problems back then. 😉

Hi! Thanks for an informative and interesting vid. One thing: Amost all the no-till growers/gardeners I know of use this method of putting cardboard on their unplowed fields and topping it with a heap of compost. To my understanding this is done to suppress we growth of existing weeds and to improve the soil by adding carbon (compost and cardboard). - Now, if composting glossy paper adds dobious forever chemicals to the soil, wouldn´t the same be true for almost all cardboard? I assume most cardboard is made from recycled paper. (At least the guys collecting the paper recycling in my area doesn´t seem to discriminate between news papers and glossy magazines) so I would think there´s a good chance of presence of those bad chemicals in almost all cardboard or other recycled paper. What´s your thoughts on this? Ar you a fan of using cardboard?

I use kitchen waste wood chips and comfrey in my compost only

Damn this was good. I'm privy to a lot of the material in this video but it was great seeing it all condensed into one easy to digest feature. Salute.

Excellent video

He seems to say that cover crops improve the contaminants. The specific issue with forever chemicals is that they don't go away with organic processes.

have had this experience with mushroom compost when i first started. because i was just starting out i thought it was me, wrong timing, or not watering correctly. took me a while to realize that it was the compost all along. plants were yellow and twisted, looked like they were being tortured! now a collect horse manure and let it sit for at least a few months before using. soil is full of worms now and plants are loving it. only i am just in my backyard. small scale.

So complex . . . my backyard compost pit is just yard waste, coffee grounds, fruit cores, and egg shells.

I've been obsessing over PFAS, really hate to see it. So I saw a way to test if your cardboard and paper scraps may have it, drop a little bit of oil on it and if it soaks in, you're good. If it beads on the surface, dont use it.

The sad thing about this video in learning terms is we are seriously living in a Poisonous world is there anything left other than in jungles to live clean.

There is some research being done into mycelium strains to break down PFAS and PFAO chemicals, I'm sure there are some strains that would also be effective against herbicides.

I bought a truckload of compost (which smelled like the dump) and found roofing materials in it; when I called the outfit he told me it contains "recycled materials". I put a free sign on it and neighbors scooped it up.

a local multigenerational cattle farm lost hundreds of acres forever because they used a municipal "liquid compost" over their fields linked to manufacturing plant waste being in the treatment water. None of that land can ever be grazed.

What is the trick to keeping ants out of your compost?

How about growing hemp to absorb the chemicals.

Have 1 inch of soil in the back & have to bring in dirt to do any gardening. Hopefully after moving yards of material plants will actually grow in it.

I've purchased compost from our local PUD and some other places and now I find plastic pieces everywhere!

Currently have a compost pile that was supposed to be plant based material only going. Found out the neighbors have been throwing their bad Qual eggs into it when I put a dark tarp over it for the winter months to help heat it up during the cloudy weather we usually have and the occasional snow twords the end of the winter months. I'll have to turn it heavily when I go to turn it since I usually sit it and forget it, but the eggs will need to be deeper to decompose. Starting another I intend to throw some chicken manure in from some family members. Also got your book not too long ago and reading in my free time.

This is something I am very curious about but I am also curious about residual chemicals that might be left in the manure of horses and cows who have come from an organic environment but perhaps may have been treated with medication. Is it safe to compost manure from animals that have been on medication? Because most animals (agricultural I mean) as well as our pets and us humans, are regularly ingesting medicines so I am curious about how safe it is to compost animal manure...does it just eventually become absorbed during the composting process and thus not a major problem?

coffee grounds has been my top compost remidiation medium

We have about 125 acres. A couple of horses and have never used any kind of poisons so I can use all the manure I want. Hay also.

It is very hard to trust any compost, from any supplier. You have to make your own, and even then, you have to be very careful. The issue with no dig is you need a lot of compost. I believe the truth is in the middle. All the "no dig" channels say they dont disturb the soil, but all have an intro with them disturbing the soil with a BCS. No dig is great in theory but not realistic for most growers. Green manures are the way to go, but you will have to disturb the soil to make them effective.

Just like food, and many other things. Do it yourself and you know what you have got. Trust what your own hands can do, or be careful whom you consider trustworthy. 💯 %

❤ why no ebook version of your book, sir!

Does anyone know about the potential problems from chemicals in manure from chickens fed on commercial layer feed?

I'm thinking the best way to control your compost is to only use your own site, eg have a field where you grow alfalfa etc and then harvest and compost it yourself and limit anything you get from off site. Of course it would be difficult to have a big enough site to make enough compost. Do you get your market customers to bring in their compost? Could get stinky!

Monocots will pull alot of the chemicals out of the soil. You cant eat them afterwards but they will pull them out faster.

I saw somewhere on YT that Lavender can clean soil of certain contaminants. I wish my old brain could remember, but it might be worth looking into. > Tom's wife Pam

can a compost than is listed as omri organic compost still have these "forever chemicals" in them or is that already tested for to get that rating

So, you can't wait put the persistent chemicals or do the bean test on compost to test for it? Does it affect plant growth or only health?

My neighbours spray their lawn with killex type of herbicides right behind the fence where I grow my food. Probably not great... And its all over a lawn. Geee...

Is mushroom compost OK? We are planning to let it sit after we get it. I am concerned about high nitrogen content or burning our plants

Pesticides in produce boxes. Dont use produce boxes for sheetmulch or compost

If you buy hay and cow manure from an organic dairy, you should be ok to make your compost from those sources, right?

Don't potatoes like compost that is still composting? Rabbit & chicken manure, lawn clippings, vegetable plant matter, & bag of course garden soil.

Jesse, u missed some classic opportunites around the idea of "immature" compost. Like it's selfish, or maybe it teases it's siblings?

One part per million or PPM is equal to one drop in 50 litres of water

Hi Jesse, off topic for this video but I'm hungry for a professional's opinion. I will shortly have the ability to buy either 2 caterpillar tunnels or 1 tunnel and a BCS tractor. I have very rocky compacted soil which is a nightmare to clear by hand so the BCS is very appealing. Having both, what would you suggest?

Awesome as always

There are only 118 chemical elements in existence.. cant be over 4000 chemicals that makes up one pfas... good video, just had to nerd out on ya lol

wow. thanks for the video!

I use straw in my hen coop, what about that?

I'm scared! It feels like nothing is going to be compostable without getting something harmful in it. You think it's a little difficult to do full organic? Try impossible.

Got any experience with humanure? I know that needs to sit way longer to break down any pathogens

Hats baby hats!!! Woohoww!!! Thx folks

Lost all my tunnel tomatoes due to Grazon (aminopyralid).

Thanks for the informative video and more cat-meos please!!!

I have no clue what our horse feed might have. But I just dumped 8in of woodchips all over the pasture and mixed horse manure with it. A half acre is our garden. I am spreading it. And ripping the ground to help retain water. Now I might just scrape it up out of the garden. Since I don't know what's In the alfalfa 🤔 Thank you for a great video.

Starts a 6 min. After the comercial

Starts at 2.30

This stuff is so scary and sad! We are truly ruining the planet and I’m so angry about it!

3M and DuPont

Interesting!!

Hi am a young farmer from Jamaica that’s also a content creator and I was wondering if you have any advise to give me as a farmer and a content creator

Squiretogen took me a minute 😅

Oh shit what about buying produce from the store that’s been sprayed with pesticides and throwing those tables scraps into your compost and feeding your garden with it… will pesticides show up in your fruits and veggies ?

Great video. Nice to see you Troy, hanging out with no till growers. I did a series of videos for the Organic Growers School last year covering compost, compost extracts, and biochar production found here: ru-vid.com Looking forward to your video on compost teas. For remediation, the contaminate type can make a difference but fungal dominant soils can remediate many herbacides. 2,4-D has been shown to completely break down quickly in microbilally rich soil while persisting in unhealthy soils. The more persistent *clopyrids are a bit trickier, some break down faster with uv exposure. I wonder if adding carbon and inoculation with BEAM compost from a Johnson-Su bioreactor could speed up remediation times? Thx again for the great video.

"issues with compost" to me sounds the same as "problems with party food"

Growing hemp will pull poisons out of the soil.

You talk about "educating people" on what to compost. The problem isn't the education, it's the compliance. You're always going to have that one jerk who says "fuck it! I don't care!" I knew someone who would toss his needles in the rubbish bin. I told he that it was illegal and dangerous and he said "fuck it! I don't care! They make it SO hard and inconvenient to do it the right way, so I don't give a shit!" I finally found a way that I could PROPERLY dispose of my needles...but, at first literally EVERYONE was saying "go over there" and the people "over there" said "go over there" who also said "go over there"...Like I went to take them to my doctors office...they told me to take them to the chemist where I filled my script...and THEY told me to take them to my doctor...and I was like "my doctor told me to bring them here!" I just got a run around!!! So, I ended up having a bunch of containers full of used needles that I couldn't get rid of!!! And that is why you end up finding needles in your compost...someone just got tired of the runaround and just tossed them "someplace convenient".

Is it a catmeo or a cameow?

“Catmeow”🤣🤣🤣🤣

PFOAs are not simply in compost, but in nearly every drop of water on the planet. They even travel in the water cycle into the air and back down as rain so avoiding them is even harder than isolating good compost. The only good news ive seen on this front recently came out this week from UCLA where they were able to start decomposing these chemicals at relatively low temps with simple reagents, meaning water treatment plants (with some upfront investing) could start rapidly reducing the problem in our water. Then comes the marathon of getting it out of the soil. Great video!

Thank you for this!!! It is a very important subject. We are in New Hampshire, where a lot of "municipal sludge" is still used openly on farms. That I believe was the source of the PFAS contamination on the farm in Maine that was mentioned. It is a huge problem in our area. More awareness is needed. So to put it in your words.......you are awesome!!! Thanks for putting this vid out there. Cheers!!!

I saw Paul Stamets (well known mycologist) talk about a mushroom he seeded on contaminated dirt in order to remediate the soil ( I don't remember what the contamination was). I believe he used oyster mushrooms. Well the shrooms broke down the toxins in the soil. Maybe that can work with the persistent herbicides.

Thank You so much It explains soooo many things about what's going on in my garden. After years of just trusting that I'm doing the right thing by growing my own food... and having to deal with this issue totally makes sense. Unfortunately it's a huge worldwide problem in the soils the water the air. Humans have really made a TOXIC MESS of the Earth.

I thought Alfalfa, being a legume would not be a source of broad leaf herbicides since it can't be grown in the presence of those chemicals. The real sources are monocot material like Hay/Straw.

I don't want to be a Debbie Downer, but it gets even worse. If you purchase feed for your livestock and use their manure in your plantings, you'd best know EXACTLY where the constituents of that feed came from and how it was grown. Then look to see if the place milling that feed also mills things that could be contaminated and end up mixed (inadvertently) into YOUR feed. Also consider the potential issue of drift or run-off in your homegrown feed and forage. If your neighbor sprays their fields and the wind blows it into your pasture or the run-off from their fields crosses into yours . . . . possible introduction of a chemical you are trying to avoid. I sadly had a good friend lose two entire greenhouses full of spring plants due to drifting of herbicides from the next-door cornfields over a thousand feet away. There was zero doubt about the cause. The beans and peas planted between the corn and the greenhouses literally pointed to the origin of the herbicide application upwind. Another thing to remember to consider: Where do you source your livestock bedding and how is it grown? I've seen cut Christmas trees that are marketed as being treated to be more fire resistant and to stay fresh longer, presumably via some treatment to maintain the moisture of the tree. I wondered at the time about the consequences those trees being put into municipal compost and mulch.

Make Your own compost and don´t forget to compost Your enemies!😅

I’ve been utilizing chickens to shred my piles, and just layering. I have to rake it up a lot until i build a cage around them but so far its produced phenomenal compost

Ranchers and farmers need to come together and stop buying hay that has been sprayed. When hay makers start loosing money because they cant sell contaminated hay anymore they might stop.

Charles Dowding from UK ran into this problem with horse manure some time back. He's famous for 'no dig' and has many videos on composting.

Our sources for ingredients to create our homemade compost are almost all sourced here on land; 1. Cattle for manure, 2. Pond Algae, 3. Grass, 4. (Being brought in) Wood Chips - including varying amounts of pine needles, grass clippings, and leaves. The last compost bought was filled with weed seeds we’d rather not have again. Making our own has become a necessity. Using it sparingly has also become vital as the gathering and creating compost is time consuming. Thanks for this video. It has reassured us that creating our own is better and cheaper. Labor costs to make compost actually saves money versus spending on commercial compost which may harm our plants and damage production as well as our soil on the farm. May we all remain productive and healthy from soil to table. Cheers.

I just use lawn clippings and chicken bedding to make my compost.

Speaking of lead and asbestos...I'm a Contractor and I've seen "compostable materials" diverted at dumps that are turned into compost for the community. Unfortunately this includes all kinds of things I wouldn't want in my compost: painted drywall (gypsum) that can have lead in the paint or asbestos in the drywall compound, painted fence boards (again possible lead), plywood and OSB (think the glue is safe for you?), etc.