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How to break down bones in garden

shaggs2riches

shaggs2riches

I'm getting dirt from local farmers compost piles. The very bottoms of these piles has nice black dirt from years of composting from everything around the farms. In the piles there is often a fair bit of bones from animals. The bones are completely dried up probably from 10 years ago. I was thinking this might not be fun when tilling up the gardens. I have no way to screen it up easily (there is around 20 yards of dirt). Is there any way to speed up the decomposition of the bones or should I just let them continue to break down naturally?
 
I forgot to mention that maybe half of the dirt is also coming from a zoo. There is a bunch of bones from lions, bears, wolves food. Pretty "exotic" soil.
 
I'd be careful using compost from predator animals as any bacteria and viruses from the animals can live for several years in the soil and still be contagious ( this is why most people avoid using carnivore waste in any gardens that they grow edibles in.) Most people usually stick to waste from herbivores. (Sheep, Goat, Cow, Alpaca, Horse, etc. )
 
For Example the Zoo Doo Compost program of Woodland Park Zoo states
 
 
All the non-primate herbivore (plant eater) animals are happy to doo their part. These animals include giraffe, oryx, hippos, gazelles, and zebras  among others. Woodland Park Zoo creates nearly 1 million pounds of compost each year saving $60,000 per year in disposal costs.
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Oh really I didn't know that. I always thought that if it was composted to dirt, that it wouldn't be a problem. I wonder if samples of the soIL could be sent in to be tested to see if it is safe. Buying dirt from companies here will ger expensive. They want $40-$60 a yard plus $50 delivery and can only haul 4-6 yards at a time.
 
Years ago the National Zoo in DC sold small statues of zoo animals made out of composted manure. You put them in your garden and they slowly decomposed, fertilizing your garden. I thought that would be perfect for Mother's Day. Mom is hard to buy for. Sent my then husband a week before to buy. Told him which gift shop they were in. He came back successful but did say it was hard to find and had to ask 3 different zoo employees. It was in the trunk of the car, ready to go.

That next week had record heat for April. The car started to smell funky, but figured maybe a dead bird or mouse somewhere. By Mother's Day the car smelled horrible, but I didn't think to look in the trunk. We got to my parents house, opened the trunk and the ex had bought a 25 lb bag of UN-composted elephant poop. I realized then that he had didn't listen.

Still a funny memory. The poop ended up at the dump.
 
So I have been racking my brain now all day trying to find an answer. I had transplanted my tomato plants last weekend using some of the soil from the zoo. I have 13 plants that have been transplanted into 10 gallon nursery pots till I could get the gardens filled. Would there be a risk to take the plants out of the soil, wash the roots with fresh water and and plant in a bagged soil till they get into the garden? The plants are about 15 inches tall and they were just in solo cups till a week ago. I don't want to risk a contamination to my beds once I put them in there. Or should I start or buy new tomato plants all together. I sent out emails to a couple soil testing sites in the area, but they obviously won't be getting back to me on the weekend. I'm happy I didn't put any peppers in that soil
 
"How to break down bones in garden"
 
If I had more time on my hands, I'd be tempted to create a profile here and just ask increasingly creepy questions to see how long it took until somebody called the cops....
 
"How many pepper plants would it take to keep a small child alive if they ate nothing else?"
"How thick of a layer of soil would it take to soundproof a below-ground room?"
"Which pepper plants are most resistant to damage caused by something clawing at its roots?"
"I think both candidates in the upcoming election make fair and valid points."
 
*shudder*
 
Bahaha.... I didn't think of it that way before. But now that you mention it, the title kind of has a certain sketch factor to it. Gotta read things over and view it with a twisted mind before posting.
 
Wulf said:
"How to break down bones in garden"
 
If I had more time on my hands, I'd be tempted to create a profile here and just ask increasingly creepy questions to see how long it took until somebody called the cops....
 
"How many pepper plants would it take to keep a small child alive if they ate nothing else?"
"How thick of a layer of soil would it take to soundproof a below-ground room?"
"Which pepper plants are most resistant to damage caused by something clawing at its roots?"
"I think both candidates in the upcoming election make fair and valid points."
 
*shudder*
Click to expand...
 
Yeah, I was sorta thinking the same thing.  Except I think you forgot to include some question about how much to dilute a solution of hydrochloric acid and muscle tissue, so as not to raise garden PH.
 
This is getting hilarious.....side note..... I did find a lab that will do soil tests for salmonella and fecal coliforms. Gonna run me about $150 plus taxes. It will give me a proper answer and I won't be taking any chances. I also found a landscape company that will sell me 20 yards of a 50/50 mix for gardens at $30 per yard delivered. Going to definitely go that route.
 
For breaking down the calcium in bones, you may be able to use vinegar on the powdered bone to create calcium available for plants. I don't remember the chemistry enough to say for sure. There is a video on youtube that explains how to do this with eggshells.
 
That would be a cool thing to do with the bones. I was thinking of collecting the bones from the pile and putting them in an incinerator (I might be able to get access to one) then grinding all of it up to a fine powder. I was thinking of then just tilling the powder into the garden afterwards.
 
shaggs2riches said:
That would be a cool thing to do with the bones. I was thinking of collecting the bones from the pile and putting them in an incinerator (I might be able to get access to one) then grinding all of it up to a fine powder. I was thinking of then just tilling the powder into the garden afterwards.
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If you have access to a grinder, why not just skip the incinerator?  Do you want bonemeal, or potash?
 
I'm not 100% certain of the chemistry, but whenever you burn something, part of its makeup is lost to atmosphere in gaseous form. So burnt bones do not equal bone ashes. I'm guessing you'll get all of the trace elements, but not sure about the majors. It's not that big of a deal if you add it back to compost, but if you use it as an amendment, you may want to know the difference before application.
 
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