Yard waste compost is a product much like a homeowner would produce. And yard waste
compost contains no industrial waste or any material that might pose health threats. All
woody materials are finely chipped before composting and comprise no more than 20 percent
of the total undecayed mass by weight. Although no nutrient analysis has been done by the
county other than testing for pH (around 7.0) and, because of the use of weed and feed
fertilizers on lawns, for 2-4D (no residual trace ever found present), I estimate that the
overall C/N of the materials going into the windrows at 25:1. I wouldn't be surprised if
the finished compost has a C/N close to 12:1.
Incidentally, Lane County understands that many gardeners don't have pickup trucks.
They reasonably offer to deliver their compost for a small fee if at least one yard is
purchased. Other local governments also make and deliver yard waste compost.
So what about your own home compost? If you are a flower, ornamental, or lawn grower,
you have nothing to worry about. Just compost everything you have available and use all
you wish to make. If tilling your compost into soil seems to slow the growth of plants,
then mulch with it and avoid tilling it in, or adjust the C/N down by adding fertilizers
like seed meal when tilling it in.
If you are a vegetable gardener and your compost doesn't seem to provoke the kind of
growth response you hoped for, either shallowly till in compost in the fall for next
year's planting, by which time it will have become stable humus, or read further. The
second half of this book contains numerous hints about how to make potent compost and
about how to use complete organic fertilizers in combination with compost to grow the
lushest garden imaginable.