Nuts near a compost pile, bad idea?

[Rocky1]

Can outside compost contaminate in-shell nuts left on the ground? Is it likely to? I'm thinking rain water could cause components in the compost to leak out into the surrounding ground areas.

Compost bins are often away from houses in areas with lots of vegetation which may seem like an ideal place to put some nuts, but I know next to nothing about composting and have a concern about microorganisms, bacteria, and chemicals - anyone know if these are likely to be real issues? I am aware of the fact that animals getting into compost has been a problem for some people, so that would be a consideration here, but not necessarily a definite reason NOT to do this.

[Lighten-Up]

Can outside compost contaminate in-shell nuts left on the ground? Is it likely to? I'm thinking rain water could cause components in the compost to leak out into the surrounding ground areas.

I am not an expert, just an amateur composter. I would ask what is being composted. Usually compost piles are made with only vegetable matter, leaves, grass clippings, NO meat products. So to my thinking, those would all degrade with no real contaminants, such as the entire forest floor is kind of like a compost system, all the dropped decaying materials lying there, being broken down by the worms etc, the only real difference that I see, is that in a compost pile, high heat can be generated to help speed up the process, and kill pathogens if they exist.

Now, composting cat and dog poop is growing as people don't want to fill landfills with plastic bags of this stuff. Cat poop especially would have contaminants in the form of pathogens. But how harmful this is to squirrels, I don't know. I can well imagine that squirrels come in contact with cat and dog poop as they roam around yards and buy nuts, as this stuff is pretty ubiquitous...

Just my thoughts.

[Rocky1]

I am not an expert, just an amateur composter. I would ask what is being composted. Usually compost piles are made with only vegetable matter, leaves, grass clippings, NO meat products. So to my thinking, those would all degrade with no real contaminants, such as the entire forest floor is kind of like a compost system, all the dropped decaying materials lying there, being broken down by the worms etc, the only real difference that I see, is that in a compost pile, high heat can be generated to help speed up the process, and kill pathogens if they exist.

Now, composting cat and dog poop is growing as people don't want to fill landfills with plastic bags of this stuff. Cat poop especially would have contaminants in the form of pathogens. But how harmful this is to squirrels, I don't know. I can well imagine that squirrels come in contact with cat and dog poop as they roam around yards and buy nuts, as this stuff is pretty ubiquitous...

Just my thoughts.


Thanks, if there were meat, I suspect it would smell - and the odor would give that away. Not sure about poop though. I guess, opening the lid and taking a whiff might reveal something.

[Lighten-Up]

Rocky1,

Silly me, I only read the first half of your question when I gave me response...not sure how that happened, brain fart.

To answer your specific question about putting nuts near a compost pile. From my amateur perspective, I think it would be completely fine to put nuts close to a "normal" vegetable matter compost. I really don't think that anything really harmful would leak out. It's a pretty safe practice.

I would not put nuts near an animal or humanure compost situation. Slightly different situation. That stuff will be made perfectly safe in the course of months to years, but while it is doing its thing, best to keep it away from food.

Now as to whether your consideration of placing nuts near compost is a good idea, I can't speak to that. Is it on your property? Other thoughts to be considered for that. I just gave thoughts regarding the compost.

[Rocky1]

Rocky1,

Silly me, I only read the first half of your question when I gave me response...not sure how that happened, brain fart.

To answer your specific question about putting nuts near a compost pile. From my amateur perspective, I think it would be completely fine to put nuts close to a "normal" vegetable matter compost. I really don't think that anything really harmful would leak out. It's a pretty safe practice.

I would not put nuts near an animal or humanure compost situation. Slightly different situation. That stuff will be made perfectly safe in the course of months to years, but while it is doing its thing, best to keep it away from food.

Now as to whether your consideration of placing nuts near compost is a good idea, I can't speak to that. Is it on your property? Other thoughts to be considered for that. I just gave thoughts regarding the compost.

How can you tell the difference between the different types of compost you mention (vegetable vs. animal or humanure)?

Per your last paragraph, I would like to focus this thread and limit it to a discussion about contaminants or lack thereof. Perhaps I should have asked my question differently, but now that the thread has started and I can no longer edit, I am clarifying that I was interested in learning about whether or not the nuts would be contaminated (period).

[Lighten-Up]

How can you tell the difference between the different types of compost you mention (vegetable vs. animal or humanure)?


The person who created the compost pile would know exactly what kind it is, because they must "follow the rules" to put in it what it needs to work properly based on what kind it is.

It might be kind of hard to tell by just looking. My guess is that the vast majority of composting piles will be the vegetable garden type. IMO the percentage of people composting animal and human excrement will be relatively low, but people are doing it so it is well worth mentioning.

As I mentioned, a vegetable compost pile will ideally not have any meat or animal products added to it. Okay, maybe in small doses a little milk from time to time. But basically no.

However animal waste composting requires the addition of lots of nitrogen to make it work, because there is often a lot of the "litter" that goes into it; and so it is highly recommended to add lots of green grass clippings and vegetable/plant material etc. So the piles could look similar.

I'm not suggesting that you dig around other peoples compost piles, but if you were to turn over the stuff that is there, I would suspect it would be pretty obvious what is only vegetable and what has poop in it.

Of course everything I have written is from a purists point of view. Any person can throw anything in a pile and call it a compost pile...all sorts of people do things all sorts of ways, the only way to know for sure is to ask.

Hope that helps you.