[Garden] Blight in compost? And an interesting article

[J. Rochon]

Gardeners,
                    Compost normally kills pathogens by heating. Our 
compost heap is too low to generate adequate heat, and we're looking at 
a cool fall. Please keepthe blighted tomatoes out of the compost.

                        Interestingly, if you look up sun spot activity, 
our current cool coincides with the end of the eleven year solar cycle. 
Apparently the next cycle, whenever it starts, will be thirty percent 
hotter than this cycle.
> I just looked it up quick and it sounds like it is not a good idea to
> compost blighted tomatoes for the obvious reasons.  Sounds like it is
> best to take them out and throw them in the dumpster to be safe.
>
> If you want more local information on food miles the Public Health
> department has published a study looking at the distance of 58
> commonly eaten foods into Waterloo Region.  The results are quite
> shooking - average is about 4500kms and most of this food can be grown
> here.
>
> Anyway, if you are interested here is the link to the report:
> http://chd.region.waterloo.on.ca/web/health.nsf/4f4813c75e78d71385256e5a0057f5e1/54ED787F44ACA44C852571410056AEB0/$file/FOOD_MILES_REPORT.pdf?openelement
>
> Candace
>
>
> On Mon, Sep 22, 2008 at 11:57 AM, Madeline Rosamond
> <m.rosamond at gmail.com> wrote:
>   
>> Hi, all:
>> Pete, Paul and I (my name should be Mary, I guess) composted some of
>> the dead tomato plants in the garden Sunday. After we'd done it, it
>> occured to me that putting blighted tomatoes in the compost might
>> spread the blight around. Any thoughts about this? No information was
>> forthcoming from the gardening book we have in the shed, sadly.
>>
>> Also, is the average distance from grocery store food to your home
>> really 1500 miles? Slate knows:
>> http://www.slate.com/id/2200202/
>>
>> Cheerio,
>> Maddy
>>
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>>     
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