People in this town put their lawn trimmings, leaves, whatever, out on the street to be picked up by the city. I've stopped a few times to get some of these for my compost pile, but odds are that these are from lawns that have some degree of chemicals applied.

How safe is it to use these clippings, when I'm pretty sure my compost pile doesn't get super hot? It's so tempting, and I need all the help I can get, but I don't want to cause harm in the process.

Thanks!

From what I've read in Howard's books, using others peoples trimmings, especially grass or hay, is not a good idea.

You're probably right. I have probably heard him say this, but I'm an an age where unfortunately, having a good memory is nuthin' but a memory, so I rarely retain much of what he says unless it's something that I can use immediately.

Ah, well. I guess there really is no such thing as a free lunch.

I absolutely rely on other people's stuff for my compost pile. My own yard is self mulching. If I want any compost at all I have to pick up bags of stuff. I normally need at least 20 large bags to start.

Does that include grass clippings, too? I'm sure there will be plenty of leaves coming up soon, and I'm not worried about those. I really hate to see all that good stuff going to waste on the curb when I could be using it. I get a good amount from my own yard, since I'm not trying to grow grass [trying to get rid of it, bit by bit] and the man who cuts it uses a bagging mower. But that's only good through the summer. Maybe I'll go on a scavenging hunt today!

I rely on what others put out at the curb for my compost pile,last year I put 36 of those brown lawn and leaf bags in my pile,which is 10 ft. long x 5 ft. wide x5 ft. high last year and a little bit of horse manure that I found on Craigslist for free.I don't care about the fertilizer question I just pile it on and let nature take it's course.