Joshua Frank

I take your point, Redhawk. I was asking because I'm looking for a source of sawdust for composting, without a lot of pre-processing.  If my problem was that I HAD a lot of MDF sawdust already, I would definitely try your techniques to remediate it.

Thanks for the detailed answers. Though it pains me to resist a free and plentiful resource, dealing with the load of poison isn't worth it.

I'm always looking for good carbon sources for my composting, and there's a woodshop near me that has limitless sawdust, but they cut MDF, particleboard, and plywood, which contain toxic glues.

Normally I would avoid this, but some sources say that the composting process breaks down the glues, and the formaldehyde even breaks down into useful nitrogen.

What do the experts here think?

@Chris Kott: Thanks for the info.

@Chris Kott: I think I'm asking the opposite question. I want to compost humanure and NOT get methane, but deal with any methane that I do get by not releasing it into the atmosphere, where it's a powerful greenhouse gas. But it sounds like (a) not much methane can be made from the manure of a few humans, even if you try, and (b) that will be much less or negligible if the pile is aerobic. Does that sound right?

Suppose we don't try to use the methane for any productive purpose, but just want to burn it to prevent it getting into the atmosphere. My understanding is that the resulting carbon dioxide would be a less potent greenhouse gas. Is that possible?

Sure, no problem.

Received, and emailing now.

Good to hear from you Mick. I'm not sure if you can send a private message, but I do know how to respond to the message, so send me your email and we can continue the conversation.

By the way, we lived in Morristown for 16 years, pretty close to your neck of the woods.

My family owns 65 acres of land in northern New York State, near the town of Keeseville, about 40 miles from the Canadian border. We have long dreamed of building a vacation home there, but for various reasons that's not going to work out. The land has long frontage on the Ausable river, some wetlands, some forest woodlands, and some meadow. It has a good road and electric lines. There is an old barn that has been dismantled for lumber. Other than that, it is undeveloped. We are very reluctant to sell it because we love it, but we don't want the land to sit unused and unproductive.

So I am now exploring the idea of offering the land for lease to community members who have the skills and desires to create a permaculture farm, but lack the land. Perhaps it could be broken into 5 or 10 acres parcels. I would only be interested in a very nominal rent or share of proceeds, as long as the land was being put to good use.

I'm not sure how this would work, exactly, but I would like to float the idea and assess interest from the community and/or ideas about how such an arrangement could be structured.

Cheers,
Josh