I noticed that Vitamix just designed a composter for the kitchen. Would that product output help as a winter replacement for salt, near garden beds, or is it too dense, or does it depend on the products we discard? I haven’t purchased the composter, and don’t know anyone with one. I’ve tried used dolomitic limestone, and liked using that, but ran out, and have plenty of salt, which is toxic. Or maybe I’ve been shoveling too much snow.
Thank you for contacting Toronto Master Gardeners.
The product you are referring to is it the Meet the FoodCycler® FC-50?
Great that there are table top composter options.
It states that “The FoodCycler breaks down food waste into a tenth of its original volume and creates a nutrient-rich fertilizer you can add to your soil. ” I am assuming each time you use the FoodCyler it will have different types of scrap giving you a different fertilizer.
Having made that statement a nutrient rich fertilizer can be added directly to the soil.
The chemical component of fertilizer is made from a variety of salts. The fertilizer from your FoodCycler may have a small proportion depending on what is being composted and different levels of what is normally found in commercial fertilizers. Store bought fertilizers may be very different from the fertilizer that is composted by the Vitamix FoodCyler. We do not have information on the output of the FoodCycler.
For further information, Page 6 of the of the Missouri State Soil Fertility and Fertilizer provides examples of different organic materials and what they provide to the soil.
https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/Portals/0/Gardening/Gardening%20Help/Factsheets/Soil%20Fertility%20and%20Fertilizers42.pdf
The salt used for most ice melting is made from calcium chloride or sodium chloride, both of which will kill plants. The sodium in sodium chloride also damages the soil itself so that plant roots cannot grow in it.
https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/sustainability/sustainability/earthways-center/news-from-the-earthways-center/articleid/501/say-no-to-salt-salt-alternatives-and-other-de-icing-tips.aspx
Toronto Master Gardeners website does provide information on using the alternative Dolomitic Limestone as you are doing for ice.
https://www.torontomastergardeners.ca/askagardener/dolomitic-limestone-as-salt-de-icer-alternative/
Jan. 20, 2022