If you have a mulching lawn mower and do not want to mulch them to put into your compost (I routinely do without problems) run over them with the lawn mower and use them as mulch on your lawn. They will disappear just like the grass clippings if you get them fine enough.
Bill P.

Mine (avg. 40-50 plants) just get chopped up with a hatchet or stuffed in the chipper (if really dry) and then added to the compost piles. I know compost purists advise against it but I never had any problems with doing it. I compost all my weeds too. ;)

Unless you have one of the rare, extremely pathological diseases the composting process will take care of any problems even if you don't "hot" compost.

Dave

Make sure you chop off the head, hands and feet to avoid positive identification.
OOPS we are talking tomatoes. Sorry.

bodies?...

>.>

<.>what bodies?...

I toss my plants whole onto the compost pile and give it a few whacks with a sharp machete. I found out just this year how good a job a machete does in dismembering old plants. The bits left are not too tiny, but they lay flat, and that is my big concern when throwing things onto the pile. The lawn mover would work great if you did not want to compost.

I know that you meant on the lawn Vance, but I shred mine in the composting area and it is incorporated into the compost very quickly. Mine usually has a good bit of green in them when I shred them up. And yeah, you might have to hack some of them up a bit to get them to lay down enough to run the mower over them, but I can do a "wheelie" with and drop the deck right on top of what I want to shred up.
Bill P.

You could do another pile for garden waste. Chop 'em up a bit and put them in the pile with some browns. Keep that pile separate and don't use it on the veggie bed, it shouldn't cause any problems in your shrubs or perennial beds. Or let it sit a few years and use it anywhere you like.

I knew I could count on the people here for good ideas or reassurance that I'm doing okay with my ideas!

Last year I piled up a heap of dead annuals like sunflowers and such. Every weekend I'd look at the pile and tell myself I really needed to load it up and take it to the dump. But with my husband gone on an almost 8 month deployment, that pile just sat there and sat there. I didn't feel like doing the hauling by myself! Hey, we are weird. Dump hauls together are how we keep the magic alive! 22 years and counting, we must be doing something right. LOL

Finally in Spring I pulled the pile out to the middle of the yard and ran over it a few times with the lawn mower. I guess I could do the same thing with tomatoes. I already have tomato plants growing in the oddest places! What's a few more "surprises" next year?

Michelle

I understand Virginia User tax now, because I pull all plants up, with their roots and have the city to pick it up.

I am taking about over thousand of plants last year.

You will never find a Tomato plant in my compost pill to avoid any chance of diseases, because I use my compost pill for winter sowing my Amish Past Heirloom tomatoes and Amish salad Heirloom Cherries as a test crop. http://www.wintersown.org from forum member Trudi

This is the first year of not having any pest problems.

So my "Tomatoes Bodies" are picked up every year my the city, and I am now sending off my first payment of 10.00 a year for user fees taxes.

Learning the business parts of farming is exciting but very slow for me. But Once, I understand the question (of Why this Tax) than I learn fast, Amen!!

I don't put them in the compost, it's just too much of a risk for so little benefit. It sounds like it works for many growers, but I'd rather play it safe and have that nice warm fuzzy feeling about my compost pile.

I'm on a fairly large piece of land, so usually I just take all the garden refuse to the opposite end of the property and bury it. For smaller amounts, I bag it and put it out for garbage pickup.

I suppose a can of gasoline and some matches would work, too. Make sure you stand upwind! :)

I put mine on the compost pile since the compost goes on roses and other ornamentals. And I add weeds to that pile too. And kitchen waste along with the double brown bags I use to line the compost pail. I never get enough compost even for the ornamentals so the tomatoes and other veggies get boughten composted manure. Hey, the best is none too good!

I compost. If the vines are still recognizable the next year, then I toss them back into the bin and compost them another year. I suppose this year I'll try to get the lawn guy to mulch them up for me. We nearly did in his mower this spring doing leaves I had leftover from fall.

Let's see...

This is my favorite recipe for Tomato Horn Worms.

6- Big fat green hornworms (alive)
1- Clove garlic
1- Cup finely chopped onions
2- Tbs. olive oil
2- Tbs. brown sugar
1- Pinch of salt

In a large skillet, combine garlic, onions and olive oil. Sauté on med. heat until golden brown. Next, add live Hornworms, Brown sugar and salt. Continue to cook on med. heat until Hornworms are golden brown and crispy.

Serves 2

Oh, I'm sorry. Thought you were talking about the bug bodies.

Stay tuned next week for "Woodchuck sausage".

I'm in New Jersey. Usually I call up Ant'ny and we make 'arrangements' to discard of the bodies. Sometimes it's up in Secaucus, but lately, the Jersey Pinelands have been favorite spot to discard of the useless bodies. We find it's best to chop off the heads, feet, and bodies and bag them separately. Perhaps a little gasoline and a small fire to further hide the identity. Then a drive on the back roads of the pinelands with a shovel. Never leave all the parts in one spot. Check the car for any sort of tracking device in case the feds are watching you. Go at night.
Excuse me...what?
Oh, we're talking about tomato plants.
Never mind. Forget what I just said...I mean that. Fa-get about it. Or else.

LOL Timmy and cearab. I'm glad you could have fun with my play on words;-) I look forward to hearing how to make "Woodchuck sausage."

I don't have curbside pick up of debris. In fact, I don't even have garbage pickup. I make a once a week dump run for regular garbage. Our yard waste has to go to an even farther away dump.

I do drive up to Va every Sunday in the fall to pick up bagged leaves off the curb. It's about a 45 minute drive to my old neighborhood. I must admit that I sometimes find myself wondering, as I'm opening the bags, just what I might find lurking in them.....So far I haven't found any severed body parts! Thank goodness! I can squish a Japanese Beetle with my bare fingers but I sure couldn't handle finding anyone's fingers!

Timmy,
ever tried breading and deep-frying? Bet they'd be nice and juicy on the inside once you get past the gag reflex. Keep thinking; Shrimp. I am eating shrimp.

I prefer whistle pig nuggets. Nothing like a few nugs and some tater tots to make my mouth water. ;^)

Well I am here from the Woodchuck thread and we desperately need that Woodchuck sausage recipe.

Please post. One momma woodchuck is now in Coyote Gulch without the recipe.

My lips are smacking for some of those Chuck-o-sausage along side some sunny side up eggs for breakfast.

Here is a link that might be useful: Woodchuck Fun and Games

on the subject of GHs

find a terrier club that encourages hunting. they will GLADLY come out and rid your area of critters!

bodies: we live close to a creek with heavily treed banks. i wire cement blocks to the bodies and drop them in the creek at about 2am!!