Does fruitcake compost?

Discussion in 'Fruit and Veg Gardening' started by marlingardener, Dec 14, 2011.

  1. marlingardener

    marlingardener Happy

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    Each year we receive the "perpetual fruitcake" from a relative. The fact that we don't eat fruitcake, don't like fruitcake, and can't get rid of the fruitcake doesn't deter our relative a bit.
    So, my question is, will fruitcake compost? I think that if I chop it up there may be a slight chance it will decompose sometime during the coming year. If left whole, I'm sure it won't decompose during my lifetime.
    The chickens won't eat it--I tried that last year. My husband is suggesting that we use it to fill a low spot in the driveway.
    What do you suggest?
     
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  3. eileen

    eileen Resident Taxonomist Staff Member Moderator Plants Contributor

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    If there are any dairy products in the 'lump' cake then I wouldn't compost it. Maybe you could use it as the foundation brick for a wall or paint it and use it as a doorstop. :D :D
     
  4. Jerry Sullivan

    Jerry Sullivan Garden Experimenter Plants Contributor

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    Hang it outside in a suet feeder for the birds to eat.

    Jerry

    P.S. I'm sure some lucky squirrel would not pass it up.
     
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  5. Donna S

    Donna S Hardy Maple

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    Jerry is right. It is for the birds.
     



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  6. Coppice

    Coppice In Flower

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    Your micro-herd in the compost, or birds, or other fauna will love the fruit cake you don't
     
  7. toni

    toni Mistress of Garden Junque Staff Member Moderator Plants Contributor

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    If you flatten it out to the correct thickness and dimensions it would make a great head gasket for your car engine and save you a lot of money since fruitcakes are like Twinkies and never deteriorate.
    Or smooth out the sharp edges to make it a cylinder shape to replace one of the pistons in the engine in an emergency
     
  8. cuatro-gatos

    cuatro-gatos In Flower

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    Cut it up into squares or interesting shapes, shellac it and make funky, tongue in cheek Christmas jewelry or magnets.
    Or, hang on to it until next year and give it back to the same relative. Or, perhaps use it in a White Elephant gift exchange.
     
  9. calinromania

    calinromania Young Pine

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    Gosh, you guys are MEAN!
    I really wonder what you call "fruitcake" as I understand each of the two words... but put together it becomes something "yummy" at least in my imagination.
    SO... what is THIS INFAMOUS FRUITCAKE!
     
  10. toni

    toni Mistress of Garden Junque Staff Member Moderator Plants Contributor

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  11. carolyn

    carolyn Strong Ash

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    OH Jane!!!!! send it to Calin.
     
  12. Jerry Sullivan

    Jerry Sullivan Garden Experimenter Plants Contributor

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    Mind you this is only a rumor. Some fruitcake has a shelf life of many decades. and stories have been told of the same fruitcake being passed down from generation to generation as it makes the rounds from relative to relative. But it is only a rumor. :)

    Jerry
     
  13. dooley

    dooley Super Garden Turtle

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    There are some very good fruitcakes out there. If they use real fruit and not the citron pieces. It's the little cheap hard ones that people don't like. We used to buy one every year but it was a butter cake with lots of real candied fruit and raisins. Flavoring was good, too.
    dooley
     
  14. mart

    mart Strong Ash

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    LOL ! Actually I love fruitcake but I agree that those hard bits are for the birds. My aunt used to soak all the candied fruit and afterwards the whole fruitcake in a bourbon soaked cloth and let it sit in the fridge a couple of weeks before Christmas. As the cloth dried out,,more bourbon! I think thats where I learned to love fruitcake. Hers were fantastic!
     
  15. marlingardener

    marlingardener Happy

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    Mart, of course you loved her fruitcake--actually you were learning to love bourbon!
    Cal, fruitcake is the bane of the holiday season. And Jerry is right--it has no "shelf life" it has a "half-life" kind of like certain types of radioactive materials.
    I like the doorstop idea.
     
  16. Desert Rat

    Desert Rat The Dusty Blogger

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    Pour ketchup on the fruitcake to disguise the flavor. Ketchup was designed to disguise the flavor of otherwise inedible products. Under no circumstances however should you buy or use ketchup from an upside down bottle.

    dr
     

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