Cow manure?

This is my first year growing vegetables. I have grown ornamental for many years. I hear in the news quite regularly about salmonella poisoning caused by animal manure. Can the manure be used in the compost?
Grass clippings ? I pick up a pickup load of grass clippings from town about once a year. I also get many loads of leaves in the fall. Can the grass clippings be used for the vegetable garden?

Thanks

Gary

It's usually E. coli that's in manure, not salmonella. Either way, I suspect if your compost pile gets hot enough it will kill them, but if it doesn't get hot then it won't. That being said, most manure won't contain the pathogenic strains of E. coli and even if it does and they don't get killed in the composting process, if you wash your veggies well (or cook them) then you should be OK.

Good advice, ecrane3, always a good idea to wash your veggies, no matter what.

What about dried cow manure? A friend of mine thinks she has a source of cow manure that has been dried for a few years... would that be pretty safe to use right off the bat or should it also cook in the compost first? Thanks!

If it's been composted already, it's safe to put straight on your garden area. Most raw manure will burn your plants, hence you want to compost it first. If you are starting a new bed in the fall or winter, then you can spread fresh manure and it will compost over the winter. You can have a problem with weed seeds that way, though.