[Homestead] Soil remineralization beyond NPK
Gene GeRue
genegerue at ruralize.com
Sun Jan 27 21:05:04 EST 2008
On Jan 27, 2008, at 6:48 PM, Gene GeRue wrote:
> There has been a concern about pathogens, even before Mad Cow Disease
> came to notice. That is also the strongest--beyond the "eeooo"
> factor--
> admonition against using humanure. So I put my humanure into little
> fence circles next to fruit trees.
Tom, I forgot to say welcome to the list. There are lots of fine
homestead types here but they are almost all fecophobes. So it's nice
to meet another soul who pushes against the insanity of putting the
most perfect fertilizer into a septic tank and keeping it sequestered
there, safe from doing what it should naturally be doing, fertilizing
food crops.
I can't find Jenkins book on Humanure; it must be at the farm. I did a
search and found he put a lot of his info on a Web site. Here is a
quote:
"If the organic material is available only on a continuous basis, and
turning the pile, therefore, is counterproductive, an additional year-
long curing period is recommended. This will require one more
composting bin in addition to the two already in use. After the first
is filled (presumably for a year), it is left to rest for two years.
The second is filled during the second year, then it is left to rest
for two years. The third is filled during the third year. By the time
the third is filled, the first has aged for two years and should be
pathogen-free and ready for agricultural use. This system will create
an initial lag-time of three years before compost is available for
agricultural purposes (one year to build the first pile, and two more
years retention time), but the extra year's retention time will
provide added insurance against lingering pathogens. After the third
year, finished compost will be available on a yearly basis. Again, if
in doubt, either test the compost for pathogens in a laboratory, or
use it agriculturally where it will not come in contact with food
crops."
The whole page is worth reading. It is found at:
http://weblife.org/humanure/chapter8_5.html
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