[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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