Homestead mailing list

["Marie McHarry" <mmcharry AT gmail.com>]

 On Jan 27, 2008 7:48 PM, Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com> 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.

I've never seen pathogens cited as a problem but rats are. In a big
manure pile, rats aren't a problem (not saying that I don't have them,
but out on the manure pile the cats have a much better shot at them).
I wouldn't put meat and fat in a compost heap in town unless the heap
was really, really hot.

A truly hot pile will disintegrate eveything. I've put lots of goats
into  compost, and Louie only managed to find, maybe, 10. The rest of
them cooked down to particulate material. Human feces will cook nicely
in a hot pile, but all mine goes into the toilet, which goes into an
aerator and septic tank. Dog manure goes onto the compost pile, and
I'm sure the heat kills any worms present.
> >
> >  "A  bear goes in the woods and it takes two years to decompose.

I wish these guys would stick to science. I imagine the person who
wrote it had never been in the woods.

Marie