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  • From: Leslie Moyer <unschooler AT lrec.org>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] compost my septic sludge?
  • Date: Fri, 18 Jun 2010 12:56:36 -0500

On 6/18/10 12:18 PM, Owsley lucy wrote:
I believe using night soil on food that will be sold is a big no no
in all 50 states.
As far as I know there is no agency that actually regulates this unless you are certified organic (or some other certifying agency). Dan Hemenway (permaculturist) had an article in Pomona (small fruit journal) about this in the last issue. Basically he argued in favor of using humanure on crops, cautioning that what we should be worrying about instead is cleaning up what goes into our bodies and septic tanks/sewer pipes in the first place. My husband summed up Hemenway's arguments in this way, "he who takes a shit, must give a shit." ;-)

While we haven't yet used humanure on any food crops, our family composted our own humanure for a period of 2 1/2 years and we are just now (after 2 years of composting) beginning to use it on ornamental plants. It has humongous earthworms living in it. The ONLY reason we're not using it on food crops is because of what *others* might think if they found out--not because WE don't think it is safe. (We do think it is perfectly safe.) However, our humanure was captured in a composting toilet and received no other chemicals that might otherwise be captured in a household drain like toilet cleaners, medication, etc.

The only thing I *don't* know is how the anerobic conditions of a septic tank differ from the aerobic composting conditions of regular above-ground composting. If I were you, I would compost for longer than 6 months, though with blackberries, there is no fruit-soil contact so you're probably fine. Personally I would add a fresh nitrogen source and re-heat the pile and monitor the composting temperatures. I would also work to aerate the pile well during the composting stage.

Here are two books on the topic:
The Humanure Handbook (available free online in its entirety)
http://weblife.org/humanure/default.html
Liquid Gold: The Lore & Logic of Using Urine to Grow Plants:
http://www.liquidgoldbook.com/

--Leslie








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