North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Leslie Moyer <unschooler@lrec.org>]

On Feb 3, 2011, at 9:15 AM, Kieran &/or Donna wrote:

Finally after 15 glorious years of having an apple showcase in their front yard, they discovered that they had a leak in their sewer line.  The glorious crops ended soon after it was repaired. 

I know someone in the oldest part of a city in Tulsa, OK, who, when they built an addition to their home, found out that ONE of their toilets was still connected to the original, old septic tank.  The rest of the house had been connected to the sewer lines when the city put those in--probably at the turn of the last century.  It got me to thinking that might be one reason that there are so many big majestic trees in the old parts of cities. Once upon a time, all of those old homes had septic systems--all located pretty close together.  At that time, humans were depositing their "waste nutrients" right back into the soil around their homes and the trees were the local beneficiaries.  Now it is carried off far away.  I doubt that we'll ever see big majestic trees like that in any new suburbs (especially in the drier parts of the country, where not just nutrients, but also water is being re-distributed).

If anyone is interested in preserving some of these human nutrients and graywater to use on their fruit crops, there are books on the topic. Here are a few:

Builder’s Greywater Guide: The Guide to Professional Installation.

By Art Ludwig, Oasis Design, revised and expanded July 2003. Installation of greywater systems in new construction and remodeling.

The Composting Toilet System Book.

By David Del Porto & Carol Steinfeld, Center for Ecological Pollution Prevention, 2000. Comprehensive overview of homemade & commercial composting toilet systems & their use.

Liquid Gold: The Lore and Logic of Using Urine to Grow Plants

    By Carol Steinfeld. June 2004. Urine contains most of the nutrients in domestic wastewater and usually carries no disease risk. This book tells you how you can safely utilize it as a resource as part of the nutrient cycle.

The New Create an Oasis with Grey Water.

By Art Ludwig, Oasis Design, Revised and Expanded Fourth Edition, 2006. A complete guide to choosing, building, and using grey water systems.

The Humanure Handbook: A Guide to Composting Human Manure, 3rd edition.

By Joseph Jenkins, Chelsea Green Publishing, 2005.  The definitive book on the subject in its 3rd edition. (The second edition can be read free online here: http://weblife.org/humanure/ )

Water Storage: Tanks, Cisterns, Aquifers and Ponds

By Art Ludwig, Oasis Design, 2005. This do-it-yourself guide will help anyone design, build and maintain a water system for domestic use, fire protection and disaster preparedness. How to store water for homes, farms and small communities at low cost and ecologically. Also shows how to build a ferrocement tank.

Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands (Vol. 1): Guiding Principles to Welcome Rain into Your Life and Landscape. 

by Brad Lancaster, Chelsea Green Publishing Company. The first in a 3-volume set. Volume 1 is the core of the complete three-volume guide on how to conceptualize, design, and implement sustainable water-harvesting systems for your home, landscape, and community. http://www.harvestingrainwater.com/

Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands (Vol. 2): Water-harvesting Earthworks 

by Brad Lancaster, Chelsea Green Publishing Company. The second in a 3-volume set about making full use of the rain that falls on your property. Covers swales, terracing, rain gardens, mulching, curb-cuts, and appropriate use of vegetation.

Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands (Vol. 3): Roof Catchment & Cistern Systems 

By Brad Lancaster (not yet published--watch his website for updates). 

--Leslie