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permaculture - Re: [permaculture] Worms eat my crap?

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  • From: David Holmgren & Su Dennett <holmgren@netconnect.com.au>
  • To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] Worms eat my crap?
  • Date: Sun, 24 Feb 2002 18:42:48 +1100

John, my experience with the toilet 20 litre bucket is really good. David's mother had one and I was impressed and we do the same. We have been running one for many years now and our base and covering material is sawdust (we are in a timber milling area). 10cm in the bottom of the bucket then about 3 cupfuls on top. I find the bucket easy to empty if there is little liquid in there. We use a urine bucket for side dressing crops (must be fresh [for minimising smell] and quite diluted) and this means that the bucket is mostly solids. The combination of urine and solids I used to find did create some smell problems. Finally, when burying the heap I do not add any more sawdust as the ratio is better without it. I just bury it in the existing heap, occasionally add a handful of lime and a little green grass or the like. It remains uncovered because we found that rodents loved it covered. There is never any smell in the heap or any flies but in the summer I do have to water it sometimes for optimum worm conditions. The biodynamic rule is that if you want to use humanure on crops, put it through worms twice; so we generally put it through another composting. However we are also connected to the sewer and to get off that we will have to go legal ie some expensive system which will probably be a "wet" system (that I don't like) to retrofit because there is no space for a chamber beneath the existing toilet.!!!!
Cheers,Su Dennett
--
David Holmgren & Su Dennett
Holmgren Design Services
Hepburn Permaculture Gardens
16 Fourteenth St,
Hepburn. 3461.
Australia.
Ph/fax 0353483636
Email holmgren@netconnect.com.au
Website http://www.spacountry.net.au/holmgren




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