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permaculture - [permaculture] using pee and poop

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  • From: Rain Tenaqiya <raincascadia@yahoo.com>
  • To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [permaculture] using pee and poop
  • Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2006 19:25:35 -0700 (PDT)

I've been saving my urine and composting my poop for the past 7 years. I do
not bring in outside sources of nitrogen for my garden and developing food
forests and I don't seem to have problems with N deficiency. I use urine on
my potted plants and this is all that a lot of species seem to need. I use a
2 gallon vegetable oil container for pee, while my partner uses a one gallon
juice container with a funnel. Good contraptions for females are hard to
come by and I still haven't come up with a satisfactory design. I use the
urine straight most of the time, especially during the wet Winter, usually
avoiding contact with the plants' leaves, depending on the species.
Sometimes I pee in my sink and let it mix into the greywater system. During
the Winter when many plants are dormant or not actively growing, we sometimes
add our urine to leaf piles, to store the nitrogen for the Spring. I've even
thought about getting a big tank to store it in.

For poop, I use the Humanure Handbook method, both indoors and out. I
usually only let it compost for 3 to 6 months, however, and I sometimes use
it on my vegetable beds. My long-term goal is to use it only on trees and
shrubs so that I can be an example of safe use for the general public to
emulate.

Because of our dry Summers, domesticated animals don't seem to help much
with nutrient cycling compared to other climates. The nitrogen in their
feces just goes back into the air or overwhelms the system with the first
rains when the grass hasn't started growing yet and gets leached out. This
makes the use and management of humun excretions even more important.

Rain


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