Although we don't have much winter we do have enough ash
with which to do something. I'm wondering what everyone
else does with their ash?
I found "Larry's" post about the composting urinal:
"I want to brag about my new urinal/compost tea generator. Our Humanure
Harvester composting privy, stationed near the garden, uses the regular
5-gallon bucket collector, serving my wife and me as well as visitors
and oyster customers. I found that emptying chores are greatly reduced
by providing a separate urinal for the guys in s secluded nearby bushy
area. It's like peeing in the bushes, but there's a bucket. Actually,
two buckets, a smaller 3-gallon perforated tub filled with a healthy mix
of worm castings, a little rock phosphate powder and wood ashes, and
some straw or wood chips for aeration. The urine percolates to the lower
larger 5-gallon bucket. It is easy to lift out the small bucket, add
some water, and use this balanced plant food to give seedlings a boost.
Urine alone is not a balanced food source. The organic mix in the small
receptacle is replaced about once a month. A plain urine bucket quickly
becomes smelly, but the compost tea generator is practically odorless.
Users appreciate the no-splash layer of straw sprinkled on top."
My understanding is that it's really a two-phase process. Alkalinity
helps in the second phase, the conversion from ammonia to nitrate. In
the first phase, urea breaks down into ammonia. This is not helped by
alkalinity, because they're totally different bacteria. And ammonia is
lost from alkaline media, with a shortage of anions to hold it. So my
idea is to have a top layer made of moss (even better against
splashing). To keep it acidic and absorb ammonia, I think I might
attach a small sack of monocalcium phosphate to the underside of the
lid. And you can dump the whole thing into the compost when it's finished.