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