Reducing the salt in your diet can be helpful to your own health and improve the salt ratio in your urine. Peeing on your compost is not only good for the soil and good for the environment, but it can actually increase crop yields and replace fertilizers entirely. What do you do to kickstart your compost heap? Like all liquid nutrient sources, this shouldnt become the primary form of fertility for our gardens. Thanks for sharing. I have 2 acre garden in the United States that employs the homeless and helps them re-establish their lives. Peter Harper and Louise Halestrap, Centre for Alternative Technology, 160 pages. I am a non-traditional homesteader. With cold composting this provides the bacteria with a source of food which can be digested quickly producing heat rapidly. Great, now all my friends will feel they are contributing to my compost when we sit around the outdoor fire and drink a few beers , My son-in-laws buddies tend to pee in the far corner of the backyard (at night) instead of coming into the house to use the toilet. . Anytime I am in my greenhouse in which I use fish to provide fertilizer for my plants, I pee in the fish tank. When I first heard about peeing on compost, I immediately thought that it was a bad idea. Jeffrey Douglas own a landscaping company and has been in the business for over 20 years. The Resilient Farm and Homestead:An Innovative Permaculture and Whole Systems Design Approach by Ben Falk. Composting bacteria digest the sugars and carbohydrates leaving carbon dioxide and water. Carbon-rich materials can include leaves, straw, or just good quality earthy soil. I dont think I did compost them when I tried them, but Id probably be willing to give it a try (you know, if I still had a baby in diaper). As the name suggests, a 3m-long series of straw bales has been installed alongside the compost heaps in the walled gardens so workers (well the male ones anyway) can relieve themselves. Its very high in nitrogen, so it counts as a green in the compost, and shouldnt be added to a compost bin that is already high in nitrogen-rich materials like food scraps. It contains plenty of the magic nitrogen and I refer naysayers to a study that found greenhouse tomatoes fertilised with a mixture of human urine and ash yielded nearly four times more tomatoes as non-fertilised plants. Not into the front yard though, or you can wind up in the slammer on indecency charges. Anecdotal reports in the rose-growing community say urine does wonders for these beauties. Im not sure *I* have the coordination for that, but I applaud you for doing so. Life of Pee: The Story of How Urine Got Everywhere. Though there are still advantages to using the urine on lawns or landscaping, so as to avoid the possibility of sending it to aquatic environments. On the upside, adding a little urine can help activate the decomposition of organic matter, so a wee bit of pee here and there is fine. And if so how should you do it? Curious Questions: Which came first the flower pot or the garden centre? I just have to change the location. Or pee in a bucket and toss it on your compost when you can. In natural ecosystems the soil organisms break down organic matter, like leaves and food scraps, and make the nutrients accessible to plants: this is natures digestive system. While it is a great compost activator, peeing in the actual garden is still being explored at least by my son, who fried a few boxwoods with his continual visits a few years back. Not all plants respond well to high salt content. So in general, liquid feeds should only be used as a complement to other forms of fertility, such as compost and mulch. Our urine is probably sterile, and even if its not, we cant catch anything from our own urine that we dont already have. I am much older than the people I see here, but I have always been an alternative thinker. Nepalese farmers have been taking a leak on their crops for centuries. Urine is about 98% water and the rest is mainly a chemical called urea. Life on the islands of Britain: Mesmerising in its beauty and deeply cruel in equal measure, Country Life's Top 100 architects, builders, designers and gardeners, Jason Goodwin: Politicians need historians as much as kings need minstrels, Jason Goodwin: The only sounds were the yawning of dogs, the spitting of logs in the fireplace and the occasional papery gulp of somebody turning a page, Jason Goodwin: The dark, chilly undercurrents in the seemingly-idyllic life of the English village, Jason Goodwin: The washing-up is being done by a hulking fellow who, moments ago it seems, knelt on a chair at the kitchen table. I think peeing in the compost pile will be a fun exercise for my homeless friends. Im so glad Ive given your urine proper direction LOL! Recent field studies support the benefits of peeing on crops. Its recommended that after applying urine, we wait a month before eating the crops as a simple precaution. I save the leaves from dozens of trees each fall and pile them into a bin. The nitrogen in urine is in the form of urea, creatinine, and ammonia; when mixed with carbon-rich materials, the aerobic bacteria convert it into nitrates, which the plants can then uptake. The greywater provides some carbon and significantly dilutes the urine. The following is intended to be a brief and non-exhaustive overview of health concerns and solutions, though we ask that people do their own research and draw their own conclusions. Working the urine into the soil or applying the urine under the top layer of soil would ensure that less nitrogen is lost due to conversion to ammonia gas, and the presence of soil organisms would help neutralise the (rare chance of) pathogens, though just pouring it on the soil works okay too. You can fertilize perennial plants like bushes, trees, wildflowers, and your lawn with urine. Here at the Veganic Agriculture Network, we keep our large countryside garden completely plant-based, to produce veganic food without the addition of any animal products (human or non-human). Forum Chat with other HOTBIN users - it's free to register. Urea can burn plant tissues.. The National Geographic says, Researchers estimate a single person could supply enough urine to fertilize roughly 6,300 tomato plants a year yielding some 2.4 tons of tomatoes., Chris Roy from Orange County Farm Supply in Orange, Calif., said he has heard that peeing on the plumerias leads to fantastic plants. First Ive noted that my dogs urine was burning the grass only to have it come back stronger and greener after good dozen of rains . When I am not tearing cardboard boxes into strips or tossing tea leaves into the kitchen compost, I happily read about compost for hours at a stretch. What is a non-traditional homesteader? To add pee right to your garden, instead of to your compost bin, be sure to dilute to a 10:1 ratio. However, all vegan-organic gardens naturally contain free-living animals, like microorganisms, earthworms, and birds, who eat organic matter and create micro-manure as part of their normal daily life. it is after all for the good of the garden And the Washington Post reported the fantastic results urine had on cabbage crops. When applying it to the soil, it can help to slightly bury the urine in the soil or under mulch. Your vegetable gardens will thank you for it. Pretty much, as long as we dont add excessive amounts. If peeing on crops can replace the need for fertilizer, peeing on compost could do the same. And keep moving. By continuing to use the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Be sure to add plenty of carbon-rich materials, like dry leaves, sawdust, straw and cardboard. This water then has to be removed to create crumbly rich compost and there are two places the water can go it can drain into the soil or evaporate into the air. In healthy populations, human urine is almost always sterile. Store the urine for 6 months in a sealed container before using it, and wait another month before eating the food crops as an added precaution. To learn more about the history and culture of urine, see Liquid Gold and Life of Pee. I used pee last year on my hay bails to break them down, I kept check on the temp for 12 days and it worked. Please use the knowledge acquired from this site responsibly. So while vegan-organic growing excludes the addition of waste products from animals that have been bred and raised, humans can be seen as free-living animals who voluntarily contribute their waste. Many gardening and composting sites recommend adding urine onto compost heap to help speed things up. The husband and the daughter were a harder sell. Great Article. Your email address will not be published. Not everyone is happy about the bucket. If you have a garden and a composting system, your golden liquid is basically liquid gold. Urea is a source of food (nitrogen) for the bacteria, it is made up of lots of small molecules in a water solution these properties allow urine be digested very quickly which means fast growth and heat. HOTBIN Forum, ESSENTIAL READING Getting started Download centre, FOLLOW HOTBIN Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube Instagram, We use cookies to enable you to navigate around our site and use its features. Im in a fever for compost, too. Well thats a great method. Angela R. ANSWER: Yes, unbelievably, human urine is rich in nitrogen and should be added to compost regularly instead of flushing down the toilet. I fill 3 of these before dumping on the compost pile. So I thought maybe urine is good so each day I have urinated into a bucket and watered it down 20 or 30 to 1 and then throw it on the lawn. After applying the pee, water the plant. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Your email address will not be published. Your email address will not be published. Scientists in Finland reported a four-fold increase in tomato crops fed with urine and wood ash. I live a nearly self-sufficient lifestyle with my three beautiful children on 5 1/2 acres in Maine. In the summer, I store filled bottles in the garage. I'd like to think we are the people who don't fit the mold; figuring out how to live the life they want. My name is Jessica Knowles. Certainly cheaper than store bought fertilizers and compost activators. I legitimately thought I had a levitating guinea. Ive read about urine collection and the breakdown of ammonia to nitrates for gardening & fertilizer, but have never made the connection to just pee in the compost. I save my urine in the garage all winter and add it to the pile in spring. Urine is sterile. Suffice to say I am now filling an even deeper hole in the garden and yes, it getting a healthy dose of urine. Its rich in nitrogen and its, of course, free. no, it isnt good to pee on your worm bed. The ideal mix for fast compost is 50 percent brown to 50 percent green. Therefore, urine may be applied directly to soil as a fertilizer when diluted with water. This can also help re-establish humans as contributing members of a local ecosystem, rather than separating ourselves (and our bodily waste) through mechanised processes. Instructions for installing such a system can be purchased from the EcoWaters Project, see www.ecowaters.org/products.html#Plans. As a pregnant woman, I am happy to make contributions to the garden 20+ times a day. Also every time I do not have to flush a toilet. Almost all the advice regarding adding urine is for cold composting to provide a heat source and get the waste decomposing quicker. (A gallon vinegar bottle is almost as good) Store it under the bathroom toilet tank. According to an articleby National Geographic, scientists believe they can turn human urine into liquid gold for gardens. Yes, pretty much. If you're female, don't find an al fresco urination an attractive option, or don't have space for a straw bale in the garden, a plastic drinks bottle filled in the comfort of the bathroom and decanted onto the heap will serve just as well. The story written by Mark Schultz was about a UFO sighting in North Carolina. (Wood ash in Southern California gardens is not a good idea with our alkaline soils.). On Melindas website, theres a picture of a hen divided into sections labelled Education, Empowerment, Financial Security, Health, Entrepreneurship. Certain medications can be found in trace amounts in the urine. Snowed in and without power, Jason Goodwin was left to live a medieval lifestyle that was rejuvenating and romantic but. Fawn, Maybe a mens restroom sign will guide them that way , Love it! Its matted and full of nutrients. In the rare cases when it isnt sterile, urine is generally still fine for personal use, or can be stored for several months to minimise pathogen risk (see resources).