"Humanure Handbook" by Joseph Jenkins

[Dav]

Has anyone been useing humanure on there vegable gardens?

[enigma]

Dav wrote in news:30515023-37c8- [e-mail]:

the Chinese...

how hot can you get your manure pile? humans are omnivores, which means we pass pathogens in our manure. if you can't sterilize it, you don't want it on your veggies. lee

[Janet Baraclough]

The message from enigma contains these words:

my grandad (our only lav was a bucket, invariably emptied into trenches in the veg garden.He did this for 50 years with no problems.)

lots of Permaculturists

Duh, so do herbivores and even vegans! It's not diet that causes pathodens in shit.

if you can't

There are safe ways to use it. Not on the surface around raw salad crops, obviously; but composted through a compost toilet, or dumped raw in trenches under beans, corn, or other above-ground crops, it's perfectly safe. I'm still alive as proof.

Janet.

[len gardener]

g'day dav,

yes we did when we lived on our property and were using a composting toilet (dry system), a great resource very many willingly flush away using good drinking water to do so.

the humanure book should be able to lead you through some diffrent methods to do this.

On Mon, 12 May 2008 01:37:21 -0700 (PDT), Dav wrote: snipped With peace and brightest of blessings,

len & bev

-- "Be Content With What You Have And May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In A World That You May Not Understand."

[Billy]

It is safest if used with acidic crop like citrus or tomatoes. Not recommended for aubergines or corn.

[George.com]

another consideration is, who will eat the crops. If only you and your family I would suspect a good amount of whatever pathogens you crap out into the dunny will have already circulated around the household through normal human contact. Someone with better knowledge should of course correct me if I am wrong.

rob

[zxcvbob]

That makes no sense at all, but I'm willing to listen if you 'explain it. (I think corn is an ideal crop to fertilize the good old fashioned Chinese way.)

Bob

[Andrew Ostrander]

I have read that watermelon should definitely not be exposed to human waste as the pathogens can get into the melons. It's something to do with large cellular or intercellular size. Watermelon is the only risky fruit.

Andrew

[Billy]

Why doesn't it make sense? Explain yourself. All the elements of my argument are in the first sentence.

[Billy]

Good catch Bob I was worried about human pathogens becoming systemic in the plant (which lower pH crops could resist), but according to the experts, that is not a problem but proximity to the ground may be.

Over Septic Leach Field

Question:

I have an open area over my septic leach field and want to plant a garden or orchard in that area. Is that a good idea?

Answer:

In my opinion, it is not a good idea to plant either a garden (vegetables) or an orchard over the septic leach field. Although plants will not absorb human disease organisms through their roots, it is possible that disease organisms would be on the surface of the vegetables (roots, leaves, or fruit) and could cause disease.

Although there is little chance that the disease organisms would be on the surface of tree fruits, the problem with an orchard over the septic field is that of the tree roots clogging th drain lines. It is best to avoid planting trees too close to the leach field since their roots extend a long distance from the trunk, even if the trees are not directly over the leach field.

Perhaps it would be best to plant either a lawn or an ornamental garden of annuals and other flowers which do not have a deep root system over the leach field. This would preclude the use of edible plants or plants with a deep root system which could cause problems.