Dealing With S***! The lowdown on humanure

OR what do you do with the doo-doo! No really... this post is all about dealing with s*** here in WyldeWood Hollow. One of the first things you have to deal with when you move onto raw land off grid is what do you do with human waste. Lets face it...we all are full of s***! There are several paths to a poo-ville.

The most common, and most wasteful of these is your standard septic system. After sinking a tank...and digging a leach you can just flush your troubles away...IF you have a ready source of water. We did not have this option... as we did not have a well or water system set up, nor the electric to run a pump. In Missouri, you can also either dig a lagoon...basically a big pond to hold all of your s. Or build an outhouse...there again...a big hole full of s!! I have a real aversion to having a sewage pond in my backyard. The thought of mosquitos hatching out of that not so pure water or landing on it to lay eggs then landing to bite me...just makes me want to go...EWWW! I have had outhouses before... they are not a bad option but can on occasion develop unpleasant... odors. Not to mention traveling outside...in the dark, or cold and wondering whether or not that HUGE ass spider hanging under the seat is going to find my butt irresistibly tasty. So after a little research, and a LOT of convincing on my part. I talked the ole Poot into going with composting toilets and a humanure system.

What is a composting toilet you ask. Well, these can run the gambit between completely contained systems that will cost you an arm, or leg or first born child. All the way down to just a simple bucket. It just depends how "Hands on"... hehehehe... you want to get with your poo! Since we live on a very tight budget... (lets face it, retiring from the military is NOT the road to riches) we settled on a couple of five gallon buckets with those cute little snap on toilet lids you can get from any large sportsman store or wally world. We purchased two... one for solid deposits...and one for liquid gold.
You think I am joking when I call it liquid gold, but urine of any kind is an excellent fertilizer. It is also sterile so it is not a health hazard to take it and pour it around your trees, and pastures. It also serves as a bit of a deterrent if you "mark" your territory by dumping it along your fence lines and around your chicken coop.

Our "deposit" bucket takes a little more care. After each use, a couple of handfuls of peat, straw, wood shavings or sawdust works to cover and prevent any off odors. I do not put toilet paper in ours as I do not want it composted in with the rest. It ends up in our burn barrel. Once the bucket is getting a little full... Poot always complained if it got more than half full as he has to worry about his manly dangly bits... I would take it and dump out into our ready made composting bin. Ready made, meaning I made it out of several pallets. I love free.

The most important part of this system is the COMPOSTING part of it. If your pile is not mixed right...it will not convert into a rich humus to mix in your garden...It will just sit there in a pile of....poo! When I started, I laid down a layer of dried leaves, then added our bucket. I the added more dried leaves and an equal amount of green matter. This can be lawn, garden or pasture cuttings. It can be green leaves. It can be alfalfa hay. This green is what gives the compost bed a boast and helps get it up to temps that encourage good bacteria while discouraging the bad along with buggy pests. I usually give it a good mix each time. You also may have to add a little water occasionally if your weather has been dry. I also add any bedding or manure from my chicken, and pig pens you just have to remember, equal parts brown and green.

In the fall...I turned the whole bin out into a new custom made pallet bin. It never fails to amaze me how when you roll this it smells like newly turned earth
I then started on making new deposits into the old bin. At the beginning of April I will roll the second bin into a third, add a little more green then let it compost for the summer, giving it an occasional turn. Come fall...it will be ready to go into my garden beds in order to finish off until spring. It is a good rule of thumb to let Humanure compost at least a year before using it. The first planting season you want to only plant produce that will mature off of the dirt. The second year you can plant whatever you like...including root crops. We have had our system in operation for almost a year now. My buckets sit inside the cabin in the little bathroom we built. I can honestly say there has not been any problem with odor either inside or out in the bin. Not only is this a great inexpensive solution to dealing with something that most people just flush and forget. It is a great solution to helping create well fertilized topsoil in areas where this might be lacking. My first bin will not be ready until next spring. I will be sure to let you know the results of my first planting in poo!