RE: Taking Care of Business – Why NOT Make the Most out of the Worst?
I'm glad you enjoyed the post, @bchick! And I would love to apply all my knowledge and experience to your hillside house. But please give me something to work with. Were you thinking more about the spirulina cultivation, or rather the huamnure composting? In case of the former, I would advise against outdoor cultivation in your region. Right now it should be fine (your summers should be warm enough to keep the water above 70°F) but once the cold season rolls around growth would halt for a half a year.
The humanure part is much simpler. If you have access to sawdust (and I'm sure you must have a sawmill in your vicinity) you could easily set up a composting outhouse and a humanure compost pile. If you are interested in that, I would most certainly recommend The Humanure Handboook by Joseph Jenkins, free to download here: http://humanurehandbook.com/downloads/Humanure_Handbook_all.pdf
Another option is retrofitting your house to sustainable blackwater use, but THAT is an actual challenge. It would require a detailed examination of your site, the current system in place, what would have to be changed, and in what way, to make it work well. Needless to say it would involve getting the material, not to mention the work to implement it.
I could swing by your place and take a look at it this afternoon! Just kidding! I live a bit further away to make this feasible, otherwise I'd do it in a heartbeat. ;-)
Oh, and most certainly, you did inspire me to write more posts, hehehe. That's how the best ones are cenceived: being inspired by other interested steemians. So please give me some details and I look through the brain-box for ideas.
I think you should take a virtual tour and we can explain all the limitations of this rocky hilly place. It seems all homesteaders on steemit have flat land to work with. We have filled in almost all of our usable land with gardens and fruit and nut trees. I don't think we could really even find land for an outhouse or the compost pile to save the humanure for a year.
More later when my grandson leaves and I have more time to think. Looking forward to more of your posts!
Thank you so much!
I do love all of your ideas and written presentations but I do not see how to apply it to an already established home environment with little leeway for making changes.
What if we asked the man who comes to empty our septic tank to leave it for us in a designated area? Since he has the equipment to remove it...( I can't imagine how we would empty it ourselves and it is his livelihood)
Would this be a realistic way to compost humanure?
This is what I am looking for: ways to take an already established setting and make it more sustainable.
Imagine this situation... built on the side of a hill that was being used for timber harvesting, a lodge for a place of rest. Not for living but for resting.
But on a hillside, not a friendly environment. (we bought this place for the views and the privacy but it is a somewhat hostile environment)
Just to make things shorter:
https://steemit.com/homesteading/@bchick/an-un-root-cellar
Please be careful, @bchick. In all honesty, I would stay away from an established septic tank. What has been going on inside that thing is most likely anaerobic decomposition, which is a whole different matter from aerobic one, involving a different set of microorganisms and chemicals. Imagine a diaper: it's really not that bad when it comes fresh off a baby's butt, compared to what it's like when it's been sitting in the bottom of the garbage bag for a week. I really would recommend you not mess with your septic tank and its contents. The professionals know exactly how to get rid of it (that is where to toss it out). I know, it's not nice, but exposing yourself to the smorgasbord of pathogens in there is really not worth it.
Instead I still suggest you take a look at the Humanure Handbook, and consider a composting pile. It doesn't need a lot of space. A cube of pallets will do perfectly, and if it's under a tree even better. The tree will be happy, and the shade keeps it from drying out too fast.
As for your property, the way you described it I can see a lot of potential. (Though I have not seen it for myself.) Hill-sides are awesome for all things related to water. The various steps of capturing and storing it, use, re-use, irrigation... they can all be gravity fed, making the design so much more easy and efficient. Still, I don't think I can say too much without actually seeing the place. And believe me, I would love to just get on the next plane to look at it, but then again, there are interesting places and projects I'd like to visit, from Argentina to South Africa...
I am so glad I asked. It seemed like a simple solution to let the toilet do the collecting in the way it does now and then we can take it from there.