Composting

I collect it in jugs and then apply it to my compost and sometimes straight to my garden. If a bush looks yellowish from lack of nitrogen, a two gallon jug of urine that’s been sitting a while will corrrct that. I have also used it to nourish vegetable bed soil. And yes the compost pile when it is too heavy on browns. I have been wanting try a pile that is only shredded cardboard and urine to see how that works.

My system is like this: I bought cat litter in jugs. They’re 2.5 gallons, I think? Then I nailed a funnel to the side of my house just outside the back door. A bit of siphon tubing goes to the jug. This way, I can duck out for a quick pee without hiking up to my pile every time, which requires putting on shoes. It takes a week or two for the jug to fill. Yes it stinks when you empty it but you follow up with a little water from the garden hose and it’s fine.

Human urine is the most nitrogen rich material most folks have access to. People talk about coffee grinds and grass clippings as “nitrogen bombs” but this isn’t true: they are only mildly N-rich, and pretty close to balanced. Same with kitchen scraps. Browns are a lot easier to find. Dry dead plant matter, paper, cardboard, wood products and sawdust are heavily C rich. To balance those you need chicken blood meal, manure, etc which most of us don’t have sitting around. OR urine, which all of us have.

This is why it’s always recommended. Also, the phosphorous. We’re actually running out of places to mine phosphorous on the surface of the earth. And it’s essential for all agriculture. So there are large scale efforts around the world to harvest Ph from urine, which is everywhere that people are, and available in large quantities via big buildings with urinals, or the sewage treatment system itself.

It’s gold. It’s also safe to handle. Nearly sterile. I got over the gross factor long ago. Changing diapers or scooping the cat box is way worse.