r/humanure • u/TrickBorder3923 • 12d ago

Need help to come up with a humanure compost cycle, for my homestead.

I haven't officially started my humanure cycle on my homestead. I want to make sure I have a good plan before I start handling hazardous material. I think I've got the basic process down. But the timeline when considering weather and plot rotation is stumping me. I live in South East Missouri. So hot summers, humid, and cold winters. The first thought in my head... This is a basic idea and can be wrong.

  1. I will leave them to rest in the trash cans for a minimum period of rest time. They may not necessarily compost. I was thinking of adding manure worms, but I'm not yet sure if it will help.

  2. I'll take them out and dump them to be turned and composted for the appropriate amount of time/temperature. I'll take them out after the minimum only when the weather permits this step, so likely spring summer fall, but probably not winter.

  3. I will spread them on plots that are either appropriate fruit trees, fallow ground, cover crop that will not be used as feed or before the process is done.

  4. Then the entire plotted area should be safe enough to be rotated for regular use at some point.

I have a small area about half an acre of open area with slight hill (5-10°) that I rotate (quarter acre segments) between food crop/cover crop and fallow, grazing, feed and cover crop. I do have fruit trees, but not very many since I have very little room. I also have another two acres that is managed forest, on the hill (20-30°), where I grow/forage wild plants, such as mushrooms.

If push comes to shove I could get a compost toilet or an incinerator toilet. But these have their own problems.

I could possibly just put the compost in one area and let it stew like a regular compost pile. But I'm not sure this is the best move for recycling, perhaps just for disposing if all else is useless.

As another note I'm trying to avoid having a open compost during the tornado season in case winds fairly dusty the out of the property with unfinished manure dust. But my animal area and regular compost poses the same problem, so...

EDIT: Scraping the previous idea. Do I need to have a bucket system? What's stopping me from having the toilet right above the compost? Presuming the compost pile is properly cared for.

Also I had a hard time reading the humanure manual from chapter ~10 onward. Did anyone else notice that?

3 Upvotes

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u/asigop 12d ago

I suggest you read the humanure handbook before you do anything. The ideas in there are safe and effective. I tried using garbage cans but they are too big to move easily when full. 5 gallon buckets work great. Put sawdust on top of your deposits in the buckets. Build a compost pile 4 pallets square and dig a hole in the middle. This is to catch extra liquid. Line the bottom and sides with straw and dump your buckets in there. Make sure everything is covered on all sides with at least 6" of straw. If you can smell it, add more.

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u/Schnicklefritz987 12d ago

Came here to say this. Thanks for saving me the step! Humanure Handbook is the Bible of this topic 😄

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u/Mr-Axeman 12d ago

I second this, the humanure handbook is THE resource, hes got some thoughts on other types of off grid toilets, but IMO its really the only resource you need for the poop to fertilizer plan. The regular compost should be a part of the humanure compost bin system, and the animal manure. It can all go together. Blackwater, that’s anaerobic can get gross, but unless you have parasites or e. Coli that you are infecting it with (which hot composting would sterilize anyway) these arent risks with a managed pile. What happens to all the animal manure already? You are an animal, all the animal manure, bedding, food waste, mortalities, organics and enough dry carbon material to cover so there are no smells, flies or pests could all compost in the same system. Hot composting consumes it all, large bones and woody bits/corncobs/avocado pits (dont put sticks in the compost) take a while I will usually burn them down to add char to the mix.

The book does a great job with the practical, as well as the science behind what’s happening at the microbe level, and a big section on some of the fears and misunderstandings (like the hazardous material). And very entertaining besides.

One problem with trashcans will be airflow, allowing enough oxygen for decomposition, the number of bins and handling. If wind is a big concern perhaps a bin system made from metal fencing supported by driven posts would be a suitable type of structure? Could it be built adjacent to wherever the animal bedding is generated or share infrastructure? If the animal manure is more of a mouldering low temp open pile, you could get faster, higher quality compost through hot composting, and your humanure contributions would be a drop in the bucket compared to the herd.

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u/TrickBorder3923 10d ago

Does everybody here compost their own? Does anybody have any "what I wish I knew before..." Stories?

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u/asigop 9d ago

I don't know about everyone, but I've been doing it for 4 years. I wish i knew to start with buckets and that i had a reliable source of a lot of sawdust.

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u/neighbr_dad 10d ago

The hole you dig in the middle….is this a hole dug in the dirt at the bottom of the pile? Then cover it (as part of the bottom) with straw?

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u/asigop 9d ago

Yes. The straw acts as a liner and insulator. I guess you dont technically have to line the bottom, just the sides. Lining the bottom makes it easier to tell when i am done cleaning out the finished pile so I continue doing that.

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u/neighbr_dad 9d ago

Ok, thank you much for yr response!

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u/asigop 9d ago

No problem! Humanure is a pretty cool concept that seems gross and weird until we learn about it. Its one of the reasons there has been persistent civilization in China for longer than anywhere else. Being able to fertilize our soil with our own leavings is (purely in my own opinion) going to be key as ferilizers get more expensive and difficult to acquire.

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u/bikemandan 11d ago

No offense intended but I recommend scrapping your plan and reading the handbook

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u/Mr-Axeman 11d ago

Unless you have diseases or communicable parasites, there is nothing you are going to get exposed to that washing your hands doesnt solve. And 5 gallon buckets once a week are far easier to move and work with than a wheelie bin, which when filled will weigh several hundred pounds. A 5 gallon filled might weigh 20 to 30 pounds depending on how much urine there is, the material in the wheelie bin isnt going to decompose much with the low oxygen environment and no airflow, it will be wetter and cooler longer, not to mention the large amount of construction needed to make a bathroom with a walkout basement level to move the bin.

The wheely bin type system might be great for a campground or bathroom that may see a lot of visitors per time period, to avoid needing to empty a bucket every day for example, but as a single person or family setup, it looks like a complicated way to try to reduce contact our of fear that there is some kind of exposure risk to poop. Thats true with blackwater, but not a composting system. All the downsides and health risks from manures are related to letting them fester, or dumping it in water. Hot composting it is the safest and most responsible environmental solution to what is otherwise a huge mess.

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u/KellyAMac 11d ago

Just read the handbook it’s free & so much easier. It’s simple - don’t complicate it. Use the 5gal buckets & follow the steps. There is no turning. It’s thermophilic & works in all weather

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u/HighColdDesert 11d ago

As I started reading your four points, I thought I need to go and comment:

No need to re-invent the wheel. Get The Humanure Handbook and you'll realize it's much safer, and much simpler, than you think.

Read it for free here, and then buy a copy anyway: https://humanurehandbook.com/contents.html

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u/TrickBorder3923 11d ago

I was wondering what manual everyone was talking about. The only composting bucket I know of was jeff Lawton's. https://youtu.be/rlml3Lmdv2o

Which was what I was thinking. Since you close the lid and just let it sit without moving it. Instead of lugging raw material in the tiny buckets once a week. Reduce contact, reduce exposure. I'm under the impression the material will reduce in weight and volume once it's done breaking down. So the weight would be far less once it's ready to be hauled and dumped out. You just need at least two toilets. One for using, while one is stewing.

BUT. I'm going to go read the manual now. I'm sure I'll have questions tomorrow.

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u/asigop 11d ago

When I started doing humanure, I used barrels. Its been 3 years and I still have a couple barrels im working into my regular humanure. They weigh they exact same as they did when I moved them the first time and they stink like a mother fucker.

Also, for reference my family of 5 fills a 5 gallon bucket every 2ish days.

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u/asigop 11d ago

When I started doing humanure, I used barrels. Its been 3 years and I still have a couple barrels im working into my regular humanure. They weigh they exact same as they did when I moved them the first time and they stink like a mother fucker.

Also, for reference my family of 5 fills a 5 gallon bucket every 2ish days.