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Hot Composting Humanure

 
pollinator
Posts: 2142
Location: Big Island, Hawaii (2300' elevation, 60" avg. annual rainfall, temp range 55-80 degrees F)
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I have questions that perhaps Joe Jenkins can answer.

Let's say that I set up a system where I transfer my humanure from the composting toilet or collection box on a weekly, or perhaps monthly, cycle. It goes into a hot composting system with horse manure and/or fresh grass clipping plus a drier carbon source, such as ground leaves or finished compost. The pile gets hot.

My questions.....
... How hot does this pile need to be?
... How many days need it be composted at that temperature?
... How many times does it need to be turned and brought back up to that temperature?
... Does it need to age for a time after the last heat cycle?

Any ideas? Anybody already doing this?
 
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I don't mind the idea of working with well composted humanure, but I am not going to "push the envelope" on this one.  

I used to buy truckloads of year old cow manure for my garden.  To my wifes disgust, as I moved it from pickup bed to garden, etc, I would hit occasional pockets of raw, unbroken down cow shit.   The farmer was just piling it up and I guess it hadn't all composted over the winter.  Cow manure doesn't bother me, but I would take a much less enlightened view of I hit a pocket of  uncomposted humanure.

I don't think my attitude is unusual because most references I've seen generally double the recommended processing times compared to other manures.  

I would be more likely to use the resulting compost on crops where the edible part is above ground (corn, fruit bushes & trees).  Avoid using it around carrots or potatos, etc.  I'm not saying it would be real unsafe used there if it were well composted, I'm probably just catering to my own personal "yuck" factor.

I probably won't be moving the pile around much to "speed up the process "  either.  In this case, I'm prepared to wait.

Joe, I  haven't yet read your book.  Am I way off on this?  I am prepared to accept instruction if I am.

My dad told me during the Korean war that the joke was that the honeypot man was seen as the smartest business man (although admittedly not with the highest social standing).  Folks in town paid him to haul their "nightsoil" away and the farmers paid him to deliver the "nightsoil" to them, so he made money both coming and going.
 
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