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Here's a quick summary of a cool and productive method I've used for getting rid of cat and dog poo poo in a small, urban garden. We live with three cats and one dog - the dog is a big dog who does big shits, and one of the cats refuses to leave the house (she was an 'indoor cat' previously, before she lived with us). The litter we use is made out of old recycled newspapers, so it's biodegradable. Obviously this is all highly dangerous and toxic stuff, so we don't apply it directly. Instead, I've built a poogelkultur bed. Hugelkultur is definitely something it would be interesting to discuss here, but basically I don't have enough space or enough wood to do it on a larger scale. What we did have, however, was a large composting bin full of rotting cat and dog poo poo that needed emptying, and the desire to do it in a way that contributed something. As it happened, my neighbour had a load of old wood piled up behind his shed, mostly just scraps of cut branches etc. that had sat there for some time. The process was super-stinky but also super-fun. It was a bit like building a wall, because I was alternating between layers of piled up wood, filling in the gaps with this stodgy, well-rotted, worm-filled cat/dog poo. I patted this all in with the spade and then repeated, finally covering over with enough soil that the wood was buried and it didn't stink. After a few initial waterings, I just put some spare chard plants in (not to eat, we just happened to have them spare and it's easy to spot whether they are healthy and growing) and they flourished without watering or any input from me. If I were to expand this experiment I'd use it for as many non-edible features of the garden as possible. Like all hugelkultur it seems to have good potential for locking up stuff underground but also producing fertile, self-watering beds. It could potentially make really good flowerbeds for attracting beneficial bugs. Mostly, though, it was just a good way to get rid of an unwanted and potentially dangerous by-product.
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Feb 8, 2021 11:13
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| # ¿ Apr 20, 2024 01:22 |
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I'm currently listening to this podcast episode on Bokashi composting: https://www.thepermaculturepodcast.com/2020/reducing-food-waste-an-introduction-to-bokashi-matt-arthur/ It sounds interesting and maybe more suitable for a small, homescale system of composting. It's anaerobic composting that takes place in an airtight composting bin. Does anyone have any experience with this? In the episode he also explains some of the issues with aerobic compost (most relevant for me was that he says for it to get 'hot', you need 1 cubic yard of waste which is difficult to achieve on a smaller scale).
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Feb 23, 2021 09:09
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