Subject: urine, manure, electrolytes

From: Jack Rowe <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 23 May 1997 02:50:34 -0400

ON 5/20 Dan H. wrote: >>What happens to the phosphorous? Is it consumed in
the continuing conversion of cartilage to bone and in the stiffening of
bones themselves?  In that case, can reduction of P in diet help limit
osteoporosis?<<

Manure is relatively rich in Phosphorous, as organic fertilizers go, and,
as mentioned, urine is relatively low in P. Phosphorous and Calcium are
both cycled through our bones and cellular colloids on a continual basis,
in an interesting relationship whereby our bodies attempt to maintain a
balance in the blood and other colloidal tissues (cells, bones, etc. -- we
are basically formed of a variety of amazing colloidal gels of varying
composition and function, none of them static). The attempt to maintain a
balance between P and Ca often results in the loss of Ca from bones and
cellular fluid as Ca is taken from bones to keep the cellular fluids
balanced between the P and Ca. The leaching of Ca results because P is more
plentifully taken into our bodies in our diets. The old soda-pops with
phosphoric acid bubbles were very hard on women’s' (and men’s) bones,
rapidly-leaching Calcium. 

This is analogous to the relationship between Sodium and Potassium, both
are relationships are electrochemical processes. In a natural diet,
Potassium is more plentiful than Sodium, and so in hot, humid climates salt
must be taken in to balance the potassium (if you sweat too much and then
cramp, eat bananas or blackstrap molasses; if you get dizzy and queasy, eat
some salt -- half a teaspoon with a glass of water... water taken without
salt when feeling hot and queasy can make you quite sick). 

At any rate, I find a quart of urine in a 5-gallon bucket of water to be
great for container plants, 2 quarts in a 5-gallon bucket is plenty strong
for growing plants and will result in quick salt build-up in container
plants. A person can collect a quart of water a day without worrying about
holding it in when away from home to collect every drop. If you produce
much less than this, drink more water -- it's good for you. This amount of
urine will keep your garden looking very nice. 

The fact that N and K are quite water-soluble, and so lost in urine whereas
P is relatively insoluble in water and so stays in the feces is
representative of these elements' behaviors in the soil, where N and K are
easily leached by rain or irrigation, whereas P is held relatively tightly
by the soil's organic matter and clays. To loose P from the soil you need
plant roots or erosion, and since the P binds most plentifully to the
smallest soil particles (since it sticks ("adsorbs") to surfaces, and the
smaller the particles the more the additive surface area per volume). For
this reason, a little erosion goes a long way, since it is the most
finely-divided --and therefore richest in adsorbed P -- particles of soil
which are washed away most readily.

Moral (ethic?) of story: recycling of both urines AND manures is necessary
to maintain a balance of these nutrients in the soil ecosystem. Health
codes prohibit using human manures -- even composted -- on food plants
(who's watching?), but manures can easily be used to fertilize the meadow
areas we all keep in and around our gardens for mulch production, and
P-rich mulches then transferred to the garden areas, if this level of
caution is desired. 

Risking long-windedness, I'll repeat Jeavons' advice to keep 70 percent of
a growing area in mulch production, and 70 percent of the much area (or
around 50 percent of total area) in carbonaceous mulches, the rest in
nitrogenous mulches, in order to keep nitrogen and carbon cycles balanced
in the gardens and mulch-producing areas (remember to return some mulch
materials to the mulch fields). I've found this advice to result in very
nice soil, with practically no inputs from outside the area (if you're not
using manure, add bone meal or rock phosphate in moderation). Soil tests
will tell you if some element is missing from your system.