Trenches and Humanure

Monday, July 4, 2011

Today I got up around 7:30, ate breakfast, and went to help dig the trench. Steven and I were the first ones out there at 8:30, when we were scheduled to be there, but Lyndon, Chynna, and Nathaniel eventually joined us.

Essentially, the project is that we are burying the water lines below the frost line so that they won’t freeze in the winter. Freezing in the water lines make it very difficult or impossible to do dishes, take a shower, or even wash your hands. Thus, we are burying the pipes 20 inches in the ground in order to make winter a little easier.

We had two goals for the day. First, we had to get the first ten feet of the pipe actually buried. That particular section of pipe crossed the path up to where we dump the compost and humanure buckets. Unfortunately, the trench has been an ongoing project for more than six weeks (at least), and everyone was tired of having to climb over the trench with a bucket of rotting food or poop on a trail that is already on a steep incline.

It took several steps to get that section of pipe in the ground. First, we dug that section down to 20 inches, which involves breaking up the soil with a mattock, cutting out small roots with pruning shears and big roots with the handsaw, and shoveling out the soil with a sharp shooter or a trowel. Oddly enough, it was actually easier to get down in the dirt and scoop out the soil with a trowel than to try to shovel it out with a tool that is just barely narrower than the actual trench. Even the narrower of the sharp shooters got caught on roots, dumping the dirt back into the hole, which was maddening.

Then, we had to reroute the pipes, because the trench leads up the hill to the future (rather than the current) home of the cisterns. That involved turning off the water at the cistern, unhooking and rerouting the pipes, laying them into the trench, then hooking them back up, turning the water back on, and running some water in the house to get the air and dirt out of the line. I definitely learned the beauty of using “black pipe” rather than PVC. Not only are there fewer toxins in the manufacturing process, but also because you use metal clamps and joining pieces, there are no chemicals needed to install black pipe and you can take it apart and put it back together anytime you need to.

Anyway, after all that, we finally got to bury line, mounding up and stomping in the dirt, which was fun.

Our second job for the day was to dig out as much as possible of the rest of the trench down to 20 inches. The trench line had already been dug, but it was only about 6 inches deep, so we were there to deepen. The process was fairly methodical – break up dirt, cut roots, break up more dirt, dig it out, cut roots, break up, dig out... Nathaniel was really good at it and got a huge segment dug in no time. I, on the other hand, took a long time get everything dug out, but I kept at it long after everyone else moved on to other projects and commitments and ended up getting more done than anyone else. It was a lot of hard work, but I think it will be worth it come winter when I will be able to take a hot shower!

Something I really noticed while working on the trench is the power of teamwork. Steven has been working on that trench for six weeks. Not to take anything away from him, as he did get a lot accomplished, but in three hours five people fairly easily accomplished what would have taken him several more weeks of really hard work. Not only did I experience the truth of the phrase “Many hands make light work,” but I also believe that the work of the group is greater than the work of any of the individuals alone. In the group, you have an extra hand when you need it – even if it is just to hand you a tool or hold a root while you’re cutting it. You have people to trade jobs with if you get tired of what you’re doing, and you have people to take over if you need a break. You have people to talk to (or sing with, as our case was) which makes the work more enjoyable, and in my opinion, that improves that quality of the work. In short, group work is a Gestalt – the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

When I was finished working on the trench I was so dirty that I has Chynna go grab my towel so that I could go straight to the solar shower. I was literally covered in dirt, and it was one of the best showers of my life! The water was a little cool, as it was still early in the day, but it was wonderful. It reminded me of when I was little and played in the hose in the back yard!

After that, I came inside and did my house chore - cleaning both bathrooms. I scrubbed out the shower and both sinks, swept and mopped, and cleaned the mirrors. As I was working, I found a grimy bucket of almost-but-not-quite-empty bottles of old cleaning supplies that no one seems to have used in years. So, I decided to clean (ironically enough, the bottles of cleaning solution were covered in grime), compile, and reorganize the bathroom cleaning supplies. I ended up with one full bottle of shower cleaner (as opposed to six half empty bottles), and I threw out the old, gross stuff that no one would ever use. I even scrubbed out the grimy bucket that they were in. Ahhh! Cleanliness (and organization and simplification) are next to goddessliness.

Chynna rather commandeered my night to cook (because she loves to cook and didn't get a night to cook this week), which was absolutely fantastic with me. She made an excellent burrito bar, and I simply cleaned up as she cooked. We make a great team.

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Tuesday, July 5, 2011

8:58pm

Interesting morning this morning! We had scheduled “garden time” for 8:30-10:30am, but what really happened was “recomposting the humanure time.”

CAUTION: In the following section, I will combat the fecaphobia of our culture and speak openly about humanure (that is “human-manure,” aka poop). If you are offended by the ecologically responsible stewarding of our own waste, please feel free to skip this entry.

So, there are many ways to compost humanure, and Medicine Wheel is currently in transition from the 55 gallon barrel method to the 5-gallon bucket method.

In the 5-gallon bucket method, a toilet seat is either attached to or positioned over a 5-gallon bucket lined with a brown paper bag. The bucket is used much the same way as one would use a regular toilet, except you have to remove the bucket lid before use and add a hearty scoop of sawdust to the bucket afterward, which adds carbon and allows the humanure to compost correctly. When the bucket is full, it is dumped into a humanure compost pile, much the same way as you empty your kitchen compost into the compost pile in the yard. When the compost pile bin is full, the humanure is left to compost for two years. After one year, almost all (if not all) fecal-borne pathogens are dead; after two years, you can be absolutely sure that there is nothing left in the poop that can make you sick.*

In the 55-gallon barrel method, on the other hand, outhouses are constructed to be over barrels such that the humanure drops straight into the 55-gallon drum and urine is diverted away into a separate bucket. Again, a scoop of sawdust is added to the barrel after each use. When the barrel is full, it is changed out for an empty barrel and the full barrel is lidded and placed in a dry place to compost for, again, two years.*

There are a few downsides to the 55-gallon barrel method. The barrels are extremely heavy and unwieldy. Since they can go so long without being changed, the composting toilets can get smelly if there is not enough added carbon or if the urine diverter doesn't function correctly. However, the main problem with this method for Medicine Wheel is that there is no place to put the barrels to keep them completely dry. When the barrels take on water, the decomposition goes from aerobic to anaerobic. After two years in the barrels, dry, aerobic composting yields rich, fluffy soil… wet, anaerobic composting yields, to put it in Patricia's very honest words, crumbly turds and shit sludge, minus the pathogens. Hence, the problem.

The solution was what we did today – recomposting. To recompost the crumbly-turd-shit-sludge, we started a new compost pile, layering sticks and brush, dried leaves, straw, and green mulch together with the two-year-old unsuccessful humanure compost and buckets of fresh pee. We started with a layer of dry sticks and brush on the bottom to allow for some air circulation, then a layer of leaves, and then… the poop.

To be completely honest, three of the four barrels weren’t all that bad. None of the ones that we dumped today actually had visible turds, but the humanure was definitely not rich, fluffy soil yet, either. On the other hand, one of them was really bad. It had gotten very wet… Let’s just say that was the barrel from which I derived the term shit-sludge. Dumping it onto the pile, it erupted and oozed out everywhere – kinda like a volcanic eruption, only it was shit. That was nasty, but it could have been worse, because at least it didn’t stink.

Like I said, an interesting morning! I am so very glad that we are done with the 55-gallon barrel method. The way that we have set up the 5-gallon bucket method, all of the infrastructure is correct to ensure proper composting the first time around. (No one can say MW doesn't learn from their mistakes!) The bucket is much easier (and thus safer!) to move and dump, and it is changed out for a fresh one often. When one humanure bin is full, we start using one of the other bins and the full bin can be simply be left alone for two years to make awesome soil. No more moving giant barrels of poop! (Except to deal with the barrels that are still composting. It takes a long time to completely switch methods when you have to wait two years for the old method to go away.)

*Note: These are just the broad strokes. There is a lot to know about how to safely and effectively turn shit into soil, and if you are interested, I recommend reading The Humanure Handbook by Jim Jenkins. Not that any of you would, but I feel it is necessary to include the disclaimer: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE BOOK. Period. You just don’t want to know…