Clandestine tomato plant fertilizing device: the Bed Pan Guitar. Image credit: Photobucket, by turquoisemoleeater
Now that my tomatoes are done producing for 2009, like all the other gardeners I know, I am planning to do better in 2010. Priority #1 for next year is to order the tomato plants from a small company that does not spread tomato blight to its customers. (Reminder to self: do not buy plants from home and garden stores.) Priority #2 is balance out the added cost for plants with reduced expenditures on other inputs - for example, to eliminate synthetic nitrogen fertilizer entirely and replace with pee. There are data to support the utility and healthfulness of that practice.
The Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry has published the results of successful field trials, where, in one of the test plots, the only inputs were nitrogen from urine, supplemented with wood ash to meet the mineral requirements.
In addition to added compost, I've been supplementing with wood-ash for three years now, and have just noticed some signs of nitrogen deficiency; so, "pee" trials may be undertaken in 2010. Choice of application technology remains a challenge, however. Guitar practice in the garden (as pictured) may get few barrs.
For a high-level summary of the science, have a look at Tomatoes thrive on urine diet, from SciDev.net.
Surendra Pradhan, an environmental biology researcher at the University of Kuopio, Finland, and colleagues gave potted tomato plants one of three treatments: mineral fertiliser, urine and wood ash, urine only, and no fertiliser. Urine is rich in nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.
Yields for plants fertilised with urine quadrupled and matched those of mineral-fertilised plants. The urine-fertilised tomatoes also contained more protein and were safe for human consumption.
kids and pee
here's an article from a kids' science magazine about pee and gardens (from 2007). They say it also helps reduce plant "germs" - whatever that means, it was researched in Finland.
Pee also fends off wild animals. we have racoons, skunks, coyotes and groundhogs where we live... i should send my mens out to pee in my backyard more often....
and Peter - may i recommend Hirts Gardens - they moved near Wadsworth. they have an amazing array of heirloom tomatoes, herbs and peppers, seeded from Seeds of Change and a few of the other fancy pants seed companies. They are also very affordable (a buck a tomato seedling) and a nice drive.
First of all, don't let
First of all, don't let anybody pee on your bean vines - they will surely die. My brother peed on mine because he was mad at me when we were kids and they turned as yellow as could be and croaked.
This one is for Debbie, since her mom and knows all about the good stuff from the South. This one goes in the book - about taking the wet baby diapers and wiping the babies face with them each time they changed it. Oh, man, this is a good one. My grandma and mom used to do that all the time - and I hated it - babies didn't like it either - but the story was, that it was supposed to be good and make you have really soft skin. Just wondered if she had heard that one.
Of course, I have read that the indians used cow urine to put on animal hides because it made them really soft for clothes - so, who knows? I guess pee is as pee does.
urine-pee
urine-pee
in the military - survival - drink ones own urine-
angel quevas, angels auto repair & towing 216-244-4563 - west 10th & jefferson & starkweather - great repair work - angels a genious-
ask angel about tony a vietnam veteran that drank his urine and eat his shit when he could as this is what tony did in vietnam to survive i could make joke about the army food but i won't-
tony was retired military special operations and when we all hung out one summer we witnessed tony doing his urine-shit - tony eat other food also-
in the military survival we'er intructed to also eat grass bark worms insects earth etc. - anything to survive-
if theres no medication available drink your urine - pour on a wound - helps cure viruses flu colds - in europe its been told to me my grandmother helped cure sick folks with urine - baby or older folks urine is best-
in china most country folks recycle their urine and shit to a pit outside their homes and simple pipes with a recylce thing turns it to methan gas which they light and cook etc, by
yogi and guy http://www.nationalwardogsmonument.org/
Ground cherries
Susan--you have your comments disabled. (Is there a reason for that?)
Ground cherries mentioned in your harvest article are the Eastern European cousin of tomatillos--to order the seeds try Victory Seeds. Am I allowed to plug a seed supplier here? I promise no porn.