Liquid feed key Hole garden??

**marchogaeth** · 03-09-2013, 06:25 PM

Not sure why you want liquid compost rather than just compost and grey water as per standard design. This is quite a well explained design Keyhole Gardens: A Drought Tolerant Composting Garden for standard compost which uses grey water to create a "compost tea".

One of our balcony gardeners was planning a worm composting tower in the middle but I don't think they ever got back to us on how that worked.

**jawnn** · 04-09-2013, 06:49 PM

I make humanure compost in barrels and do not need another barrel for compost. But I do need to use the gray water resource I have. I think I may need a seperator barrel.

I have a wild spot full of nettles and other invasive plants as well as slugs, the only place with sun. Perfect place for gravity feed water from shower.

Then I thought of all the liquid nettle tea I used to use on my old garden. well I could also use some finished compost.

I don't like having to dig the compost into the soil because of my bad back. So it all comes together in a strange way. Recon I will have to experiment.

Any one know much about gray water gardening? Like hole size for under soil drip. Maybe I don't have to do that, but it seems like I should have the water go away from the barrel better then just natural migration. But maybe that works better than I can visualize.

**Two_Sheds** · 04-09-2013, 07:02 PM

Originally posted by jawnn View Post

I don't like having to dig the compost into the soil

You absolutely don't have to dig it in: it's actually better just left on the surface as a mulch.
Detritivores will soon incorporate it into the soil for you

Originally posted by jawnn View Post

Any one know much about gray water gardening?

Well, it isn't recommended that you store it, because it's contaminated with soap, hair, skin, faecal matter etc, which is an ideal breeding ground for bacteria

I'm not sure what you are looking for: "hole size for under soil drip" ~ I don't know what that means

Can you be a bit more specific? Type it in "blonde" for me

**jawnn** · 04-09-2013, 07:17 PM

I want to put the pipes under the soil a bit. I do not want to have them plug up. so I think a bigger hole rather than a small hole.

I saw reference to filtering gray water, so maybe I need a barrel near the shower, or some other way to filter it. Or just let it settle tot he bottom, then I am counting on bacteria in the barrel in the center of the garden. That's why I would use finished compost or nettles (lots of bacteria grow in that).

People are afraid of bacteria for some reason. Having been a long time gardener I know that bacteria is good.

I have a lot of worms also in my compost barrels. 1.5 years ago my compost was degrading slowly so I had to buy some through the mail, and received some half dead worms. So I went to a friend with a big garden and goat manure piles, got a some really big red worms free.

But as the smaller ones are more prolific That is mostly what I have in my barrels now.

**zazen999** · 04-09-2013, 07:51 PM

Overthinking things?

Not sure what you want to actually do, the whole point of keyhole gardens is that the compost rots down in the middle and feeds the soil around.

**Two_Sheds** · 05-09-2013, 07:41 AM

Originally posted by jawnn View Post

People are afraid of bacteria for some reason. Having been a long time gardener I know that bacteria is good.

Different bacteria have different uses, and effects. Some are good, some are bad.

Psychrophilic & mesophilic bacteria, in a compost heap, are good. E-coli and salmonella, generally, are bad. You might remember the bean sprout poisonings?

I use bath water myself, but I definitely wouldn't store it outside for a week and then drink it (which is what you're doing if you get it on a lettuce and then eat the lettuce)

You just need to take sensible precautions

http://cdn.environment-agency.gov.uk...11btwc-e-e.pdf

**jawnn** · 06-09-2013, 06:57 PM

Bacteria

Ok I had not intended to use the fermented gray water in the top where it can get on plants. And I intend to cook all the food from this garden.

I need to find research that tells what bacteria will kill or displace the bad bacteria.

I know aerobic bacteria is good. I suspect that the bacteria that grow in the nettel tea is not too bad, even if it does stink.

**Two_Sheds** · 07-09-2013, 08:02 AM

Originally posted by jawnn View Post

I need to find research that tells what bacteria will kill or displace the bad bacteria.

Or, just don't provide conditions in which bad bacteria will multiply

The best place for water storage is in the soil. Just water your garden immediately with your grey water, don't store it.
You can store rainwater of course, in butts.

**zazen999** · 07-09-2013, 08:20 AM

The whole point of a keyhole garden is that the grey water goes into the middle, so that places that get less rainfall can recycle their grey water to feed their plants. Storing grey water doesn't add up as it would need treating to keep it from going bad. I still think you are overthinking and overcomplicating this.

**taff** · 07-09-2013, 09:07 AM

Did you want to store it because it'll be dry and you want to use it as and when?
If that's the case, you'll have to filter it to store it. You might as well just chuck it on as soon as you use it.

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