Organic Urea

Is the meat meal the same as "blood and bone or bone meal" a by product from abbatoirs (sp) process? If it is your version sounds expensive.

Liz

 

I don't think so, but I don't know. The blood and bone meal I have purchased in the past as a fertilizer has a coarser granular structure and is given a precise fertilizer formula, usually. The meat meal [and the meat meal is sold as a fertilizer, the deer deterrent is word of mouth and the nurseries seem to be a bit complicit on that -- probably has something to do with strict but probably inconsistent Canadian regulations on animal deterrents and horticultural products] is powdery, almost fluffy like alfalfa meal, medium brown in colour, a finer grain, and mine has no formula. A mystery as to what it really is. By the way, for what it's worth, when my cat gets a whiff of it inside [she is not allowed outside] she reacts as if it is catfood. The container says it holds 1.5 kg.

 

The National Trust in Britain, is normally a rather conservative organisation. However, they are now promoting a 3 metre
long pee bale at one of their gardens! Read about it here....

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/mai...ng-could-activate-a-composting-revolution.htm

 

Silversurfer, thanks so much for this. I will circulate this website to as many gardeners and gardening organizations as I know here in Calgary and in Vancouver.

 

see: http://cats.about.com/od/catfoodglossary/g/meatmeal.htm

Definition: Meat Meal: The rendered product from mammal tissues, exclusive of blood, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimmings, manure, stomach and rumen contents except in such amounts as may occur unavoidably in good processing practices.

What this definition doesn't state is that "4D animals" (diseased, dying, decayed, and dead animals) can still be legally used in meat meal. In this case "good processing practices" is an oxymoron.

Maybe this is why your cat (janetdoyle) likes it. Unfortunately it is often found in cat food. During the outbreak of mad cow, many people stopped using bone meal because of possible transfer risk (breathing dust, etc.) but I don't know what the risks are. Also, I am not sure if this would be considered "organic" or not.

 

All thing can be classified as either organic or in-organic so this should be clear cut, but in the case of "organic produce" it seems to take on a diferent meaning. I think that is a subject for a thread in itself.

This is a intertaining thread, but also is nothing new. For many countries, human waste is fertilizer ... and produce for human consumption. For many years now a county (USA)sewage facilicity consisted of basically an 11,000 acre farm. Even beter, as I was trying to look it up for you all, it looks as if part is up for sale!

http://www.muskegoncountywastewater.com/pdfs/currentparcel.pdf

There is a bit more in sewage there then human waste or organic mater, but I think the chemical plants have since been shut down :P But you would be happy to know the produce was not for human consumption ... and it wasn't for fertilizer either, rather just the application of nature in breaking down waste. I believe in the USA, it is against the law to use human waste comercially.

 

Yes it is entertaining, and someone should do some research to see what it is made of and to what standards... I do think that going too far with restricting access to something if it is not being eaten but merely used as a fertilizer or animal deterrent is kind of extreme -- I mean, we might be using leather from diseased animals too... and who knows how safe manure from the local farm is, either...

 

Late input. Check out a book called "The Humanure Handbook" by Joseph Jenkins. It's available free here http://www.jenkinspublishing.com/humanure.html
It talks about using humane manure and urine for agriculture, stating that the manure, at least should be fully composted first. I confess that I have yet to read the entire book but I have skimmed it and it is currently #3 on my to read list (a long list indeed).

 

In Mexico city there is a huge groundswell of urban farming with people growing their own produce on rooftops. They use recycled containers filled with leaves and fertilized with human urine. They have phenomenal results.

If you're squeamish, just put the urine on your compost. It can't be any worse to handle than chicken manure!

I had an incident last year late in the summer with a black bear that seemed very interested in my compost. I panicked at first, then got the angriest male member of the family to mark the area on both sides of the fence, and the bear seemed to get the hint. I don't get deer close to the place either, whether that's from the loud dogs, or the urine, not sure.