The Applegater

Applegater Spring 2022 9 DIRTY FINGERNAILS AND ALL Sioux Rogers Peeing in your garden BY SIOUX ROGERS ● WE DELIVER ● YOU LOAD ● WE PICK UP Yep, it's that easy! ► Use PROMO CODE AG10 for $10.00 off initial delivery. ◄ MOVING • REMODELING • STORING HOME STAGING • RESTORATION 541.659.1800 ● GoMinisSouthernOregon.com Serving Josephine & Jackson counties Looking for a better way to store your items? Call us to learn more and get a free quote! Your garden really loves gross stuff, like pee and animal poop, so you might as well get over it and utilize this quirk. After all, you probably already dump all kinds of honest-to-goodness crap in your garden. And don't deny that, while no one was looking, you took a leak there too. So, what I am now suggesting is "purposeful peeing," like—take aim and pee on your kale, spinach, tomatoes… well, really anything you normally fertilize. More or less. Because, of course, there are some catches to peeing in your garden. (Visit goveganic.net/article217.html for more details.) Catches 1. You need to dilute your urine. Some say 1:10 (urine to water); others say 1:6. e numbers are all over the place. I dilute using the old eyeball trick. I like the urine to be the palest yellow, so I dilute with water until my eyes tell me that that color will work. Not very scientific on my part. 2. If you are on medication, taking street drugs, or have anything yucky going on "down there," forget about it. Best if you just flush—don't rush to the garden. 3. Urine needs to "catch a ride" to really nourish the soil. What this means is urine needs to be filtered—trickled down through mulch, straw, or mainly healthy soil, which drains well. When t h i s h a p p e n s , t h e u r i n e b e c o m e s bioavailable as it is broken into nitrates. Basically, one's urine breaks down and does what it is supposed to do: adds absorbable nitrogen. e soil is a natural filtration system. 4. Pee between the rows, not directly on the leaves. Hopefully, "between the rows" are smothered with mulch. Mulch absorbs the nutrients, which are then transported down into the soil by worms and insects. 5. No poo in the pee! Feces can be contaminated with pathogens and heavy metals. 6 . Eve n t h o u g h m o s t f o l k s p e e several times a day, plants need your pee infrequently. This means once a week or less. Some gardeners use very diluted urine a few times a week, but it is diluted until it is almost clear. Plants that love this "pee attention"—tomatoes, kale, spinach, corn, cucumbers, beans, pumpkins, okra, cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, peas, etc. But don't be silly and overindulge. Benefits Now that you are over-the-top eager to pee "outside" the conventional manner, go for it. You will be helping your garden and killing weeds. Whether you know it or not, your urine is just loaded—with uric acid, that is. Uric acid is a great weed killer. Permission granted to pee directly on the culprits. Te r r i t o r y m a r k e r. Yo u h a v e n o t i c e d h o w a n i m a l s m a r k t h e i r territories by urinating on the designated real estate, right? This keeps the "bad guys" away. Human pee does the same. Your pee can keep the likes of cats, foxes, and rabbits away. It does not work for deer. I tried. Organic fertilizer. "Due to its high nitrogen content, human urine is the ultimate organic fertilizer. As you may know, plants need more nitrogen than any other element, as it is used to synthesize amino acids, enzymes, proteins, and chlorophyll" ("e Ultimate Fertilizer: 6 Reasons Why You Should Pee in Your Garden," by Starts at 60 writers). Nitrogen, the good stuff in your pee, is dependent on your food intake. Typical pee from a "typical" Western diet is high in nitrogen, with an NPK (nitrogen, phosphorous, p o t a s s i u m ) r a t i o o f 1 1 - 1 - 2 . S o basically…don't worry about what you put in your mouth and what comes out the other end, okay? Compost accelerator. is "skill" of urine is my favorite. Since urine is high in uric acid and uric acid helps with compost breakdown, you can pee directly into your compost pile. No need to dilute. Fungal disease fighter. To use urine as a spray for fungus, mildew, or leaf rot, dilute the urine by 50 percent, then spray directly on the leaves. I am going to try this on rose leaves this coming season. Pee like no one is listening. Dirty Fingernails and all, Sioux Rogers littlemuddyred@gmail.com "MudClock" posted this photo on Reddit.com, saying specimen A (left) received plain water and specimen B (right) received a urine/water mixture (¼ ratio). Photo: wired-pee.jpg.webp.pdf.

• Cover