Medicinal plants and toilet paper

Discussion in 'Planting, growing, nurturing Plants' started by Mike_E_from_NZ, Dec 29, 2005.

  1. SueinWA

    SueinWA Junior Member

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    I just can't let this pass. (First, Richard, what you have is called a septic tank -- a cesspool is like a manure lagoon, an open lake of filth that attracts everything that an open privy attracts.)

    Humans are basically drip-dry, due to the (mostly) lack of a nice pelt that most GOOD-LOOKING animals have, like dogs, cat, horses, etc.

    And it's a good thing, too. Wouldn't a condition like Athlete's Butt be awful? :lol:

    Jenkins Publishing is the famed source of The Humanure Handbook, which should be read by every person in the world. The book itself is online, you can read it there, see the drawings and photos. Jenkins not only answers all your questions, he answers ones that you didn't even think to ask.

    Sue
     
  2. Richard on Maui

    Richard on Maui Junior Member

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    You know Sue, I am not sure it is a septic. Doesn't that have a solid bottom too? I think we have a big hole with a concrete pad over the top, which I guess stops the hole from filling up with rainwater and flooding shit all over the surface. But it doesn't have a leach field or anything, the leaching just goes straight down I think. It seems like a bad idea to me, to let all that nutrient flush down into the water table, but I believe that is what happens here...
     
  3. Mike_E_from_NZ

    Mike_E_from_NZ Junior Member

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    I found out how to dry my bum on the emoticons page. Apparently you just wiggle it about a little:

    :bootyshake:

    Mike
     
  4. SueinWA

    SueinWA Junior Member

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    Richard, I still think that's a septic system. Rustic & rudimentary, but it serves the basics: it accepts sewage, it prevents insects & animals from getting into it, it keeps odors down and it percolates into the soil. Cesspools are usually open & stinky.

    If you were to read Jenkins book, you would see that he doesn't think much of any waste disposal system but his... and rightly so, IMHO. All the other sewage systems leach undesirable "stuff" into the water table, like it or not. Even a standard, custom-designed, high-priced ($25,000 around here) septic systems does it. His method doesn't. You might want to read it -- it's fascinating!

    Sue
     
  5. christopher

    christopher Junior Member

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    And funny, too! Jenkins book is a grin creeater from page one, and it just doesn't let up the whol way through! Great book to leave at the toilet area (excelent reading "in the office").
     
  6. Richard on Maui

    Richard on Maui Junior Member

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    Hmmm. Interesting. I must admit that the only reason I think of our shithole as a cesspool is cause the prior caretaker told me it was. He also told me we were 750 feet above sea level and I ended up discovering we are much lower than that... "Don't always believe everything you think".
    I have read parts of the Humanure book. There are some free pdf download excerpts I think. Wonderful, wonderful.
     
  7. SueinWA

    SueinWA Junior Member

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    It's not just excerpts that are online. Go to Jenkins Publishing and the whole book is readable there.

    Sue
     
  8. bella

    bella Junior Member

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    Ooops, missed the cloth wipe thing back a page.

    Biofarmag, I was referring to pieces of material that dry off the drips. One particular friend recommends using a squirting type bottle (like that which dispenses tomato sauce) to wash away all matter and urine, then pat dry with a piece of cloth. Usually flannel overlocked around the edges. Mini towels are thrown in the nappy bucket with the cloth nappies. Same little wipes are used to clean poop etc off babies.

    Uh-oh, wondering how many of those commercial wipes have made it into our ancient septic system?

    Bel
     
  9. bella

    bella Junior Member

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    Oh, and I've always wanted to read the Humanure Handbook. Looking at the contents page I kinda like his style!

    Bel :lol:
     
  10. Tezza

    Tezza Junior Member

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    Gee you guys talk a lot of shit sometimes.....

    I just new chris would piss fart around with his answers too..

    Well i time my poo poos to coincide with my morning shower..I use the throne room first.and then gingerly shuffle to the bathroom to have a shower
    and do the clean up that way,as our bath water leads out into our grey water pumping tank then out to my garden its the most natural way to do it..DONT try short cuts by doing the dead in the bathroom as sweet corn,and pees are difficult to poke thru the bath plug hole grills.lolool

    Tezza
     
  11. bella

    bella Junior Member

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    Ewwwwwwwww, Tezza...


    :toimonster: I think this particular conversation has gone to...

    Bel
     
  12. Peter Warne

    Peter Warne Junior Member

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    Anyway, for the VERY FIRST direct answer to the question which originally started this thread (I'll surely be contradicted for that claim), an organic gardener friend with a lot of experience in bush living told me today that the underside of the leaves of the wild tobacco bush is suitable for bum wiping. It's a weed in northern New South Wales, growing everywhere. The leaves are big, and covered with a soft fur, and probably strong enough to do the job without accidents.

    Personally I use water, with one of those little hose things set up next to the toilet. A bit cold in winter.

    Peter
     
  13. Mike_E_from_NZ

    Mike_E_from_NZ Junior Member

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    Just in case anyone had forgotten about this topic:

    I have just come across an article that suggests growing loofahs, cutting them up into segments, soaking and using them before throwing them into the composting toilet.

    Actually the author did better than just suggest it - this is what she actually did.

    Mike
     
  14. christopher

    christopher Junior Member

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    Oooooh, um.... we have looffa, lots of loofa, and while I imagine it would do a good job scraping the sphicter clean, the porous nature of the loofa makes a finger/feces interface more likely than the banana leaves I mentioned we use (as emergency back up) earlier in this thread.

    We just got a Taiwanese giant loofa, things are huge compared to the ones we have now, and maybe they would do a better job with less risk. Maybe she has a giant variety.....
     
  15. Michaelangelica

    Michaelangelica Junior Member

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    Herbal Toilet Paper

    I remember a scene in one of Terry Pratchett's books where the witch, Nanny Ogg, was stuck for suitable herbage.

    I would think that the Velvet Peppermint Geranium would be my pick.
    It has nice, soft, large, velvety leaves and a strong peppermint fragrance.
    It is a fast grower; but you may need a few plants to become self-sufficient.

    It is easy to grow and sprawls across the ground rather than in a bush like most Geraniums.

    You could perhaps train it to clime up the walls of your Dunny

    [​IMG]
     
  16. bella

    bella Junior Member

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    Christopher, what size are your regular luffas? Ours average 40cm long and 10cm diameter. Smaller at the end of the season. They're a fairly tight weave with a couple of layers to the hollow core part. If Mike was referring to https://www.lintrezza.com then I think Linda cut the slices off length-wise and then into palm-sized pieces, discarding the core. That's what I do to make compostable scouring pads for various tasks where a great big cylinder of a thing is too clumsy. And with the luffas that go a bit icky in the wet - I can sometimes still salvage a couple of squares of fibre from them before discarding to using on the chook trough etc.

    Still, luffas seem like a scratchy option to me (who has never tried them for THAT).
     
  17. Jez

    Jez Junior Member

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    Yikes...if they function well as scouring pads (which I've heard several times and will be keen to try some day) then their functionality as natural toilet paper may be questionable eh Bel?...ouch! :shock: :lol:

    BTW, nice to see you over in this neck of the woods for a visit. 8)
     
  18. Michaelangelica

    Michaelangelica Junior Member

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    Kikuyu toilet paper
    Plectranthus barbatus, or more commonly known as Coleus forskohlii and Indian Coleus (Kikuyu: Maigoya), is a tropical perennial plant related to the typical coleus species. In Kenya it is also referred to as Kikuyu toilet paper, as in rural areas its leaves are used as such.
    Plectranthus barbatus: A Review of Phytochemistry, Ethnobotanical Uses and Pharmacology - Part 1 https://www.thieme-connect.com/ejournals/html/plantamedica/doi/10.1055/s-0029-1240898
    Plectranthus barbatus: A Review of Phytochemistry, Ethnobotanical Uses and Pharmacology - Part 2 https://www.thieme-connect.com/ejournals/html/plantamedica/doi/10.1055/s-0029-1240919
     

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