Turn Your Pee into NPK: Use it in the Garden (Without the Smell)!!

Using urine as fertilizer is a powerful, accessible and resilient practice to integrate us intimately into our gardens. We waste such precious fertility every day, not to touch upon the widespread pollution when this resource becomes a burden on waterways. High in nitrogen, phosphorus and many other trace minerals, urine is a great fertilizer that our bodies produce everyday. Using and collecting it does require a few considerations. Stored urine quickly releases ammonia as it breaks down releasing nitrogen and creating unpleasant smells. Collecting it in a 5 gallon container can be done with much less smell by using wood ash (about 4”), 1-2 cup vinegar or 1 tbsp citric acid. These adjust pH and inhibit loss of nitrogen and associated stink. We don’t sterilize ours, but you can store it for 6 months to do so. We use it as a soil drench and avoid leaf or stem contact. We dilute 3:1 (water:urine) and apply to moist soil. Closing fertility loops means integrating ourselves as part of our ecosystems and gardens. It means turning outputs into inputs.