Outdoor peeing could activate composting revolution
Rated • 9 reviews • gardening • nationaltrust.org.uk
From the page: Gardeners at one National Trust property are urging the country to join them in peeing outdoors to help UK gardens grow greener.
A three metre long 'pee bale' has been installed within the walled gardens of the National Trust's Wimpole Hall in Cambridgeshire.
Head Gardener, Philip Whaites, is encouraging his male colleagues to relieve themselves onto the straw bale when the call of nature occurs.
This helps activate the composting process on the estate's compost heap - producing a free supply of compost material - and also cuts down on the estate's water use.
'For eight weeks now, male members of our garden and estate teams have been using the outdoor straw bale when nature calls, which all goes towards our eco-friendly composting system here at Wimpole,' Philip explained.
'The pee bale is excellent matter to add to our compost heap to stimulate the composting process; and with over 400 acres of gardens and parkland to utilise compost, we need all the help we can get.
Of course we're very careful to make sure the pee bale is only in use out of visitor hours, as we don't want to scare the public. And it doesn't smell.
There are obvious logistical benefits to limiting it to male members of the team, but also male pee is preferable to women's, as the male stuff is apparently less acidic.'
By the end of the year, it's calculated that the ten men
A three metre long 'pee bale' has been installed within the walled gardens of the National Trust's Wimpole Hall in Cambridgeshire.
Head Gardener, Philip Whaites, is encouraging his male colleagues to relieve themselves onto the straw bale when the call of nature occurs.
This helps activate the composting process on the estate's compost heap - producing a free supply of compost material - and also cuts down on the estate's water use.
'For eight weeks now, male members of our garden and estate teams have been using the outdoor straw bale when nature calls, which all goes towards our eco-friendly composting system here at Wimpole,' Philip explained.
'The pee bale is excellent matter to add to our compost heap to stimulate the composting process; and with over 400 acres of gardens and parkland to utilise compost, we need all the help we can get.
Of course we're very careful to make sure the pee bale is only in use out of visitor hours, as we don't want to scare the public. And it doesn't smell.
There are obvious logistical benefits to limiting it to male members of the team, but also male pee is preferable to women's, as the male stuff is apparently less acidic.'
By the end of the year, it's calculated that the ten men
