A year’s worth of urine is enough to fertilize a year’s worth of food, researchers say.
Adults produce between 100 and 150 gallons of urine per year, containing about 9 pounds of nitrogen, 2 pounds of potassium, and 1 pound of phosphorus.
This is enough “NPK” fertilizer to grow grain for a loaf of bread every day of the year, according to Rich Earth’s research.
Mix in some other produce with your grain and you could have a full plate fertilized with nothing but your own pee!
“The pee of one person is rich enough to fertilize a tenth of an acre of vegetable garden for the year,” according to the Permaculture Research Institute.
Urine is very high in nitrogen, so much so that it should be diluted a minimum ratio of 1:10 with water before being used on plants.
Ashes fill in missing trace elements, such as calcium and magnesium. This combination actually has a lot of research proving its effectiveness, and it outperforms commercial fertilizers.