Power and Poo! Woo Hoo!

Yes, I realize it's not something that people usually celebrate. But having a toilet and power at the farm means we can now move, build with power tools, and see what we're doing after dark. And that's a wonderful thing that most of you probably take for granted. As I type this NS Power are parked in the driveway running 200 feet of wire across the paddock and up to the pole. I think they have to also install a transformer on the roadside pole before we're good to go but it will be so wonderful to be able to switch on a light. Now it means I can also get the house painted inside because I can run a small heater to boost the temperature so the paint will dry. Guess what I'm doing tonight! Having the power also means that we can plumb the trailer this weekend and hook up the pump at the well. So we'll have running water, just nowhere for it to go right now as we don't have a septic. I'm thinking a grey water recycling bed will be the thing to build and we have the plastic and the gravel so we're good. We'll see.

So incase you're wondering if we're using a 5 gallon bucket again for compost, you'll be pleased to see that we've taken a big leap upmarket and bought a second hand and hardly used Sun Mar Excel high capacity composting toilet. Here's a pic of what they look like new. Ours is older and a bit yellowed with age but it works and nobody will see it anyways. It's a self venting composter and they're rated very highly for the lack of smell and ease of use. I'll let you know how it works out. We've got the special bulking material to use with it (peatmoss and hemp coir) and microbes to get it composting quickly. It has a drum that turns, just like some of the barrel composters you've no doubt seen and after you make deposits (you poop in it) you just add a cup full of peatmoss mix and close the lid. Turn the drum a couple of times a week and you're well on your way to making compost for the flower beds. It's got a small fan and evaporator in it so it draws in air from the bathroom keeping the smells inside and dries everything up as it goes. There's a cut away diagram below and we'll write more about it once it's up and running and we're not so busy.