lang77
Newly Registered
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2010 9:34 am
Location: Sioux Falls

safe to eat?

At the advice of a friend I applied urine to the borders of my garden to deter rabbits and pests away. I did not dilute it....but simply put it in a squirt bottle and ran it around the outside edges. We have had lots of rain for our area and so I feel that it has probably been washed away. It was a pretty small amount and was applied only once around Memorial Day Weekend. Now I am beginning to question weather or not the fruits of the tomatoes are safe to eat or if they are harboring bacteria and unsafe pathogens in the soil from the urine...? They are in line with the outside border and I am sure have been feeding off the nutrients in the soil. Will it be safe to eat this fruit or will I be taking a risk if I share the fruits with neighbors and friends? There is so much information out there...now I am getting a little apprehensive. Please advise.

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rainbowgardener
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Posts: 25279
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
Location: TN/GA 7b

Yeah, you are fine. If there were pathogens in the urine, they are long gone by now, dealt with by all the flora and fauna of the soil and not taken up into tomato plants or fruit.

[url=https://www.netssaftutorial.com/fileadmin/DATA_CD/06_Step6/SE6._Guidelines_for_the_safe_use_of_urine_and_faeces.pdf]safe use of urine[/url]

relevant parts:

Practical recommendations in relation to agricultural use
URINE
The major recommendations for urine are:
(1) direct use after collection or a short storage time is acceptable on the single householdlevel
(3) at least one month should apply between fertilization and harvest

The Helpful Gardener
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Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2004 9:17 pm
Location: Colchester, CT

Urine is actually an amzing nitrogen source, sterile to the point of being less bacterial than most drinking water (an old Native American practice was to rinse wounds with urine to flush them out), and obviously in handy supply...

Why do we have the assumption it is bacterial and unsafe? Potty training? Just cuz? So we throw away a perfectly valuable resource (worse yet, we use fresh potable water to dispose of it! :x )

HG

gaberdeen
Full Member
Posts: 20
Joined: Thu Jun 03, 2010 7:29 pm
Location: New Jersey

From a medical standpoint urine is sterile unless the source it comes from has a urinary tract infection. Should be ok in the garden but I would give it a week before harvest. :)

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Anna63
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Posts: 52
Joined: Mon Jul 26, 2010 4:22 pm
Location: Bauska

In my childhood, I use urine to sterilize hurts. So I thing urine is good for garden too. :)



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