Compost toilets/KNF Raised Beds
Hi, Dr. Drake,
First, let me thank you for all your hard work over the past few years. I'm sure there are many people like myself quietly implementing KNF thanks to your guidance from afar. The new OFFICE HOURS rocks; this podcast format is the way to go!
I have two questions for you Dr. D:
1: I wondered if you had any experience with compost toilets. I see you have a pig system on your farm and wondered if this concept could be adapted to build a compost toilet. Any ideas? How about turning humanure into an IMO3 or IMO4 to nullify any possible pathogens and create great compost as you do on your farm with the pig litter?
2: Recently, I finally managed to purchase a small plot of land (I'm in Taiwan). It was formerly paddy fields abandoned for around 60 years (heavy clay). There is barely any humus due to flooding after typhoons, hence the need for raised beds. Many trees have grown during the past 60 years, and although I'm not in the habit of recklessly chopping trees, to grow a garden and get some light onto a future shack, some of the trees need to go. The pig system in KNF seems like the mother of all hugelkultur piles. Would the same system with biochar, logs, sawdust and green waste inoculated with IMOs work as raised beds? Have you tried such a technique?
Look forward to your green wisdom.
Much love and thanks in advance,
Gagandeva
Top answer
there is really good info in the jadam book on composting humanure iv also learned from others that time is what it take to process humanure lots of time even in the jadam method i think it says 1 yr to process if using a dry method id almost say wait 2 yrs before putting it in the garden time is the key
i use KNF/Jadam in all my raised beds in the deep ones i use a hugel method to fill the raised beds and IMO compost on top works great
From the KNF library
From the KNF library
Drafted by Claude from Office Hours and the books
·
Sep 2026
·
5 sources
Drake used the composting toilet at JADAM's old farm himself, and jokes that some of the farm's fertility came from his own contribution (Office Hours Ep. 114, 1:03:41). The library does not cover turning humanure into IMO3 or IMO4, or what that does to pathogens.
For the raised beds, the library backs some of your plan:
- Arm-size branches spread on a field digest slowly and act as a slow release fertilizer (KNF Demystified, p. 16).
- When you add carbon like mulch, add microbes too. Pre-inoculate it with IMO4 to avoid carbon-nitrogen depletion (KNF Demystified, p. 16).
- Drake says IMO pig pen manure can be mixed into raised beds from the start (Office Hours Ep. 70, 47:17).
- Start seedlings in poorer soil. Amend with richer compost after a week or two (Office Hours Ep. 2, 53:26).
- Cho says to scatter IMO4 over the soil and not bury it (Cho, Theory, p. 61).
The library does not say whether Drake has built a bed from logs, sawdust and biochar. It says nothing about heavy clay or typhoon flooding.
Sources
- 53:26 Office Hours Ep. 2 (Sep 2021) — Water-Soluble Calcium, IMO Fermentation Temps, No-Smell Pig Waste · “Start plants in poorer soil first, then amend with richer compost after a week or two so you don't overfeed babies.”
- 47:17 Office Hours Ep. 70 (Apr 2023) — Piglet Birth, Mastitis Antibiotics, and Chick Feed Regimen · “or mix it into raised beds from the start”
- 1:03:41 Office Hours Ep. 114 (Feb 2024) — JADAM Origins, Soap Wetting Agent, and Sulfur Pesticide Claims · “Drake used it himself and jokes that some of the farm's fertility came from his own contribution.”
- p. 61 Cho, Theory · “The deeper the soil is, the richer it is, so do not bury the IMO.”
- p. 16 KNF Demystified · “These intact pieces take longer for the microbes to digest them into plant available nutrients and act as a slow release fertilizer.”
