I had a bunch of failures one year in my first batch. I looked at the rings, and they were pitted and rusty. I bought a box of lids with rings (for the rings; the lids were a bonus) and didn't have any FTS with those rings. So now I buy new rings every year or two. I don't leave the rings on, so all I really need is a few.
We love them grilled. Olive oil in a cast iron skillet, put it on the grill when cooking brats. DH never like green beans until he had them like that. Now he loves them!
Urine (from a healthy human) makes great fertilizer! Yup, I save mine sometimes. Makes me wish I were a guy, so I could water more easily.
I am only retelling what I was told by a pumper serviceman a number of years ago. I don't remember the exact number of years between dumping, when safe to graze cattle, and when safe to grow food. But that is the system they had in place - he told me that maybe 3 years ago at the last time I had my septic tanks pumped.
According to my source of instant knowledge, Alexia, she reports that it takes 2-3 years for human sewage to become safe for growing food - depending on the weather where the sewage is dumped. That timeframe sounds about right from what I was told by the pumper truck guy.
When I was in the navy, we visited a number of third world countries where they grow their food in fresh human manure. When we pulled into a foreign port and bought fresh food and vegetables from those countries, we would have to clean them in a bleach wash before cooking. It was safe to eat after that, but none of us liked the thought of eating food grown in human manure.
Makes me wish I was a younger guy, when watering the plants was easier! The personal plumbing still works, but the water pressure in the old pipes is not the same as it was when I was a younger man. Getting older has challenges for both sexes.
