RE: [compost_tea] Compost for tea

From: Mike Bosko <mjbosko_at_jmtsystems.com>
Date: Thu, 15 May 2003 20:46:37 -0700

Steve and all others who responded... Thanks for the replies on my compost..
Sounds like I'm doing okay then. I was just out tractor turning my very
large manure and chopped hay piles. As the steam was pouring off from the
newly stacked piles I got to wondering...

At what point is compost best used for tea? Seems like the microbs are
really busy and awake during the early stages, but this might be the point
where its more dangerous to humans. But when its done 'cooking' I would
think that microb activity is low. Do these little guys go into a slumber
or start to die off when the fresh goods are broken down?

But in short, at what stage is it best to use your compost in a tea? After
its cooled down? Is there a temperature that was found best? Moisture
level?

Curious.

-Mike
Ellensburg, WA
  -----Original Message-----
  From: Steve Bridges [mailto:kimas_at_texasgrown.com]
  Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2003 6:59 PM
  To: compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com
  Subject: Re: [compost_tea] Compost for tea


  Hi Mike,
  Home-made compost, in my opinion, would always be preferable to
commercially available compost if the home-made compost were a high quality
compost. And it certainly sounds like your making a wonderful compost! Go
with it.....

  I've wondered about using commercially made bagged or even bulk compost in
tea making. One would think that the bagged stuff would be less microbially
active because it is in a bag.....the compost has been denied air, for how
long, starving the organisms? And with commercially made bulk compost, it is
usually made with very few ingredients. For instance, here you can get
turkey litter compost, or cotton bur compost, or tree trimming compost, etc.
Wouldn't a compost made with fewer ingredients be less nutrionally and
microbially complete?

  I would think that your compost, or any good homemade compost, would be
better because of the variety of materials that go into the pile and the
freshness of the compost when you use it.

  Sounds like you need to get with Nehemiah and help him put a pile
together!

  Steve Bridges
  Kimas Tejas Nursery
    ----- Original Message -----
    From: Mike Bosko
    To: compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com
    Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2003 5:07 PM
    Subject: [compost_tea] Compost for tea


    Ok, here are some of the questions I’ve been brewing in terms of
home-stacked compost for tea. I just spent an hour outside turning my
pile – it seems so rich, crumbly, smells so earthy and chock full of earth
worms, I can’t imagine that its not good for tea. But anyway, here goes the
questions. I’m curious what you think:



    Q:

    My piles are primarily composed of:



    Brown matter: Chaff timothy/alfalfa/grass mix hay (I grow myself – no
pesticides or chem. Fertilizers) + dry plant prunings + fall leaves + pine
needles (regardless what people tell me, they break down quickly, the worms
love them and I really think it helps my highly alkaline soils) + shredded
newspaper (no color ink)



    Green matter: Horse manure (low to no chems fed to my horses, worming is
done at a minimum and only as necessary (rare)) + grass clippings + kitchen
scraps + chicken manure (I only have 3 chickens so not much of that).



    Piles get roughly 3:1 brown to green materials

    I turn my piles about once every 1 to 3 weeks.

    Try to keep them moist, but wicking from the hay does tend to dry it out
on occasion.

    Also, at times there are mucky wet centers if not turned w/in 2 weeks.



    Without testing, are these materials okay for use in teas?





    Q:

    Worms -- sign of good compost for tea?

    My compost is always full of red earthworms, lots of them. After
unloading many of them to my garden, they seem to multiply to their high
level in no time. I just hate the thought of drowning the little buggers if
I were to be making tea out of it.



    Q:

    Mushrooms -- Sign of good compost for tea?

    In the shady recesses of my compost area, that I tend to neglect
turning, mushrooms are showing themselves. Would this imply good fungal
growth? Good compost? The bulk of my compost, that is turned often, doesn’
t tend to get, or stay, wet enough for mushrooms to grow. But they do so in
the shady corners – and I live in an arid region of WA state.



    Q:

    Moist, Crumbly, Earthy Smell – Sign of good compost for tea?

    As mentioned before, my piles when turning, smell earthy and sweet.
With all the horse manure we go through, I must be adding enough brown goods
because the piles always smell earthy and crumble in my hands.



    Just some of the questions I’ve been pondering – I’m looking to make
some teas on my own, with my own self made brewer – but also am looking into
the option of purchasing one too. I’d just really like to use my own
composts.



    Thanks!!



    Mike





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Received on Fri May 16 2003 - 00:17:27 EDT

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