[compost_tea] Re: Soaked Tea

From: Kirk Leonard <kirk_at_oregonatural.com>
Date: Sun, 29 Jun 2003 20:59:43 -0700

Who-yah, got something going here... Thanks James for your thoughts. We
could benefit from the politicking you suggest but I know I can't afford it.
That's why our getting connected (by individual and group members here...)
to the new congressional organic caucus is the next best thing. I sent a
note to Peter DeFazio, a founder, about the Oregon Tilth manure
summit tomorrow, for instance. Easy to do.

Frank, thanks for your comments, too. Hope that bird's behaving better.
I'd loan you my shotgun if I had one. You said you didn't think heated,
dried manure would be a problem, but I wonder. Has this manure been
researched? My concerns, besides that pathogens could still make
it through a process like that, are the chemical and drug residues. As far
as I can tell the "processed manure materials" category (#4) in NOP's
compost recomendations was invented to serve big beef, factory feed lots,
who also use a lot of chlorines. Could be an air pollution problem, even.
I'd never heard of it before, anyway. I fear it's just another way of
dumping damaging chemicals, and what might happen on the ground.

Bob, I can almost feel the shreeking too, thinking about going to work at
Monsanto. Tell you what, when you apply for that job I'll be right behind
you.:-)

Before I get to more Bob reply, I want to thank Mike for making clear to me
the main problem of old time tea. (Duh) The teas from which the name and
image of "manure tea" came. "Soaked." SOAKED. I've heard weeks. Eeek!
Compost tea should not be soaked, hmm? Soaking is easy to detect, and you
shouldn't do it, as it invites anaerobes. I have learned - observing that
plants can respond in a day - that you can get all the benefits of a
hand-stirred nutrient tea in less than an hour - and all the biology goes to
the soil, too - so it doesn't seem to need soaking. The other part, likely
the larger part of any problems people may have had with simple teas is the
compost.

As the good doc says, if it's not in the compost it won't be in the tea. I'd
add if she hasn't already that if it is in the compost it can be caused to
be in the tea. If you're stupid enough. As I recall, the strawberry
incident Bob mentions occurred because ditch water with manure in it was
used for watering. Bad water. Nothing to do with compost tea.

Bad compost is the biggest problem with compost tea, not how it's made.

At my farm market yesterday I had another sad conversation with a couple
whose raised bed garden had gone south with bad compost and it made me
realize that not only is it hard to get good compost unless you make it
yourself it's impossible to get it unlaced with clopyralid hereabouts from
most all suppliers. Sad situation. Oregon made a better law this year but
it'll be a couple years before we can be sure. It's good we are learning
and asking about quality of composts.

Bob -- On NO NO NO... what tempo are you on? I can think of several good
tunes. Seriously, I'd like to think we could harmonize, and I would like
greatly if you would cite an incident of the following:

> Scenario - church pot luck serves a great salad. x members subcome to
> E-coli. E-Coli takes a kids life and another kids liver. Gardener is
> suspect cause. E-coli is taced to "Compost TEA" that was used to water
> the lettuce.

I can imagine this happening but my skepticism is peaked. (OD: Who could be
that stupid?)

Yes some ecoli was put on fruits by really dumb growers in California,
watering. Have you ever heard of an instance of a problem with a compost
tea, however it was made? Has anyone out there heard of this? Please say
so if so. Seems we need to know this.

I think you are over-reaching, Bob. Simpler teas can be good teas, too.
Stirred teas sprayed can be beneficial.

Ecoli problems are big beef problems in this country today, not compost
problems, and I fear they could become compost tea problems if processed
manure materials are used to make tea, all you oxygen watchers out there...
And the way USDA would have it, manure compost is a problem, eh? This is
way whacky and needs to be fixed.

Think of us in Corvallis today. We will be working on manure and I expect
to be amazed again.

-- Kirk









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Received on Mon Jun 30 2003 - 01:09:26 EDT

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