[compost_tea] newbie recipe questions

From: Mark Lee (markl@nytec.com)
Date: Wed Mar 12 2003 - 12:23:14 EST


I have a vegetable garden and fruit trees that I grow organically on my 1/3
acre lot in the suburbs of Seattle. I bought a K.I.S. Tea Brewer, and I
plan on brewing my first batch soon. It comes with some compost packets,
and refills can be ordered. I would prefer becoming self-sufficient in
supplying raw materials for brewing my compost tea. Bob Norsen was kind in
recently advising this simple recipe:

2 or 3 cups of a forest duff/worm compost mix
2 tablespoon of oat flour
teaspoon of humic acid

Except for the humic acid, that seems like a simple recipe that I could
assemble without much trouble. Would I allow these ingredients to float
around the (5 gallon?) bucket loose, or should I contain them in a sock?

Here is an even simpler recipe from the Department of Enviromental
Protection in Pennsylvania:
http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/airwaste/wm/recycle/Tea/tea1.htm
1 gallon of mature compost
1 oz unsulfured molasses
5 gallon bucket of degassed water

The webpage shows the compost just floating in the bucket loose. Sounds too
easy. If I use this recipe and create fresh batches of sweet earthy
smelling tea that is dark brown, it seems like my garden should benefit from
the bacteria and fungi that are growing in it. I could boost the population
of beneficial things by adding humic acid, kelp, fish hydrolyzate, but
wouldn't the simple recipe "get me in the ballpark"?

One ingredient that I could add to the mix is spent sawdust from production
of oyster mushrooms. Any thoughts on this ingredient?

-Mark Lee






This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Wed Apr 23 2003 - 16:57:46 EDT