Re: [compost_tea] Re: compost tea a pseudoscience?

From: Ted Peterson <ted.peterson_at_tcsn.net>
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 12:14:50 -0800

----- Original Message -----
From: chriscreid
To: compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, November 25, 2003 5:46 AM
Subject: [compost_tea] Re: compost tea a pseudoscience?



TED SAID: If I don't or can't, I more represent a snake-oil salesman
and the compost tea business has a enough of those. I run into them
all the time.

REPLY: Ted, this is a very provocative thing to say.


Where I live, we have a lot of grape growers. Several of them are using com=
post tea. They make the tea by stacking two 55G drums separated by a burla=
p sack. They dump compost or manure in the top and pour water over the com=
post. Then the take the liquid from the bottom and put it on their crops. =
 The people who put that system in are running around selling the concept o=
f Compost Tea and how easily it can be produced using this method. Many pe=
ople I talk to are using a "green" book that give instructions for compost =
tea using this precise method. This, as far as I am concerned, is snake oi=
l. They might get a little N in a different form but that's about it.

Ok, here is some data:

I have designed brewers with very specific needs. For example, in my exper=
iments with large brewers, I found that 200 - 250 G of tea brew the best. =
I've tried 500G and even 1000G containers with less satisfactory results. =
So my "Brewers" are maxed at 250G. The system I have used though allows me=
 to gang them together so I can brew 100 - 250G or mutltiples of the same. =
 For one winery, I have four running all the time. If they all produced te=
a at once, that's 1000G. I don't work them that way though. I stagger the=
m so there is a constant production of tea which is what they need during m=
ildew season. I can put a brewer together very economically that is easy t=
o clean, light-weight, easy to repair and compact.

I have designed aerators that utilize 30G plastic trash cans as the brewing=
 container. These (trash cans) can be purchased for $9 or less and can be =
replaced at will. They can be ganged together for larger brews. Wayne mak=
es extraction, sump pumps that sell for $75 that can be used to extract the=
 tea from the brewer. I could put a whole system together, this way, for u=
nder $150 and still make a huge profit if I sell them for $400. All diffus=
ers and diffuser parts are life-time guaranteed. Break one and we fix it o=
r replace for free.

Now, my container design is rather simple. The secret is in the diffusing =
system. I went to the food processing industry and did a lot of studying. =
 The food industry has been processing and moving liquids a lot longer than=
 any of us so many of the problems I (and possibly we) encounter already ha=
ve solutions: Aeration and movement, "rest" times or areas in the container=
, agitation and bacterial/fungal death for example.

I have found that a biologically diverse compost works well but have also f=
ound that local soil and older, on site, compost will produce the same effe=
cts. In other words, DO measurements show the same. Foaming and slime sho=
w the same. What is missing? Possibly the diversity. If I use locally pr=
oduced stuff, I am still getting bacterial multiples but the range of diver=
sity is less. However, this local soil/compost mix, when brewed and applie=
d also resisted powerdy mildew the same as the more diverse compost mix.

Brewing times are important. At the beginning, I was using higher temps --=
 up to 80D F. As I examined the process more closely, I have come to the p=
osition that keeping the tea 68 -70D produces better results and thwarts po=
tential pathogen growth.

Quite frankly, Chris, et. al., I have approached this process as a person w=
ho knew little -- other than the assumed lore about composting -- about ag =
processes and who needed to find out why we are losing acres of crop land e=
very year in what is supposedly the most fertile growing region on the eart=
h. So, I started reading about bacteria and fungi and about distribution, =
movement, propagation and growing conditions. What's the difference betwee=
n an aerobe and anerobe? Are both needed? Is it possible that the mesophi=
llic cycle can be used in composting to replace the thermophyllic cycle whi=
ch is a form of homogenization to a degree? After all, there is no thermop=
hyllic cycle (as per EPA) in nature so what broke down the plants detrius o=
n the forest floor? All these and more. . .

I still think I know very little. Compared to Elaine, I'm illiterate in th=
e field but I am learning. I too thought that more additives made better t=
ea but then started thinking about what I was really doing: I am replenishi=
ng bacteria and fungi into depleted soil and ensuring they have a chance to=
 survive. These bacteria and fungi, working with other microbiologic life =
(nematodes and such) give the plant the best chance to extract from the soi=
l what it needs to survive the best it can. So I cut my inputs while watch=
ing DO. When the DO changed, I rechecked my input levels and made adjustme=
nts. I brewed exactly 200 batches this way. Now, my inputs are a fractio=
n of what I used before but I am using slightly more compost. (I found tha=
t, depending on container, compost has a limit also: too much it goes anaer=
obic fast. Functional anaerobes are not benefical for plant growth but are=
 great for plant decay.)

I have tried it, and it works. I know it's strange for our culture but for=
 ag in the long term, less is indeed more.

We are ready to market, after test from SFI on our most recent batches, so =
stay tuned.

Ted Peterson
Earth-Wise/Spirit of the Earth






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Received on Tue Nov 25 2003 - 19:00:33 EST

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