The bottom line is that compost tea is about results. I made it according to
the parameters outlined by Elaine and it made my plants do some amazingly
positive things. I've been making it and using it for a solid year on my
property with a few dozen fruit trees, veggie gardens, roses, etc. I've
applied it to other people's properties and it has aways made a modest to
outstanding change in plant health, often in soils of mediore quality. The
fact that anybody can do this with sufficient effort and insight only
accentuates the concept. (I am not saying that everybody will make good
compost tea just like some people can't seem to cook worth a darn.)
What if I used Biodynamic preps, a cosmic pipe, some anaerobic brew,
magnets, special sprays, etc, etc? Would I get better results, healthier
plants, more fertile soil, better disease suppression? Is a plate test a
better indicator than direct biomass calculation? Is soilsoup better than a
bobO? These are all interesting questions but nothing is going to be
resolved if someone(s) doesn't do side by side comparison "bio" or field
tests. Surely the growth, development and productivity of plants can be
thoroughly compared and evaluated. We aren't looking for slight statistical
differences rather more obvious differences that would be harder to dispute.
Having been around this stuff for many years, I have gotten the impression
that a lot of people feel very comfortable in their belief system regarding
plant culture and anything that attempts to shake that up is not welcome.
This applies to the chemical promoters as well as the "organic" crowd.
Learning is not a straight line. What we will know in the future will be
more than we know now. Count on it. Whether you are a diehard researcher or
not, checking out the conceptual directions of other people can be modestly
interesting to downright inspiring. Emotionality does not make it true or
false. Perfect packages can be perfectly bogus (or partially).
John Cowan
-----Original Message-----
From: Frank L Teuton [mailto:fteuton_at_sympatico.ca]
Sent: Sunday, August 01, 2004 8:35 AM
To: compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [compost_tea] "this camp v. that camp"
People:
The idea of compost tea is, I believe, an important one. In its form as
ACT, the aerated nutrient enriched compost based culture upon which this
list is predicated, it is an idea still in its infancy and which is still
being learned about, tried in various forms, and which is still making its
way into people's practice and thinking.
Dr Ingham's methods and ideas about compost tea stand alone as very
separate from the other approaches; her insistence on the importance of a
fungal component, her development of direct evaluation methods, and her
promotion and educational efforts about compost tea as she sees it should be
used and understood, set her apart from others who use different methods,
operate under different assumptions and compete in the same marketplace.
Under this set of circumstances the emergence of 'camps' is hardly
unusual, in fact it is virtually inevitable. The combination of scientific
and business competition heightens the tensions, and the fact that Dr Ingham
temperamentally leans towards direct confrontation without quite enough
diplomatic leavening added, means that there are some bad feelings in the
air and again, this is not something which could have been easily avoided.
Mitigated perhaps, but not avoided.
My only advice to anyone truly interested in this valuable technology is
to batten down the hatches, hang onto your hat and keep your eyes wide open.
Keep asking practical, critical questions; look for simple and not so simple
experiments you can try to prove what works and doesn't in your own
situations, and stand ready to ignore as much of the 'noise' as you can
stand, in order to hear the 'news' as it comes through.
If you haven't already done so, purchasing Dr Ingham's publications on
compost tea is a very good way of getting the pure information sans
bickering.
The internet, and email groups like this one, can have many peaks and
valleys in both information and decorum. Stay focused on what sort of
information you are looking for here, and ask questions and share
experiences based on that.
Let the rest of it roll off your back like water off a duck.
My two cents,
Frank Teuton
----- Original Message -----
From: CHARLES BARKER
To: compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sunday, August 01, 2004 8:33 AM
Subject: Re: [compost_tea] "this camp v. that camp"
Amen, brother. I too am removing myself from this list
Charles Barker
sbrustkern_at_aol.com wrote:
Hello everyone,
This may well be my last posting to this site\group, as I am very
tired of what reads like attacks, and then the following counter attacks.
Folks....this is negative, and you have already driven off, imo, some
very valuable resources of information, as they are also have tired of the
sniping.
Irrespective of our differences, be it mechanical, ingredients, or how
they are tested, all of us need to come together as a "body," and at least
agree on one thing, and then move forward from there. (perhaps that one
thing is, CT is beneficial in various forms). From that agreed upon
condition, we can then debate the merits of our various "camps."
While my background is not in this field, my other life was quite
involved with pods, groups, divisions and all the other stuff that makes up
a fortune 500 company, so I have some feelings about how orgs do, and do not
work, and based upon what I am reading on the list, and what appears to me,
sound like some very hard feelings\challenges, and the like, I have the
impression that this has become a battlefield, and not a resource for
exchange of information.
Should any of you have opinions on this, I would appreciate hearing
from you.
Steve Brustkern
Medina, WA.
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Received on Sun Aug 01 2004 - 17:16:18 EDT