Re: [compost_tea] EM leachate "tea"

From: <soilfoodweb_at_aol.com>
Date: Wed, 27 Oct 2004 13:56:43 EDT

Hi Dave -

I am fascinated by hte bokashi process, mostly because I'd like to know when
it stops fermenting and when it starts real composting

Composting is by definition an aerobic process.

So, at first, the bokashi is anaerobic, but when the simple sugars are used
up, the bacteria have to stop growing, and oxygen starts diffusing into the
liquid again. The aerobic organisms will use up the alcohol in the liquid as
well as the solids.

So, when does that happen in the bokashi process?

Part of the fun thing about alcohol is that it is a gas, so when you spray
the material, a great deal of the alcohol will be volatilized, and thus may not
get to the leaf surface.

What is the concentration of alcohol in the material where not eough of the
alcohol volatilizes, and starts to solubilize the cell membranes of the plant
leaf?

I remember microbiology classes where we brewed root beer too, and did the
same kind of experiment - how much alcohol in the brew? Never enough to even
get tipsy on, but some was produced. We made sure to use baker's yeast in the
experiment, not brewer's yeast. Most undergrads don't know there are more than
one kind, much less specific ones that make more alcohol. But they sure
loved the idea they were brewing an alcoholic beverage. In class no less. Got a
few phone calls from parents, but we could always releive their concenrs when
we explained.....

I must admit that the alcohol producing possibilities is one of the
things that concerns me the most.

With the bokashi compost you are supposed to drain away the leachate on a
regular basis, and I was assuming that this is where the alcohol would end up,
but then they recommend using it as a foliar spray. I expect that spraying
alcohol on the leaves would not necessarily be the best thing for the plant's
health.

25 years ago, I would have just brought a sample into my college chemistry
class and tested for the alcohol content, but all I remember from chem 101 was
that you counted the drops till the sample turned purple, and that as soon as
you get the experiment right, you got to drink the rest of you "supplies" at
the class party.

And the rest of us would really love to hear whatever conclusions you can
come up with regarding EM and its effects on compost and compost tea.

I'll let all of you know, if the company will let me share the info on the
list serve. But I have already used up ALL of the research money that SFI has
this year.

Actually, I've overspent that budget by about $3000, and have had to
contribute my salary back into the business to cover it. So far this year, I have
only been paid for five months, and it looks like I've already spent my October
salary on research as well. There's this camera I want to buy for the
microscope too.......

I'm not whining, just trying to make people aware that SFI does a great deal
of research, and it keeps us short of cash ALL the time. It really annoys me
when I get people saying that I must be rolling in money, and why can't I do
more to get everything figured out. Argh!

Consider that the DNA work that we've done, that I don't consider to be
especially repeatable (and neither do reveiwers of journal articles), costs on the
order of tens of thousands of dollars to run, per sample.

I'm hoping Janice Thies, at Cornell University, will come up with easier ways
to deal with diversity assessment. She has a library of 200 bacterial that
she can "easily" assess. But that's a mere drop in the bucket, huh?

If people want replicated, scienitifically publishable data, they are going
to have to pay money so it can get done. Ah, you don't have the money? Then
start applying pressure to USDA, to NSF, to EPA. Don't know anyone there?
Then talk to your congress people. Senators, representatives at the Fed and
State level. If it's important enough that you actually call them or write them,
and enough calls and letters come in, then you'll see something start to
happen.

We, the people, are important. Start exercising your right to be critical.

As Kirk says, its not just a right, it is a requirement of citizens in a
democracy to express their opinions.

Go be heard!

Elaine R. Ingham
Soil Foodweb Inc., Corvallis, Oregon
Soil Foodweb Inc., Port Jefferson, New York
Soil Foodweb Institute, Lismore Australia
Soil Foodweb Institute Cambridge, New Zealand
Laboratorios de Soil Foodweb, Culiacan, Mexico
Soil Foodweb Inc., Jerome, Idaho
Soil Foodweb Inc., South Africa







Received on Wed Oct 27 2004 - 15:05:27 EDT

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