Ok, here are some of the questions I?ve
been brewing in terms of home-stacked compost for tea. I just spent an hour outside turning
my pile ? it seems so rich, crumbly, smells so earthy and chock full of
earth worms, I can?t imagine that its not good for tea. But anyway, here goes the
questions. I?m curious what you
think:
Q:
My
piles are primarily composed of:
Brown
matter:
Chaff timothy/alfalfa/grass mix
hay (I grow myself ? no pesticides or chem. Fertilizers) + dry plant
prunings + fall leaves + pine needles (regardless what people tell me, they
break down quickly, the worms love them and I really think it helps my
highly alkaline soils) + shredded newspaper (no color
ink)
Green
matter:
Horse manure (low to no chems fed to my horses, worming is done at a minimum
and only as necessary (rare)) +
grass clippings + kitchen scraps + chicken manure (I only have 3 chickens so
not much of that).
Piles
get roughly 3:1 brown to green materials
I
turn my piles about once every 1 to 3 weeks.
Try
to keep them moist, but wicking from the hay does tend to dry it out on
occasion.
Also,
at times there are mucky wet centers if not turned w/in 2
weeks.
Without
testing, are these materials okay for use in
teas?
Q:
Worms
-- sign of good compost for tea?
My
compost is always full of red earthworms, lots of them. After unloading many of them to my
garden, they seem to multiply to their high level in no time. I just hate the thought of drowning
the little buggers if I were to be making tea out of
it.
Q:
Mushrooms
-- Sign of good compost for tea?
In
the shady recesses of my compost area, that I tend to neglect turning,
mushrooms are showing themselves.
Would this imply good fungal growth? Good compost? The bulk of my compost, that is
turned often, doesn?t tend to get, or stay, wet enough for mushrooms to
grow. But they do so in the
shady corners ? and I live in an arid region of WA
state.
Q:
Moist,
Crumbly, Earthy Smell ? Sign of good compost for
tea?
As
mentioned before, my piles when turning, smell earthy and sweet. With all the horse manure we go
through, I must be adding enough brown goods because the piles always smell
earthy and crumble in my hands.
Just
some of the questions I?ve been pondering ? I?m looking to make some teas on
my own, with my own self made brewer ? but also am looking into the option
of purchasing one too. I?d just
really like to use my own composts.
Thanks!!
Mike