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Re: [compost_tea] Re: Defining what is compost tea exactly



Kirk -

I agree with you that there are forces at work that would love to see tea out of the picture.  That is why it is CRITICAL to define things clearly.  If people within the field aren't uniform in their definitions, then we'll get slaughtered by those wanting to see tea out of the picture. 

I will not lump together things that are different.  You are way off the mark in your comments about three kinds of tea, about manure, and in your understanding of biology in these materials. 

I would rather not burden the whole list serve with the go-arounds that are clearly necessary to clarify each of your points.  In fact, I'm tired of trying to get you to see that you have definitions that change every time you want to make a point. 

So, what is needed is to go back to first principles. 

I ask you to define the following.  Think things through.  It will do both you and I good to agree on: what they mean, how to determine whether something is what you think it is, and what data are available to document risk to people.  when we agree, then we should return to the list with that set of terms.  The rest of the list serve can function to review the terms and add thoughts on applicability.

Define compost
Define soil
Define manure
When does manure become compost? 
When (how) does manure become soil? 
What would you call organic matter if it has become anaerobic? 

Define what you mean by compost tea.  What are the important components?

What is the kind of tea you make when you use anaerobic organic matter?
What is anaerobic tea?  Is that the same as when you use anaerobic organic matter? 

What do you use to identify whether your tea is anaerobic, or has been anaerobic?   

Can you resuscitate anaerobic tea?  Can it become aerobic again?  How would you know?

What is compost extract?
Compost leachate? 
Plant tea?
Manure tea?

What is a term that we could use to include all of the above?  Compost tea is NOT the right term.  I'd like to suggest agricultural teas as the general term. 

Please, not nutrient tea.  You have not thought that one through and you are going somewhere you don't want to go with that one. 

Think things through logically and clearly.  Until we come to some understanding on how these things are defined, and then hold to those definitions without changing them relative to the point that is being made, there is no chance of having a useful discussion.  So, back to first principles. 

Elaine Ingham
President, Soil Foodweb Inc.
www.soilfoodweb.com
SFI Oregon, USA
SFI Australia
SFI New York
SFI Europe
SFI New Zealand

"Hope is not a feeling. It is not the belief that things will turn out well, but the conviction that what we are doing makes sense, no matter how things turn out."   --  Vaclav Havel, former President of the Czech Republic


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