Tim's exactly right. E. coli was added in high concentrations on one study=
, and in the other, manure was used, not compost.
I am now Chief Scientist at Rodale, and my reason for joining the Institute=
is to do replicated science and publish it.
Instead of working so much with growers, who tend to see the benefits of co=
mpost, extract and tea and switch to adding biology to all their fields (th=
us saying goodbye to the controlled scientific experiment), at Rodale I can=
make sure the experiment doesn't disappear because money needs to be made =
in order to keep the farm. No fault of the farmer, their goal in farming i=
s different from that of a researcher.
The review of compost tea linked previously was from 2005. I started at Ro=
dale this year, in February. I promptly managed to slip and fall on the ic=
e there, and shattered my knee cap. No more skiing for me! But, I am walk=
ing now and hopefully will recover to at least 90% of previous abilities. =
But managed, controlled compost production is underway at Rodale now, so we=
can tie down the important factors, and exactly what the recipes and manag=
ement practices are for compost, given different starting material, constan=
t rain or constant shine, cold or hot weather......... snow....... no tract=
or........the list goes on. Once we document consistency in the compost pr=
oduction, it will be on to compost extract and compost tea. Expect data i=
n a year or so......
scientific publications in three to five years.....
Elaine R. Ingham
President, Soil Foodweb Inc.
-----Original Message-----
From: Tim Wilson <thegoodjob_at_hotmail.com>
To: compost_tea <compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tue, May 31, 2011 12:20 pm
Subject: [compost_tea] Re: compost tea, ecoli, molasses
I find it a little disconserting that someone with Rodale would repeat such=
knee-jerk hysterical gossip as;
"that was until reports of compost teas contaminated with E. coli starting =
emerging."
If my memory serves me, this never happened and was based on rumors started=
by a certain university professor who is opposed to compost tea [and Elain=
e] and two very poorly conducted studies, previously mentioned.
If someone has ANY evidence that e-coli or salmonela (sp?) contamination of=
lettuce, melons & spinach resulted from use of compost tea please present =
it.
Tim
--- In compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com, "mikethewormguy" <mikethewormguy_at_...> w=
rote:
>
>
>
> Did an intrnet search on "compost tea, molasses, ecoli" this morning to s=
ee what was listed. Came across the following information from the Rodale I=
nst. which is where Elaine I. is working :
>
> http://newfarm.rodaleinstitute.org/research/dec04/122304/e.coli.shtml
>
> Some thought provoking results.
>
> Mike Flynn
> Green Quest LLC
> BioSpecific LLC
>
Received on Wed Jun 01 2011 - 09:33:24 EDT