[compost_tea] Re: CT Naming & NOP Certification & Manure

From: Kirk Leonard <kirk_at_oregonatural.com>
Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2003 16:36:28 -0800

It's interesting that an out-of-sequence commercial message today offers up
"extractor" for brewer, and I am sensing over the last week that people like
"aerate". Graeme's comment about "the aerate" was good, too. Guess the
message on Sunday ads is get it in before 6:30AM Pacific Time(?) Sunday,
which means getting it done Sat eve, right Bob?

My suggesting a name change was not meant as "proper technospeak", rather to
more accurately describe what is happening in making tea so people new to it
could get it quicker. I will confess I also don't like "brew" but I do like
"Bitty Brewer" best of all I've heard... I also don't get directly how
"aerate" implies heating. I think more quickly of drying, which is often
accompanied by heating, but, blah, blah, blah.

How about this suggestion: Call machines whatever we want (I believe the
Earth Tea Brewer was originally the Earth Tea Machine, for instance) -
brewer, bubbler, bioblender, bob-o-lator, aerator, extractor, etc, whatever
fits your pitch, while all agreeing that what we are making is "aerated
compost tea" or "aerobic compost tea" for the scientific record and for
standards purposes. We also need to keep a space for "steeped compost teas"
because my grandmother would never forgive me if I didn't include her
"bucket tea" made mostly from manure. The rose guys with the "miracle tea"
soaking behind the garage are also probably right....

We stir, steep, soak, brew, aerate, bubble, flume, filter, push, pump, add
nutrients, make slurries and spray and water with compost teas, and it all
works. It's all better than petrochemical stuff naturally, no matter what
we call it, but we should all try to include it in a basic name, and I
personally would like that not to be "brewed."

On the USNOP and organic certification, I trust Laura is right about using
only certified materials makes certifiable compost tea, per Elaine's post
11/20/02, but there are still big questions for me there. There used to be
a "generic list" that OMRI historically produced that is different from
specific-brand "certified organic" products, and materials in the National
List produced by NOP, which probably includes KOH and H3POn's. The original
lists included generic materials like compost, vermicompost, and I assume
kelps and some humates and things like soy meal, yeasts, molasses, minerals,
etc. You had to buy it or be certified or certifying to get it, last I
understood.

One of my outstanding NOP questions, since I can't see how it was
resolved, is where has this generic list gone? OMRI is recognized as the
keeper of material standards under the NOP but the standing of their
historic generic list is not mentioned anywhere I could find in the
proverbial Final Rule... What has become of the generic list? It could save
many of us a lot of time and effort.

News from Elaine about the USNOSB Compost Tea group, or the lack of it, is
distressing... Who are they talking to besides themselves? Is there a
conflict happening between MOFGA and OMRI? Is there a new effort afoot to
suck compost tea into oblivion? I don't wish to be paranoid here, but I do
not find this silence encouraging.

I am not surprised the last compost task force stuff has been adopted by
MOFGA (which is Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, by the
way). I would not be surprised to hear it from OMRI. The NOSB?NOP Final
Rule implies adoption of policies via meeting discussions, like a
legislative record, so by implication what was done by the NOSB Compost Task
Force in April, which was redone by the NOP staff in August, and what was
not done by NOSB in October is in the Rule (eeeck!), which is odd but
potentially valid logic, I think. Good news seems like it is still mostly up
to local certifiers, I hope. Watch out for big feed lot manure products
labeled organic soon, like Spring, worldwide.

Manure seems to have been a key element in corporate manipulation of the
NOP, and was clearly in the middle of the run to ban compost tea, which is
why I keep bringing it up... It's still a bizarre conundrum for many good
farmers and gardeners and I hope we will keep pressing on it. Managed well
(as many have known how to do for centuries), there are few things better
than manure as an organic material for a multitude of purposes. I bet I can
beat Alaska Humus with my dairy manure vermicompost on a good day, even,
especially using what I've learned from Jeff!

-- Kirk
















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Received on Mon Jan 20 2003 - 19:51:19 EST

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