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[compost_tea] Re: brewer name contest



Hi again Irene;  Your grandmother was on a good track.  Since, we have learned to be SURE there is enough AIR in the bucket ( and in the bag) at frequent intervals to encourage the reproduction of AEROBIC microbes and discourage the ANAEROBIC microbes.  It seems the air breathers are in general better for us and for plants than the microbes that exist on stuff like methane, CO2 and ( ask Elaine)  What do the nasties breath?  

Air is the reason for the brewer systems.  A way to assure O2 to the microbes that start in AIR CURED compost.  Good compost whether it starts as fruit and vegetables that deteriorate IN AIR or manure ( both sources of nutritian ) that has been mixed with wood particles or equally carbon rich stuff, and prefferably many other ingredients  all go into water where a good tea brewer system will disturb the compost enought to free the microbes from the compost but not enough to slow their libido.  Then in the brewer, added food like molasses and kelp and now several other liquidized foods for the microbes are added so the amourus microbes will feel the ability to multiply / divide.  This math causes their numbers to increase by several hundred or several thousand times over-night or over 12 to 36 hours.  We try to design for 20 hours  as an deal growing period but time is not critical..

How big a brewer?  The size depends very much on the size tank you use.  For instance Your "BBL"  can brew in a 5 gallon pail, a 7 gallon pail or a light weight gray 30 gallon $ 10 garbage can by Rubbermaid  with a pretty blue cover.  In the 5 gallon unit you can fill to 3 gallons 80 deg F water, run the air system for an hour to get rid of the chlorine.  Add  4 cups of compost, a tblspn of molasses,  a tblspn of soluble kelp, and let it purr for 20 hours.  You will have 3 gallons of quite effective TEA.  When more water is added the recipe changes to increase the compost and the nutrients.   When you get into the 20 to 30 gallon range the brewer can't handle all the needed compost at one fill so you filll it 2 or 3 times and let it digest each.. No, you don't have to emptry it each time.  Just fill it repeatedly at 2 or 3  intervalls.  After 5 hours take out the brewer. leave the aerator only. After a

It wasn't so complicated when your grandmother was doing TEA.  But maybe it is better now.  The manure bucket routine could produce anaerobic stuff with E-Coli and other hazards we try to make impossible with our present technology.       

 irene bensinger <irene@trilliumwoods.com> wrote:

Hi, Bob --

Since I'm really, really new to the world of compost tea (other than
a burlap bag full of manure and compost soaked in a bucket of rain
water, as I learned from my grandmother long ago), I'm struggling to
get a grasp on the concept of brewers.

But I did think of a name for your smaller brewer: Bob's Brewer Lite,
BBL. : )   You mean like Miller's Lite?

There must be a book/manual/website with descriptions of compost tea
and what goes into it and why. Could you please point me in the right
direction? I really do need to educate myself before I can think
about what volume of CT I'd need to produce for our organic
garden/orchard/berry patch.

Thanks for all your contributions to the list. I'm learning...

irene

Irene Bensinger
webshepherdess@trillium
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