Re: [compost_tea] Compost for tea

From: Steve Bridges <kimas_at_texasgrown.com>
Date: Thu, 15 May 2003 20:59:24 -0500

Hi Mike,
Home-made compost, in my opinion, would always be preferable to commerciall=
y available compost if the home-made compost were a high quality compost. A=
nd it certainly sounds like your making a wonderful compost! Go with it....=
.

I've wondered about using commercially made bagged or even bulk compost in =
tea making. One would think that the bagged stuff would be less microbially=
 active because it is in a bag.....the compost has been denied air, for how=
 long, starving the organisms? And with commercially made bulk compost, it =
is usually made with very few ingredients. For instance, here you can get t=
urkey litter compost, or cotton bur compost, or tree trimming compost, etc.=
 Wouldn't a compost made with fewer ingredients be less nutrionally and mic=
robially complete?

I would think that your compost, or any good homemade compost, would be bet=
ter because of the variety of materials that go into the pile and the fresh=
ness of the compost when you use it.

Sounds like you need to get with Nehemiah and help him put a pile together!

Steve Bridges
Kimas Tejas Nursery
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Mike Bosko
  To: compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com
  Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2003 5:07 PM
  Subject: [compost_tea] Compost for tea


  Ok, here are some of the questions I've been brewing in terms of home-sta=
cked compost for tea. I just spent an hour outside turning my pile - it se=
ems 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 pe=
sticides or chem. Fertilizers) + dry plant prunings + fall leaves + pine ne=
edles (regardless what people tell me, they break down quickly, the worms l=
ove them and I really think it helps my highly alkaline soils) + shredded n=
ewspaper (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 + kitche=
n 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 unloadi=
ng 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? G=
ood 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 sha=
dy 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 be=
cause 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 th=
e option of purchasing one too. I'd just really like to use my own compost=
s.

   

  Thanks!!

   

  Mike

   


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Received on Fri May 16 2003 - 00:00:13 EDT

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