[compost_tea] Information for Newcomer
Here are some instructions for a simple brewer. If you send me a message o=
ff list, I will send you design specs for brewers you can build yourself fr=
om off the shelf materials and some references for brewing tea. If you hav=
e any questions, I will answer them or refer you to Elaine. Brewing tea is=
a simple process but if you head in the wrong direction or try to reinvent=
the wheel, you may run into problems.
There are lots of commercial brewers out there and I have looked at most. =
Basically you need to aerate water with compost and some nutrients. That's=
it. That's the easy process. More difficult is finding how to add nutrei=
nts and what kind of nutrients to add. Most brewers I have seen use a compo=
st chamber or bag. My personal preference is to avoid these but others may=
feel differently based on experience. My experience with chambers and bag=
s has been negative so I designed systems that aerate the water containing =
the compost and the nutrients in the barrel or bucket. I have designs and =
specificiations for brewers up to 50 gallons that you can build for a fract=
ion of the cost of a commercial brewer and have fun at the same time.
Regardless of what you read, the secret to successful tea lies in the compo=
st. If you have poor compost, you will have poor tea. If you have highly =
diverse, very good compost, you can magnify the benefits of that compost by=
brewing tea made from that compost. You cannot brew anything into your te=
a if the compost doesn't contain the stuff.
Bacteria are really easy to brew. All you need is sugar (Any kind will wor=
k. Even processed sugar from the supermarket works.) There are other nutri=
ents too but initially, sugar will work just fine.
1. Get a bucket of say 5 gallons. Those white plastic paint buckets you ge=
t at the hardware store for about $2-3 are fine.
2. Add about 4 gallons water (If you use tap water, you will have more succ=
ess if you dechlorinate it by letting it sit for 24 hours before using or a=
erating it for 6-8 hours.) to your bucket.
3. Get the biggest external diaphram pump (Same as your fish tank but to no=
t use powerheads.)you can afford. These are usually about $45+.
4. Get a 6" aeration stone $10. These are usually used for Koi ponds or re=
ally large fish tanks.
5. Attach air line $1.50 to stone and turn on your pump.
6. The air will come out of the stone and it should be sufficient (If you a=
re not using an extremely small pump.) to aerate your water.
7. Drop the stone in your bucket.
8. Add compost. For a 5 gallon bucket, I would use about 1 quart of compos=
t.
9. Add nutrients. To start, just add sugar. The aerobic bacteria in your =
compost will eat the sugar and start multiplying. (Some fungi will extract=
from your compost also but these grow at a far slower rate than bacteria a=
nd while they will use sugar, need some additional nutrients and time to re=
ally be of some advantage.) If you aerate and feed bacteria, they will doub=
le every 10 to 20 minutes so it's good that they are small or we would be u=
p to our you know whats in bacteria. How many you get is strictly dependen=
t on food availability and oxygen (air) you supply.
Growth rates are strictly governed by Newton's Second Law of Thermodynamics=
. However, you don't really need to know how this works but you do need to=
know that you can't brew forever. Bacteria, and fungi, eventually eat up =
all the food. Then the fall asleep and become prey for anaerobic (oxygen ab=
horing) bacteria that are in your compost. So you have to gage your brewing=
time so you apply the tea when you have the greatest amount of live aerobi=
c (oxygen loving) bacteria.
Given the formula:
Air _at_ 5 cu. ft. per. min. + 4 gal. water + 1 quart compost + 2 cups sugar (=
molasses will do) = 6 to 8 hours brewing.
Now, how do you get the tea out of the bucket? Initially you can ladle it =
out. You can get a nylon filter bag from a farm supply company for about $=
10 that will work well. When I first made tea some two years ago, I used c=
offee filters but soon discovered that they filtered too much out. You can=
get some nylons (pantyhose work also) and bunch them up in a funnel $2 and=
pour your tea over them into another bucket. Also you can filter with thr=
ee layers of ordinary window screen overlapped in your funnel. This will f=
ilter out the big stuff and let most of the beneficial bacteria and fungi t=
hrough so you can put the tea through a sprayer withou no clogging.
So what do we have here:
Pump $45
Aerator $10
Air line $1.50
Buckets $7
Filter bags or nylons $10 (Actually, it's been a while since I bought nylon=
s. The modern shades just don't suit me. So I really don't know the curren=
t cost.)
Big Funnel $2
Sugar or Molasses or some other form of sucrose. $5
Compost ???
Let's see, add them up, carry the 2. . . get an expression like I'm thinkin=
g and voila! we have a grand total of $80.50. add your local tax and you h=
ave a whole system for under a c-note.
Now, there are lots of other nutrients you can add. Initially, you don't n=
eed to worry about them. Once you get brewing down and brew a few batches,=
you can start expanding the nutrients you add and changing your brewing cy=
cles. Look at the www.soilfoodweb.com for other informatiion. Elaine has =
been doing this longer than anyone else but there is still much to learn. =
We are involved, in a way, in an emerging practice that uses science but is=
n't science. It's kind of cool. You will soon become a bacteria/fungi wra=
ngler. If you really get into it you can wrangle protoza and micronematode=
s too.
A note:
You cannot store tea. If you brew and put it into a container, you will fo=
rce the aerobic bacteria to fall asleep and create an environment for the a=
naerobes to take over. Right now, you want the aerobic bacteria/fungi so u=
se your tea within 12 hours of brewing.
Many people on this list are involved in experimentation so there are a lot=
of directions discussed that seem promising. Don't get intimidated, On ex=
amination, most lead away from the practices that you need to brew good com=
post tea. Experimentation and questioning assumptions is important though =
so it's good we have this forum. Jump in. It's easy and fun.
Oh, welcome to the list.
Ted Peterson
Earth-Wise/Spirit of the Earth
Received on Sun Feb 22 2004 - 16:30:25 EST
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.0
: Tue Feb 07 2012 - 14:15:04 EST