I quit compost tea simply because of the time and labor, and I know that's a big issue for you, as well. Thanks to the conversations on this list, the only digging I do is (minimum), holes to plant stuff. I now put a light sprinkle of organic fertilizer, followed by compost and organic matter of all sorts on the surface around plants. That's it. I may not get optimized production, but the benefit-to-effort ratio is much improved.On Jan 29, 2010, at 8:40 AM, Tradingpost wrote: Ed, Bobby G.'s method sounds ok (Wisconsin soil there must be very different from mine), tho for myself I have questions about the leachate content of soluble salts. I also want the manure and/or plant fiber to go into the soil rather than just what will dissolve out into the water, to build up the level of organic matter and retain moisture better. And for a larger garden or market garden it may be more practical to work it all into the bed to begin with. Since other amendments need to be worked in as well, it's better for me to do it all at one time. Moisture, warmth, and mulch then provide the conditions for the right kind of microbes to break down and combine all the materials in the soil in a natural way. The amendments vary depending on the grower, soil, climate, etc. We have thin topsoil with little or no organic matter content, so I amend accordingly. The horse manure I use is aged, pulverized and screened to break down faster, and alfalfa meal provides the nitrogen to aid in manure decomposition, and trace minerals. Both add organic matter (fiber). Usually I'll add in a little rock phosphate or bone meal and greensand. It's all mixed in a wheelbarrow, half full for a 3'x8' bed, spread evenly on beds, and worked in twice with a shovel instead of a tiller. There's no waste since it all goes into framed beds instead of the aisles we walk on. Same with water and mulch, nothing wasted on aisles. paul tradingpost@lobo.net*********** REPLY SEPARATOR *********** On 1/28/2010 at 11:52 PM henry walden wrote: This is great, it sounds really effective, simple, and economical. How
much manure are you using, roughly 5 shovels full or so? Steer or horse or
other compost? I suppose any compost would be useful. Especially the fact
that a 55 gallon drum covers 1000 feet that's a bunch, how often, etc. ?
Ed
---------[ Received Mail Content ]----------
Subject : Re: [Livingontheland] compost tea
Date : Sat, 23 Jan 2010 13:50:38 -0800 (PST)
From : Bobby G <bobbyg53211@yahoo.com>
To : livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
--- On Thu, 1/21/10, livingontheland-request@lists.ibiblio.org
re: Compost tea
For what it's worth, I do use the compost tea. It's oxygenated the entire
time by virtue of being circulated through a cheap sump-pump and back into
the 55-gallon barrel. There's so many bubbles in there, I don't know what
else you could do to aerate it.
The compost is held in a burlap bag inside the 55 gallon drum. Otherwise,
you plug up the sump pump. I suppose you could use what they call a "trash
pump" for dirty sump water, but I just used a conventional pump.
Once you're done aerating it (some ppl recommend 24 full hours, but I just
do it for half a day) then you can apply at a rate of 55 gallons does
about 1,000 row feet MOL. Use a regular garden hose fitting, brass.
I had good results on everything I applied the tea on.
Just my 2 cents.
Bobby G
Central Wisc. USA
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