Compost tea??

[Yomolove]

And I listened to someone say that this is compost tea.... Is this correct::confused:

Compost tea is not the liquid at the bottom of your worm bin. It is actively brewed with specialized equipment to extract and grow beneficial microbes from the compost itself. Beware of companies selling worm bins with a spigot on the bottom that they claim dispenses "compost tea." The foul-smelling liquid is called leachate, and it is not suitable or recommended as a foliar spray.

For more information see this fact sheet on compost tea published by the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service.

[ecogirl]

I looked at this site (http://www.beginner-gardening.com/compost-tea.html) and it actually amazed me that you can actually make compost tea?! I suppose it would taste foul!
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ecogirl
www.ecogirleco.blogspot.com

[Sinfonian]

Sure, compost tea is a process of brewing and aerating water and compost, but if you have runnoff from your worm bin, that would be good for your garden too.

When I saw the compost tea videos, I decided it was too much effort. Just add compost and water to your garden.

[plantoneonme]

Compst tea doesn't have to be difficult to make. I take a large piece of burlap and put a good size shovel load of compost into the center. Gather up the sides and tie with a piece of twine. Soak in a 5 gallon bucket of water at least overnight or even a couple days. Remove the burlap and use the tea to water plants. The leftover compost goes back into the pile or into a hole dug in the garden. I am planning on doing this on a larger scale in my water barrels next year. Kim

[shebear]

Have you ever noticed the people who make things hard are trying to sell you something?

I prefer the KISS method when it comes to gardening. The most important thing to improve a garden is sweat. Preferably the garden owner's sweat.

Just put the compost in the garden and water......no need to spend time mixing them. I'm not a bartender.

[Yomolove]

Compst tea doesn't have to be difficult to make. I take a large piece of burlap and put a good size shovel load of compost into the center. Gather up the sides and tie with a piece of twine. Soak in a 5 gallon bucket of water at least overnight or even a couple days. Remove the burlap and use the tea to water plants. The leftover compost goes back into the pile or into a hole dug in the garden. I am planning on doing this on a larger scale in my water barrels next year. Kim Kim that is a great idea to use in the water barrels... I am with you.

[Yomolove]

Have you ever noticed the people who make things hard are trying to sell you something?

I prefer the KISS method when it comes to gardening. The most important thing to improve a garden is sweat. Preferably the garden owner's sweat.

Just put the compost in the garden and water......no need to spend time mixing them. I'm not a bartender.Lol Shebear... That is true.... I did notice that when I put my homemade compost in the eggplants last year... and watered them pretty good... They just bounced back up QUICK... and I do work up a sweat... cant wait to get started... I cannot spend much this year but I will still have an amazing garden...

P.S. And thank you to everyone who sent me some seeds. :)

[Computer Cowboy]

I dump five gallons of finished compost and ten gallons of water into a plastic tub, stir it thoroughly, and let it steep for three days, stirring every morning and evening. Then I let it settle for one full day, and strain the liquid through a big cheescloth-filled funnel into one gallon plastic water bottles.

I make two batches. For nonedible plants, it's now done and ready for use. For the vegetable gardens, I like to add the additional step of pasteurizing it at 160% for twenty minutes (probably unneccesary, but we use a fair amount of animal manures in our compost, and I've got this unfounded idea that pasteurization might mitigate against any lingering ecoli worries).

The final product looks like coffee and smells exactly like clean, concentrated earth. If there's any unpleasant smell at all, I tend to feel that something may have gone wrong, with possibly unwanted biological activity of some sort, and chuck that batch back on the compost pile.

To use, i just fill up a hose mounted spray bottle set to max concentration and soak everything down. It's amazing how many problems this stuff seems to solve.

[patriciathorney]

Great! Glad i joined this thread. I got informed. :)