The Tea Episode
The Tea Episode
I'd like to take a minute and give you a look inside what goes on "behind-the-scenes" here at The Ranch. An important and satisfying tool is my newly expanded AACT (Actively Aerated Compost Tea) operation.
A little soap-boxing first of course
I firmly believe in the use of AACT. That being said, be careful of getting caught up in the belief that this stuff is the magic, end-all-be-all, smurf juice that gives our plants a forcefield and the ability to thrive through any and all strife!!
First and foremost, make sure your SOIL SCIENCE is spot-on. There's a pretty smart fella by the name of Tom Hill and you'll certainly hear him speak of the importance of SCIENCE in our soil, truer words cannot be uttered and I couldn't agree more that our highest priority should be on establishing balanced science in our soil before messing with the idea that our tea will fix everything....
Compost Tea, both Fungal and Bacterial Dominant, provides our plants with the ability to efficiently make use of the available SCIENCE in our soils. The tea simply complements these scientific elements. Keep that up your sleeve at all times...
Approaching Tea Brewing with the KISS philosophy is a great way to dive in and get started. Buy yourself a decent little airpump and airstones, a 55 gallon drum, some muslin cloth, maybe a venturi style re-circulating pump, and have at it! Don't be intimidated by all the big fancy words being thrown around on the boards and the elaborate recipes, just do it and HAVE FUN!! Gotta start somewhere!
Early season, I keep it very basic and add to it as I go with some stronger and more Fertilizer based ingredients...
Here's a quick tour of what I'm currently doing:
This pump is a commercial pond aerator, providing 3.6 CFM, a workhorse. The hosing is all Self-Sinking Airline, designed for pond aeration.
Diffusers: The first is a 10" Diaphragm Diffuser, providing a shower of air bubbles from the bottom of the tank, the second is a Rod Diffuser that I made. It is placed directly down the center of the Filter Bag, constantly aerating your dry mix...as illustrated in the following photos:
OK-- Real simple early season dry mix:
Kelp Meal
Vermicompost
My Biodynamic inoculated sheep compost
Fresh picked, homegrown Comfrey. Get yourself a hedge of this going somewhere that you don't mind it taking over. You can cut it back numerous times per season and use the re-growth all the while..
Alright, all you tough guys out there, do yourself a favor and use one of these. You won;t look half as cute as normal but safety first. Just because these microbes are beneficial to our soil doesn't mean they're great for our bodies....just ask my lungs that are just getting over pneumonia....
Last but not least, a high quality, cold-processed Fish Hydrosylate is added...I will also alternate using Molasses every other batch...
Here they are, bubbling away. 660 Gallons of Compost Tea, ready to be deployed tomorrow morning....
This is just one of many ways you can approach Tea Brewing folks. There is a TON of info online, do some searching and come up with your own mixes....remember it's supposed to be fun!
Now GET TO WORK!!!
The Tea Episode
I'd like to take a minute and give you a look inside what goes on "behind-the-scenes" here at The Ranch. An important and satisfying tool is my newly expanded AACT (Actively Aerated Compost Tea) operation.
A little soap-boxing first of course
I firmly believe in the use of AACT. That being said, be careful of getting caught up in the belief that this stuff is the magic, end-all-be-all, smurf juice that gives our plants a forcefield and the ability to thrive through any and all strife!! First and foremost, make sure your SOIL SCIENCE is spot-on. There's a pretty smart fella by the name of Tom Hill and you'll certainly hear him speak of the importance of SCIENCE in our soil, truer words cannot be uttered and I couldn't agree more that our highest priority should be on establishing balanced science in our soil before messing with the idea that our tea will fix everything....
Compost Tea, both Fungal and Bacterial Dominant, provides our plants with the ability to efficiently make use of the available SCIENCE in our soils. The tea simply complements these scientific elements. Keep that up your sleeve at all times...
Approaching Tea Brewing with the KISS philosophy is a great way to dive in and get started. Buy yourself a decent little airpump and airstones, a 55 gallon drum, some muslin cloth, maybe a venturi style re-circulating pump, and have at it! Don't be intimidated by all the big fancy words being thrown around on the boards and the elaborate recipes, just do it and HAVE FUN!! Gotta start somewhere!
Early season, I keep it very basic and add to it as I go with some stronger and more Fertilizer based ingredients...
Here's a quick tour of what I'm currently doing:
This pump is a commercial pond aerator, providing 3.6 CFM, a workhorse. The hosing is all Self-Sinking Airline, designed for pond aeration.
Diffusers: The first is a 10" Diaphragm Diffuser, providing a shower of air bubbles from the bottom of the tank, the second is a Rod Diffuser that I made. It is placed directly down the center of the Filter Bag, constantly aerating your dry mix...as illustrated in the following photos:
OK-- Real simple early season dry mix:
Kelp Meal
Vermicompost
My Biodynamic inoculated sheep compost
Fresh picked, homegrown Comfrey. Get yourself a hedge of this going somewhere that you don't mind it taking over. You can cut it back numerous times per season and use the re-growth all the while..
Alright, all you tough guys out there, do yourself a favor and use one of these. You won;t look half as cute as normal but safety first. Just because these microbes are beneficial to our soil doesn't mean they're great for our bodies....just ask my lungs that are just getting over pneumonia....
Last but not least, a high quality, cold-processed Fish Hydrosylate is added...I will also alternate using Molasses every other batch...
Here they are, bubbling away. 660 Gallons of Compost Tea, ready to be deployed tomorrow morning....
This is just one of many ways you can approach Tea Brewing folks. There is a TON of info online, do some searching and come up with your own mixes....remember it's supposed to be fun!
Now GET TO WORK!!!
off
