Make your own compost tea!

Come on, it's easy!!

Here's my recipe for vermicompost tea:  http://www.wormmainea.com/Compost_tea.pdf

Tip of my hat to my collaborator Bruce Deuly from Texas of Deuly's Own Organics for helping me scale the recipe down to 5 gallon bucket size.

You can substitute any compost for my vermicompost.

By the way, I now routinely add 1T Neptune's Harvest and/or 1-2T seaweed (dried & pulverized by putting in a bag and running over with my car) from Scarborough beach along with unsulfured molasses or barley malt syrup. 

More information on making and using compost tea or vermicompost tea can be found here:

 http://wormmainea.blogspot.com/2008/06/seasonality-of-worm-compost-tea.html

http://wormmainea.blogspot.com/2009/04/effect-of-worm-compost-tea-on-amaryllis.html

https://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/summaries/summary.php?pub=125

All the supplies you need for making tea can be found in my Amazon store. Every view and purchase made supports WormMainea. Thank you!

Cheers,

Mark

Soil Testing: results and interpretation

The image below shows the results of my spring 2012 soil test for my lawn areas. This was the $33 test from University of Maine Cooperative Extension. While the test may seem a bit expensive, the information provided is well worth the price.

2012 Soil Test Results

Previous years' tests had suggested I needed to add more compost (hence my earlier blog showing overspreading compost), and this test shows that I can still use a bit more compost. 


My calcium and pH levels are shown as above optimal, but the levels shown better suit my grass strain (see photo below). I achieved these higher levels through the addition of gypsum (gypsum raises pH, makes soil nitrogen more available, and prevents compaction and salt damage) over a four-year period (I used approximately 80 pounds per year on my lawn area). I will have a blog later this month devoted entirely to gypsum.

Photo of lawn-- look at that beautiful clover!

Interpretation of Soil Test Results


Macronutrients (N-P-K)
 These are all in the reasonable range. Some may say that my nitrogen level is low. I would not argue that the reading is low, but I expected as much. This is before any work on my lawn and my addition of compost and vermicompost tea will get the microorganisms fired up to start making nitrogen available. Also, I have clover in my lawn to pull nitrogen out of the air and fix it in the soil. I will not “fertilize” my lawn with nitrogen based fertilizer because it is not really needed. If you read the fine print, I would use 2 pounds of nitrogen per 1000 square feet, but only ½ that in late August (because I mulch my clippings) and because of organic program I would use only ½ of that. That takes me to ¼ pound of nitrogen per 1000 square feet. My compost overspreading this spring should supply my needed nitrogen as well as any sulfur and potash.


Soil Life (Microorganisms)
My microbial biomass index is 44ppm, which is on a 1-100 scale. I am trying to get closer to 60ppm (optimal range). As I add more compost to the lawn (recall that I took these samples before my spring 2012 compost overspreading) the level will increase.


Micronutrients
The decrease in micronutrient availability to plants as pH increases is not a great concern to me because it is a balancing act (given my increased pH and additions of humus-rich compost to the yard). Also, I plan to supplement my vermicompost tea with sea weed this year to boost the level of micronutrients that are available to the grass plants.


Long View
My long-term goal is to have no external inputs to my lawn (just aeration, overseeding as needed, and vermicompost tea), so everything I do is a step in that direction. It is important to remember that small steps are the best approach. Make sure your additions are based on the recommendations in the soil test. You don’t want to overshoot—that would waste both money and time. Remember that I am mulching my lawn clippings, so there is no net loss of anything (macro or micronutrients).


Early in your organic switch, you should test your soil annually to check your additions. After that you can back off to once every three to five years-- preventive lawn maintenance. If lawn problems develop more frequent testing may be necessary. 

How well does organic lawn care work?

In an earlier blog (http://wormmainea.blogspot.com/2010/04/natural-lawn-care-preparing-and-timing.html), I described organic lawn care practices. I think it is time to revisit the lawn to see how successful organic methods are.

This was a hard Summer with lots of heat and not much rain. I watered during the drought when we didn't get rain for more than 7 days. All watering was before 8AM and no more than 1 inch of water. My lawn and underlying soil were fed with worm tea at least once monthly during the summer. I use about 7 gallons on my lawn. I did not mow during the drought (only hawkweed grew and I could pull those by hand) and raised mowing height on my Fiskars push mower during summer months to 4". The next photo shows my front lawn (approximately same angle as previous photos from April).

Same angle of yard as previous photos-- taken September 9.

Even more interesting are other areas of my lawn. Especially those abutting my neighbor who uses traditional methods-- cutting with a riding mower weekly whether it needs it or not (often mowing lower than I am), random (or so it appears) watering, professional (?) fertilization/weed control by lawn service. I will let the photos below speak for themselves.

My lawn on right, traditional on left (property line is between stake and rhododendron)

Opposite angle my lawn on left, traditional on right (property line between stake and rhododendron)

The undeniable fact is that by paying attention to the biology of your lawn plants your lawn will require less work and money and be more resilient to stress-- whether drought, weed competition, or pests.

Cheers,

Mark

Worm compost tea vs. worm bin drainage

If you're reading my blog, then you probably know that worm compost tea is great for your plants. I want to make a distinction though: worm compost tea vs. worm bin drainage.

In my mind, worm compost tea is distinctly different from the liquid that drains from some bin designs (what I call worm bin drainage).

Worm compost tea is made by separating the vermicompost from the worms and steeping the worm compost in water to make a tea. My website has complete instructions for brewing up your own worm tea: 1# of vermicompost in a 5 gallon bucket of water.

I don't mean to say that the drainage from a worm bin would be bad for plants. From what I have read it is great fertilizer; however, I'd be concerned about putting it on edible veggies because you do not know what is in it. I have also found a variety of different reports on how to use it ranging from straight (undiluted) to diluted to the color of straw. If I were to use this on salad and other greens I probably diluting it to straw color and bubbling air through it for 12-24 hours using an aquarium bubbler.

If anyone has experience using worm bin drainage, I'd love to hear how you prepare it for use.

Cheers,

Mark

Seasonality of worm compost tea

I am fascinated by making worm compost tea. When we have a rainy stretch, I make it almost every day and sprinkle it all over my yard and garden. I tend to give a little extra to my tomatoes, peppers and blueberries this time of year, hoping for big returns.

I make my tea using the same simple recipe on my website, yet at different times of the year I get very different results. Not just color, but smell. I realize the many variables that could contribute to this-- compost, temperature, the content of my rain water. I often wonder whether different batches are more or less alive and how the nutrients differ among them. If any of you have noted the variability or done any testing, let me know. I am not so much concerned as I am curious.

Also, I'm using a new bubbler this year. I switched to a sandstone bubbler instead of the foam wire. While I don't think I'll ever get the sandstone white again, I am confident the vinegar kills whatever is on it. Unlike the foam bubbler (which I wrapped around my bag) I have to tie it to my compost bag with jute because it floats. In any case, it makes lots of bubbles. The main reasons I switched were the price and concerns over foam rubber and plastic.

Cheers,

Mark