Aerated Compost Tea

 I am harvesting a few cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and lots of greens from the garden, which is good.  we have rain just about every day so I dont have to remember to water!

I made up a few flower posies and bags of greens to share with friends, I so love to share what I have in the garden.


Most of my gardening endeavors start with amending the soil. Even though I have a small garden I compost as much as possible, in as many ways as possible. My tumbling compost bin is my favourite, since everything is contained and vermin cannot get in, and also tumbling keeps everything nicely mixed. Recently I heard about aerated compost tea. http://www.carryoncomposting.com/441149730

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is aerated-compost-tea.jpg

I filled a sand bag with compost and tied the top closed, then placed it into a plastic storage bin. This was the biggest container that I had handy, and it made a fair amount of liquid. I topped the plastic container with water that had been standing for a couple of hours to make sure any chlorine evaporated, since I only have town water. I then added about a half a cup of molasses, as this adds food for the microbes.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is molasses.jpg

Then I inserted a little aquarium pump, and left it running. It is supposed to run continuously for about 24 hours. but the pump was getting hot, so I turned it off over night.

After two days I picked up the (heavy) bag and dumped that out into the standing compost bin. Then I could scoop out the lovely liquid with the watering can and water my veggies. It didn't smell bad at all - the molasses scent was still quite strong. I am so happy with the way my veggie garden is performing so figured it deserved a reward.

Has anyone else activated their compost tea?

Comments

  1. KathySat Jul 03, 11:07:00 AM

    Your veggies look so great and the pretty flowers. Have a good week. Kathy

    ReplyDelete
  2. KathySat Jul 03, 12:50:00 PM

    Check out this recipe for cauliflower pizza crust. She also has a youtube channel with amazing videos and recipes. https://downshiftology.com/recipes/cauliflower-pizza-crust/

    ReplyDelete
  3. SamiSun Jul 04, 04:53:00 PM

    Love the flower posies, so cute :)
    Never aerated the compost tea, just add a bit to a can of water to water the vegetables.

    ReplyDelete
  4. africanaussieMon Jul 05, 08:16:00 AM

    Oh that is a much simpler idea!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

I love interacting with all my readers, thank you for your comments. Have a great day!

Popular posts from this blog

Up-cycling fabrics

Image
   In our hot and humid climate, jeans are not big movers in our op shop.  We had a $1 a pair sale rack, and still have full racks..... so I decided to make up a few different bags to see if we can somehow save these items from landfill.  Re-fashioning those items into something useful.  I made a few variations just to try out the market and sold this one on the first day they were put out! Each one is individual, depending on what fabric I have available. I tend to lay things out, and then just play around a bit.   Here I am laying out all the options before I start sewing.  I have joined a facebook group which is so inspirational and supportive.      Up-Cycled Cloth Collective | Facebook So often, it is just a case of seeing what is there, and then using it in the best way possible.  I was excited to find this tote bag, which was perfect as the lining of a bag for a teenager. this was also snapped up quickly. The bags were hu...
Read more

I have something to tell you.....

Image
Come on in to my garden.... I have something to tell you  Sit down in the comfy chair  for a little while, and listen to the tinkling of the wind chimes - are you relaxed? Good!  Remember how I entered that garden competition, and the judges came, and they wandered down my paths, taking photos?  Yes! I won runner up! a Fifty dollar gift card ........ from a real nursery, not the big box store that I normally shop at.  Oh gosh, how exciting.... I wonder what I will buy? Thank you Cairns Regional Council!
Read more

Garden share collective June 2014

Image
Once again another month has rolled by and it is time to link up with  Lizzie at   strayedtable  for our monthly collective where we share what has happened in our gardens for the last month and what we hope to be working on for the next month.  Wrapping up May and heading into June. Last month I wanted to work on: Seed tape .... I did make seed tape, and did a tutorial on the processs - you can see it  here.   It was fun, and worked well, expecially with kids. Mostly though I see a space and throw a few seeds in.  I can see myself doing it at the beginning of a planting season. Worms . .... I have been adding a little of the worm castings every time I plant something, and as a side dressing when plants seem to need a bit of a boost.  It does seem to help. Sitting .... plenty of that - I like the new (original) location of the swing where we have a long view of the garden. - veggie garden is just around that corner.... Eat veggies ...
Read more