Organic Garden "Tea'

ORGANIC &  COMPOST 'TEAS'

 

Most gardeners know the advantages of adding compost to the soil when planting. We mix the ingredients, heat up, turn and tend the pile until we are rewarded with the beautiful rich compost, ‘garden gold’.

 

 

At this time of year we can still take advantage of this valuable amendment by making a bucket of ‘compost tea’. This can be as simple as soaking a few handfuls of compost in a bucket of water for a few days and then using it to fertilize your plants. Stir the tea once a day to blend. Teas are organic so they are healthy for the plants, the soil, and most importantly you, though we shouldn't drink it.

 

 Compost tea can be strained and sprayed onto your plants. This is a practice used by many organic gardeners.

Dried cow manure can also be used to make ‘manure tea’.  Before commercial fertilizers, it was common for New Jersey gardeners to use this on tomatoes. When I make this tea, I put a handful of the dried cow manure in an old sock  knotted at the end. When the tea is done, I toss the sock away and manure tea is ready to use. Feed this into the soil and avoid splashing it on the leaves to prevent burning.

When applying any fertilizer, lightly soak the ground first. This will avoid run off and permit the fertilizer to easily move deep in the soil to the root system of your plants.

 

To prevent a breeding ground for mosquitoes brew these teas for only a few days and avoid letting them stand for very long. Once I got too busy so I had to knock over the bucket.  Better than hosting a mosquito breeding ground. If you can see mosquito 'swimmers' on top.....use it or lose it.*

For gardeners with little time or space to blend your own teas 'Liquid Seaweed' is an alterative organic you can easily purchase in most garden centers. This is sold commercially as a liquid concentrate which is then diluted in your water bucket. You can also put this in a spray bottle to use on the leaves. 

*Remember to clean your bird bath twice a week to avoid mosquitos from breeding in it.

Happy Gardening,
James