Newsletter for March 2009

Organic Tea Recipes

Bacteria Dominant – Bacteria/Fungi Mix – Fungi Dominant

Organic tea mixes are a widely underutilized technique in true living organics, but when well made, and used correctly, they are like steroids for your plants. A teaspoon of normal compost contains over one billion bacteria and a fifteen-foot strand of fungus. In a well-made tea, a teaspoon will contain over four billon bacteria and a sixty-foot strand of fungi. Teas are also used effectively as a topical spray as they "muscle out" the "bad microbes".

Measurements are for a one-gallon tea bubbler. Brew tea with an air stone in a one-gallon container for 24 to 48 hours. Gentle aeration is the key. You want to gently coax the micro-life from the vermicompost, not bruise or beat them to death. Strain thru a nylon (for topical use) or standard strainer for normal watering. Cut 50/50 with R/O water (Reverse Osmosis water) or dechlorinated water.

Fungi dominant tea mix should be mixed together and kept very wet for 3 to 7 days prior to brewing. Store high in room, near the ceiling, in the dark with a heating bad underneath on low. After 3 days it will be visibly blooming with fungus, "Santa's Beard". Put this in your tea bubbler and brew in place of regular compost.

Bacteria Dominant (vegetative stage)

• 1 gallon of water (R/O or dechlorinated)
• 1 teaspoon unsulfered black strap molasses
• 1 teaspoon liquid Alaskan fish fertilizer
• 1 cup earthworm castings (vermicompost) (provides fungus, enzymes, protozoa, nematodes, humates, bacteria, trace elements, and secondary and primary nutrients)
• 1 teaspoon FoxFarm Peace of Mind All Purpose Organic Fertilizer (5-5-5) (food for micro-life that balances the pH to about 6.5 to 7.2)

Bacteria/Fungus Mix (beginning of fruit or flower set)

• 1 teaspoon unsulfured black strap molasses
• 1 teaspoon FoxFarm Peace of Mind All Purpose Organic Fertilizer
• 1 teaspoon High-Phosphorous Bat Guano (Indonesian)
• 1 cup earthworm castings (vermicompost)
• 1 teaspoon maxi-crop liquid kelp/seaweed (fungus favorite!)(Key ingredient that produces a good ratio of happy fungus. Blooming with trace elements, some nitrogen, some potassium)
• ¼ teaspoon micronized soft rock phosphate (i.e. Rare Earth ™) (Fungus attach to rock phosphate and grow on it. Also, prime source for phosphorus, magnesium, and sulfur)

Fungus Dominant (half-way thru fruit or flower set)

• ½ cup earthworm castings (vermicompost)
• ½ cup mushroom compost (this is fungus waiting to happen! A rich source of fungal spores, and dense organic matter that fungi love to eat)
• 2 tablespoons powdered, 100% natural rolled oats (Fungi love this nutrient and, like guano, deliver it directly to the plants roots)
• 2 teaspoons Kelp meal (use kelp meal for several reasons: organic matter fungi attach to, primary food source for fungi, rich with trace elements, growth hormones and potassium)
• ¼ teaspoon micronized soft rock phosphate

The earthworm castings, oatmeal, mushroom compost and kelp meal are first mixed together and made very wet. After fungus has grown on this blend, place it in tea bubbler for 24 hours with some additional liquid (R/O water – maxi-crop) and the micronized soft rock phosphate.