Lets Talk about Compost Tea

This is a great time to think about compost tea. My husband and I have used this a few times but did not aerate the water. Here is some information that may help to make great compost tea with or without leaves. If you are using a compost tumbler you will find that you have drippings from the composting process, this is tea. This can really give your garden a jump.
Ok, there are two types of compost tea, aerobic (one made with oxygen) and anaerobic (one made without oxygen). Let’s look at aerobics today. Simple equipment for simple tea: Take a 5-gallon bucket – put an aquarium pump beside it and run a plastic hose into the bottom of the pail. You can use a brick or large stone to hold the hose down. Do not use an aquarium stone to break up the air bubbles into tiny bubbles, you want big powerful bubbles. Besides they will plug up quickly with algae and other bacteria. Add Water to the pail (if your using chlorinated water, let this sit 24hrs to get rid of the chlorine). Start your filter, now we are ready to add our compost. We used a stocking but you can use a porous bag. Fill your bag or stocking with one shovel full of compost or leaves and place it into the pail. Let the mix bubble for 12 to 24hrs.and then apply immediately. We have added fish emulsions to our mix in the past.
Now this is a recipe I found that may help you out.
* One small shovel of compost (about 3 big handfuls)
* 2 tablespoons of molasses because molasses contains several different kinds of sugar
* 2 tablespoons of seaweed emulsions or fish emulsions for micronutrients
* 1 teaspoon of citric acid for the bacteria (you can toss a couple of 500mg. vitamin c tablets or several tablespoons of lemon juice)
I hope this has been helpful. If you have a topic or questions you wish to discuss, please feel free to contact me.