About
About Me
I run a smallholding in Lincolnshire, using no chemicals. I first came across references to Compost Tea whilst doing some research into Soil Health. I spent three months researching Compost Tea, including reading all of the entries on the Compost_tea forum on Yahoo, over 20,000 posts. There is a link to the forum on the Blogroll. I also tried to find Compost Tea brewers for sale here in the UK. I could only find two. Both came highly recommended, but both were way too expensive for me. At about £140 for a 25 litre machine, I thought that I could do better, so I did. Using the information from the internet, “The Compost tea manual” by Dr Elaine Ingham, and some interesting ideas from areas like compressed air technology, food processing, and Koi carp keeping, I made my own brewers.
I tested the brewers in 2008, here, and a former chairman of the Lincolnshire Organic Gardeners Organisation (LOGO), tested the tea on his plot. Both sets of tests convinced me that the brewers were working well, and that the ingredient recipes were safe to use. The brewers are functional, not pretty. A bit like me.
I now use Compost tea to innoculate seeds, as a drench in pots, trays and directly onto the soil, I spray it onto the foliage of my plants, and water them with it. I no longer use any bought in feeds, and have no need of fungicides. My vegetables are healthier, and taste better.
I have held Compost Tea Workshops for The Lincolnshire Smallholding and Self-Sufficiency Club (LSSSC), and students on a Permaculture Design Course, and am about to hold one for LOGO.
About this Blog
This blog is designed to serve two purposes. Firstly, to tell people about the benefits of compost tea, and point them to where they can find information about it for themselves. Secondly, for those who don’t want to spend time doing thier own research, we will be making Brewer kits, ingredients, and parts available later this Spring (2009).
Declaration
At Bugbrewer we will be selling compost tea related products. We will attempt to keep the commercial parts of the Blog separate from the rest of the content, for those who have no wish to purchase materials from us.
