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Want a simple manure tea or compost tea recipe? This is it!
I’ve had many gardens in my years as a homesteader. My first was a single aloe plant in the window of my apartment kitchen. Then I had a single raised bed which seemed like a huge thing (and it totally was!).
After that, I had 4 raised beds. Now I have an in-ground garden that is growing every year.
I use a permaculture system of building quality soil now (more on that in a future post), but even with the best system for building soil (rotational gardening anyone?), you may still need to feed your plants.
If I don’t get a chance to add manure or compost to the garden in the spring I can still add a lot of nutrients in other ways:
Organic fertilizer–this organic fertilizer is safe for organic gardens and works great in a pinch, but I always prefer a more sustainable/permaculture approach if possible.
Manure Tea or compost tea – Since I have access to free cow manure and compost that I make at hom, I prefer to make this manure tea recipe over buying fertilizer (though I’ve done both).
Manure tea is so easy to make. You can use this same technique for compost tea too.
Why Manure Tea or Compost Tea?
Some homesteaders go to great lengths to understand their soil’s unique needs and deficiencies. While I think this is important and necessary sometimes (and definitely helps boost fertility in the soil!), it’s not always possible.
Sometimes you’re running late in the season getting plants in the ground and don’t have time for soil tests. Other times you just don’t want to have one more thing to do!
But if the garden is floundering (why is nothing growing!?) manure tea (or compost tea) is a quick fix.
What’s great about this manure tea or compost tea recipe is that it can be added at almost any time throughout the year and it’s almost always free (or cheap) to make.
If you follow my tips in this post on crop rotation, you’ll be in a great place to feed the plants that need feeding.
Manure Tea or Compost Tea Recipe
Making manure tea or compost tea is really easy and (perhaps) a great chore for kids!
Supplies
a bucket (or more) with a lid
an old pillowcase or another fabric you don’t mind getting manure on
cured cow manure (or another animal but cow is best) or compost
clean water
How to Make Manure Tea or Compost Tea
Line the bucket with the pillowcase and fill with cow manure or compost. 1/3 manure or compost to 2/3 water is a good ratio.
Then fill the bucket the rest of the way with clean water.Cover and let steep for a week.
When it’s done steeping, take the pillowcase out of the bucket and squeeze the tea out.
If you want to add some extra magnesium you canadd Epsom salt to the tea before using it.
How to Use This Manure Tea or Compost Tea Recipe
Dilute your tea until it looks like weak iced tea before watering plants. You don’t want to burn the roots with a mixture that’s too concentrated. The tea in this picture is undiluted.
We(actually Matt, since I was taking pictures) used an old jar to scoop the tea and pour it onto thegarden. It worked fine sinceI have a relatively small garden. You could also use a watering can, hose with a sprayer, or irrigation system.
Apply tea earlier in the growing season to give the plants a boost. Too much nitrogen later in a plant’s life (around flowering) could mean beautiful plants but fewer flowers and fruit. That doesn’t mean that you can’t feed them, just be cautious about overfeeding.
How to Make Organic Fertilizer: Storing Your Tea
Because cow manure (or any manure for that matter) can contain pathogens it’s best not to store manure tea. But if you do want to store it make sure it’s covered and kept in a cool place. If you can’t use it up in a few days to a week pitch it into the compost pile. Compost tea is less likely to contain pathogens but still can. I stay on the safe side and use it within a week.
Do You Know How to Make Organic Fertilizer? How did you do it?
About Mindy
Mindy Wood is the founder of Our Inspired Roots, the place to go for inspiration and instruction on growing food & medicine in a way that is healthy for people and the planet.
Compost tea: Compost tea is a great way to fertilize plants naturally. To make compost tea, fill a container about two-thirds full with compost and add water.Let the mixture steep for a few days, stirring occasionally, and then strain out the solids. The resulting liquid can be used to fertilize plants.
Put the manure in the bucket, then fill with water and mix vigorously.Allow it to sit covered for three days, stirring once each day. This allows time for nutrients to infuse the water and all the solids to separate. The result is a liquid enriched with all but the organic matter from the manure.
Preparation. Deposit a layer of soil and brown organic waste in the bottom of 10 to 15 centimeters. Place the organic waste in layers, start with the green waste, forming a layer of 3 to 5 inches. Continue with the next layer of sawdust or dried leaves (brown residues) of 3 to 5 inches.
Undiluted compost tea may burn plant roots, especially if it has a high nitrogen content. To avoid this, dilute your brew before use. How much you want to dilute your tea is up to you, but ratios between 1:4 (1 part compost tea to 4 parts water) and 1:10 are common.
Molasses can be added to the compost tea to encourage the growth of beneficial bacteria. Epsom salts can be added to provide additional magnesium, especially good for flowering plants. Kelp or alfalfa meal can be added to provide a rich assortment of micro-nutrients.
Nitrogen fertilizer is used to promote leaf and stem growth in tea plants, while phosphate fertilizer aids in root development and enhances flowering and fruiting. Potash fertilizer helps improve the overall quality of tea leaves and enhances their flavor.
Green materials include kitchen scraps, coffee grounds, animal manures (not from dogs or cats), and fresh plant and grass trimmings. These items add nitrogen. For best results, start building your compost pile by mixing three parts brown materials with one part green material.
Nutrients—As mentioned above, the ideal carbon-to-nitrogen ratio for your manure mixture during composting is 30:1. Horse manure in its raw state contains the ideal amount of nitrogen, while stall bedding materials such as straw, pine needles, hay grass, and wood chippings are providing carbon.
To make easy organic fertilizers from manure, add a handful of aged manure into a bucket of water and allow it to mix and infuse for a day or so. Giving it a good stir every now and then. This water will then be ready to feed your plants.
Now, let it sit for about 24 hours. Too much longer than that and bad bacteria will start to take over. In fact, if it starts to stink then you've gone too far and it needs to be thrown out. Once you're ready to use it, your tea needs to be used within four hours so that the active microorganisms won't start to die.
You can never use too much compost tea and home brews will be weak. The best time to spray compost tea is once the weather starts to warm in the spring. If it is too cold the microbes will be inactive. Overcast days are much better for applications than sunny days.
Bacterial Teas: Brew for 12 - 24 hours to encourage bacterial biomass. Fungi/ Humus Teas: brew for 36 - 48 to encourage a fungal biomass. After 48 hours compost tea begins to express protozoa dominance, which mainly feed on bacteria.
Coffee grounds are fine for compost. They are a high carbon source, or a “brown,” and should be mixed with “green” material to compost well. Coffee grounds are acidic.
This liquid is used at transplant time and again every three weeks or so. Fresh, not aged, manure from horses, sheep or cows is "soaked" in water at the rate of one part manure to 10 parts water for several days to one week.
Compost tea can be kept for up to four to six days in a container that is airtight and does not let light in. If you want to keep it for a long time, you will need to aerate it regularly.
How long does it take to brew compost tea? It only takes about 24-36 hours to make either kind of compost tea noted above. Any longer than that and your concoction will be in danger of collecting some not-so-friendly bacteria like E. coli and salmonella.
We need to apply the very lively compost tea while all of these aerobic microorganisms are thriving. If you wait too long, the microbes will consume all of the oxygen and the brew will go anaerobic. Once the brew is complete, the teas needs to be applied to plants and soils within 24-48 hours to be of the most benefit.
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