how to make compost tea, It's About Thyme

IN CELEBRATION OF OUR FAVORITE HERB - THYME....

from The Observer, by Nigel Slater. Includes a recipe for roast
tomatoes, thyme, garlic and goat cheese: "Anyone who leafs through
my recipes will see that thyme is a favourite pot herb – it adds deep
notes of summer warmth and a faint but pleasing bitterness.... thyme

______________________________________________________

NEW SHIPMENTS THIS WEEK:

Hanging baskets: 10" to 12" pots: moss rose, verbena, bougain-

villea. Add an explosion of color to your porch with these beautiful

baskets. Tomatoes and peppers - huge selection, including the
infamous ghost peppers, the hottest pepper known to man! Also

lots of new cacti and succulents to choose from.

WE HAVE OBTAINED LIMITED QUANTITIES OF THIS RARE
AND BEAUTIFUL TEXAS WILD OLIVE (Cordia boissieri) 3 gallon
trees for $39.99.This is one of the prettiest of the flowering trees -
(known also as Mexican Olive). White, trumpet-shaped flowers appear
through spring and summer months. While this tree is sensitive to the cold,
plenty around town have made it through recent winters. (Look for a fine
specimen growing in the shade at our nursery near the main road, and in
the sun on Cesar Chavez in front of Big Red Sun.) Chris says you can

plant your Texas wild olives now "in a well-drained situation. Keep up
with the watering every day, and after 2 - 3 weeeks it'll catch on."

Click here for more info: wild olive

______________________________________________________

George Altgelt from Geo Growers digs into some of his favorite subjects:

soil, compost and mulch. Also a visit to the Thompson's 1920s home and
garden. http://www.youtube.com/user/KLRU or tune in to KLRU

Saturday at noon and 4 p.m. Sunday: 8 a.m.

______________________________________________________

FISH THEFT AT ZILKER: so sad to read this week of the theft of 13
Japanese koi carp from the Zilker Botanical Gardens - including two
favorites Ralph and Oprah - each 3 foot long. : koi thieves

tinyfarmblog.com/tag/compost-tea/

by Chris Winslow

With the summer heat squarely upon us, this is the time to give a tall
glass of iced tea to gardeners... and a generous helping of compost tea
to plants.

This tea contains millions of beneficial organisms, and plants love it. All
you have to do is fill an old pillowcase with some compost and a few
other ingredients, use some simple aquarium pumps to keep everything
moving… and let it steep overnight.

Compost tea is truly amazing. It’s highly nutritious, adding beneficial
bacteria and micorrhizal fungi to the soils. It has fungicidal properties as
well. These beneficial bacteria and micorrhizal fungi increase the surface
absorbing area of roots. This, in turn, increases a plant’s ability to absorb
nutrients.

The recipe we use at my nursery is on a fairly large scale. It yields 55
gallons of tea, which has to be used almost immediately. If this seems like
it’s too much, you can halve the ingredients, or get your neighbors and
community garden friends involved. Ingredients:

1. A barrel to hold water. We use a 55 gallon rain barrel.

2. Water. Rainwater would be the best. If you have chlorinated water, let
it sit for a day or two before starting your project.

3. A giant tea bag, such as an old pillowcase, a tea towel, or a stocking.

4. Two small pumps, available in aquarium shops. One will re-circulate
the water, the other will run an air stone.

5. Compost : we use 2 or 3 pounds of store-bought earth worm castings.

6. A cup of Bio-Start by Espoma (beneficial bacteria and micorrhizal fungus).

7. Half a cup of either dry or liquid molasses to feed the beneficial bacteria.

Place the earthworm castings, molasses, Bio-Start, and the air stone into
the tea bag and secure open end with string or rubber bands. Place the tea
bag into the barrel with water and plug in the re-circulating pump and air stone.

Allow the system to run overnight. By next morning it will be ready to use.
Compost tea should be used within a day. Its shelf life can be extended for
a day or two with the addition of more molasses and continued aeration.

You now have 55 gallons of compost tea that can be sprayed on plant
foliage and drenched at the root zone and added to the garden soil. I can’t
think of anything better for the enrichment of your garden and stress relief
during the hot summer days. Now where’s my glass of iced tea?

______________________________________________________