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Fungal Compost Tea

Powdered Kelp 195 grams
Well Finished Compost - 37 liters
Protein Crumblies - 1 liter
Earth Magic - 1 liter

Mix together in 265 liter stock tank mostly full of tap water that has sat out for 24 hours to outgas chlorine and fluorine, etc. Aerate for 24 hours and water fruit trees with it.

This is an adaptation of the recipe from Dr. Elaine Ingham's The Compost Tea Brewing Manual 5th Ed., page 57 k.a. Fungal Tea. I didn't have yucca saponins, fish hydrolysate, nor humic acids, so skipped them. Instead I've added the Soil Secrets products, Protein Crumblies and Earth Magic.

Tomorrow when I spread the tea, I'll add more of the Earth Magic to the soil around the feeder roots of the fruit trees, as a mycorrhizal inoculum. In this case the plan is to use the tea primarily on the cherry, apple and pear in the back yard, and the apricot in the front yard.

I am very concerned after reading this letter.

As many of you know I have become an enthusiastic seed saver, and frequenter of seed exchanges. I feel that gardening and saving seeds have numerous benefits, including better nutrition, exercise, meditation, social benefits and more. After reading this letter I'm concerned about supporting the Seed Savers Exchange, as they may no longer have the same values that I have. I am deeply concerned regarding the patenting of genetic material, which in my opinion should be part of the world's common wealth, and not owned by a corporate entity, and hence made unavailable to people generally. Steps taken by Monsanto and others to prevent the saving of seed, by all farmers, rich or poor is despicable. I've been enthusiastic about the seed preservation happening at Svalbard. And yet now I read that it's possible that this may just become a resource for income from the patenting of genetic material by the likes of Monsanto.

Argh!

WAVE provides information about vaccines.

This page lists vaccine ingredients.

I came across this study, and clever visualization of the data from an alternative medicine forum.

I found it fascinating, not just in the information it provides, but in the creative way that the data is presented, that is visually.

In my own pursuit of understanding I find I am compelled and intrigued by new, clever, and effective ways in which information is presented. And I am trying to find ways myself to use new and effective techniques in my own communication.

Enjoy

By way of keeping up with my computational needs, and the Windows and Mac OS...

I just ordered a Mac Mini (late 2009 Penryn, actually a shiny new one) to replace the loud, cased modded, and accelerated G4 Quick Silver. It's fanless, consequently quiter, and much faster than the old workhorse. I'll prolly try to sell the Quick Silver so it keeps on working. It'll be nice to not have that white noise generator in the house, tho' it's been enormously handy over the years.

And for my new microcurrent electrotherapy work I wanted a laptop, since it's programmed from a computer - and a Windows box no less. So I've not actually had much relationship with Windows since, well, since DOS. Learning curves a plenty ahead for the new year. So I ordered a refurbed MacBook from Techrestore.com. I'll run the Parallels Desktop emulator and Windows XP.

In a little cafe on Grand and Bellevue across from Merrit lake in Oakland. I'll go do qi gong in the park while waiting for Melanie. Everyone seems chill, and the weather is fine

Drawing from The Compost Tea Brewing Manual 5th ed. by Dr. Elaine Ingham I've just produced and distributed my first batch of active aerobic balanced bacterial/ fungal compost tea.

The recipe would be something like this:

In a plastic trash can mix:
3 X 5 gallon buckets of well finished compost
1 X 1/2 full 5 gallon bucket of comfrey / horse manure tea
16 oz Organic Molasses
8 oz approx. kelp, atlantic, pwd that has been waiting for this moment for like years
3 X 5 gallon buckets of (mosquito-y) water that has sat in the green house, as thermal mass, for months

Start adding water to fill, and realize that the plastic trash can has a small leak near the bottom.

Transfer all ingredients to the 70 gallon stock tank you just happen to have sitting around, after emptying it. Get it set up in the 'perfect place' by the west wall of the house near the electrical outlet. Plug in and hang off the edge of the stock tank the aquarium pump you finally got around to buying last week. Fill stock tank to about 50 gallons with rainwater. Let it work about 24 hours while stirring it with a shovel 3-4 times just to keep any anaerobes on the run.

Bucket out, diluting about 50% to the front apricot, goji berry, and some of the roses the first night.

Then add water to the remains and continue to aerate for another 12 hours.

Bucket out to the North hops, and Cherry tree.

That should do wonders for the soil biodiversity!

If you were already planning on going to the Telluride Mushroom Festival (for the first time this year), and then got an invitation to give a talk on brewing beer, which came with a place to stay and a free pass for the festival, then I can say, from personal experience you would be pretty excited about the possibilities. If you later found out that Dr. Christian Ratsch had previously also done a talk on beer at the Mushroom Festival, well if you were me, you'd be positively effervescent!

So to ground this and get my ass in gear as far as putting together a presentation I'm putting out the question, dear readers, what topics/concepts in zymurgy would interest you most? This is brainstorming, so all suggestions will be considered.

How to brew? - a basic primer

History of ethanol use in ancient cultures for sacred ceremony? Including the simultaneous arising of baking and brewing in ancient Sumeria.

A smidgen of basic fermentation chemistry, and the link between fungi and yeasts.

A bit about the German Beer Law, and all the other things, not included in that law, added to beer for various flavorings and effects.

Bring books and possibly equipment (or pictures of equipment) for the show and tell part.

A list of links for folks to look for further information.

The concept of the Soil Food Web is one that fascinates me. Here are three major books on the topic that look very interesting.

Teaming with Microbes is written for more of a lay audience.

Soil Biology Primer seems an intermediate text.

And The Compost Tea Brewing Manual makes itself look a bit more in depth and technical.

I think I'm answering my own question here before even asking it. I'll get more out of the more technical text.

Anyway for folks interested in re-vivifying the Earth these books should all have something to offer