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How to Build a Compost Tea Brewer and Brew Tea

February 3, 2016

Compost Tea Brewing

How to Build a Compost Tea Brewer and Brew Tea

I had a free 55 gallon barrel that I decided to turn into a compost tea brewer. Compost tea is a great way to magnify your compost by breeding the beneficial microorganisms and spraying them on your plants. Plants sprayed with high quality compost tea will be healthier, less affected by pests, and produce better fruits and vegetables.

Tools Needed

  • 1.25 inch hole saw bit and drill
  • Skil saw with wood blade
  • Pipe wrench

55 Gallon Barrel

55 Gallon Barrel

Materials Needed

  • 55 gallon poly barrel
  • 1.25 inch brass bulkhead fitting
  • .75 inch brass hose bib
  • 1268 GPH Pump
  • Tea Lab Aeration Hose
  • Thread seal tape
  • Tea Lab mesh bag

Hole Saw Bit, Spigot, Bulkhead Fitting

Hole Saw Bit, Spigot, Bulkhead Fitting

  1. The first thing I did was cut the entire top off the barrel. I used a skil saw with a wood blade on it. This may not be the best way to do it, but it worked. It did make tons of plastic shavings to clean up, so do this on concrete. Once the top was cut off, I could flip it over, and it made a perfect cover for the barrel.

Top cut off barrel

Top cut off barrel

  1. Next, I drilled a 1.25 inch hole near the bottom of the barrel. I used a 1.25 inch hole saw drill bit.

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6 Useful Ends for Spent Tea and Coffee

October 10, 2015

Coffee in the Garden (Courtesy of Montgomery Cty Division)

6 Useful Ends for Spent Tea and Coffee

Coffee is just divine. I’ve woken up other ways and have even taken to drinking a glass of water first thing every morning, before coffee happens, but nothing makes the world feel so right as the sun coming up over a steaming mug, even in—especially in—the muggy climates of Central America, where I spend most of my time.

My wife, on the other hand, comes from proper British roots and often fancies a cup of tea as opposed to the more jolting Guatemalan roast. So, for her, it’s tea that makes the day, and in nearly a decade of living abroad, it’s one of only two things—the other being Marmite—that she requests when family visits from the Isles.

Without a doubt, this love of tea and coffee is nothing exclusive to us, and so it feels fairly safe to assume there are a lot of old tea bags and spent coffee grounds making the rounds out there. Thus, many of us permie-, enviro- types could be making good use of our beverage leftovers, cycling our garbage into a advantageous resource

Here are some of the things we do, and some of the things in store for the future.

1. COMPOST:

The obvious destination for anything organic is the compost bin. Coffee is a powerful nitrogen element to compost heaps, and despite popular belief, it isn’t nearly as acidic as people think. The acid found in roasted coffee is water-soluble so that, by the time the coffee has been brewed, the grounds have a nearly neutral pH-balance. Coffee is also thought to attract worms. Tea is respected for its antifungal qualities, as well as pest repelling, and more importantly, it attracts good bacteria and speeds up the decomposition process. In fact, the old bags can be brewed together in a pitcher one last time to be poured onto the heap.

Compost at Capacity (Courtesy of Alan Levine)
Compost at Capacity (Courtesy of Alan Levine)

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Olduvai IV: Courage
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Olduvai II: Exodus
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