Making compost tea

A few years ago, the concept of earthworm farms took hold here in the valley. They consist of layers of 'sieves' with earthworms in them, to which you add your kitchen scraps and the earthworms transform them into a tea of earthworm poop which you can then distribute around the garden. The drawback of this system is that it can be rather easily dismantled by a baboon, who is after the vegetables inside.

My neighbour went away on holiday and I went to water her garden one afternoon to find that the worm farm had been tipped over and the back yard was literally covered in thousands of wriggling, transparent earthworms, possibly the only thing in the world that I find totally repulsive. Using all kinds of implements, from cabbage leaves to newspaper, I gingerly scooped up the worms who were wriggling in all directions in the hope of finding their way back underground into real soil and returned them to their duties in their plastic palace. I placed a paving slab on top to deter any more baboon raids, not that it would have stopped them, but I really was not going to get involved with earthworms again. Fortunately she returned the next day and did a proper job of securing the contraption with large rubber bands.

For those, like me, who wanted an easy way of making compost without an open heap, there is the alternative of a special bucket with a tap, into which you put all your scraps, including bones, leftover meat, dairy products and paper, believe it or not, and then sprinkle compost accelerator on top, then put on the lid. You add more every day and press it down with a paper plate and after a week or two you will get a compost 'tea' when you turn the tap at the bottom. After about 6 weeks it will stop yielding tea and you can then tip the remains into the compost heap at the bottom of the garden, where it will very soon turn into the most amazing black soil. The tea is mixed 1:100 and poured over the garden plants, which thrive on this pure juice. The most amazing thing is that although the organisms which break down the matter are alive, you will never see any mould or maggots in the bucket. I have recently opened two which were filled more than a year ago and then left in a corner.  Here they are:

What you see in the buckets are the eggshells, some squash skins which do not degrade easily being of the calabash family, and a few layers of newspaper. The buckets were filled to the top and everything has degraded into moisture, leaving the shells and skins as fresh as the day they were put in. There was no smell whatsoever. It really is the perfect way of recycling organic matter, particularly for flat dwellers, as it can be kept in your kitchen with no ill effects.

And that's my punt for compost tea and organic gardening! Oh, and although my lawn looks somewhat dead in the picture, it's actually quite green at the moment!