Pasteurize Manure before Making Tea?

Cole_Robbie · October 14, 2015

The tea that I made from the steamed material and no molasses doesn't smell that great. I'm going to toss it.

The tea that was just two socks of material thrown into a bucket of fish tank water with a spoon of molasses now looks like honey lager beer. It has a smell that could be an air freshener scent. I'd call it "hay loft." I don't get a huge amount of foam, so I don't know that it is that great on a bacterial level, but I have a suspicion it is rich in humic acid. It may also have beneficial fungi.

The only way I have gotten a lot of foam in my tea is to add Jobe's Compost Starter to it, which is mostly a mix of organic fertilizers. It only takes a tablespoon or two in a 5-gal bucket, or else you make stuff that burns your plants, and it stinks too much early in the brew.

The stuff I made last fall about this time was also good. It seemed better than doing it in the winter. I may take a few buckets of material inside soon and use that in January when I begin starting seeds.

October 14, 2015	#23
Cole_Robbie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Illinois, zone 6 Posts: 8,407	The tea that I made from the steamed material and no molasses doesn't smell that great. I'm going to toss it. The tea that was just two socks of material thrown into a bucket of fish tank water with a spoon of molasses now looks like honey lager beer. It has a smell that could be an air freshener scent. I'd call it "hay loft." I don't get a huge amount of foam, so I don't know that it is that great on a bacterial level, but I have a suspicion it is rich in humic acid. It may also have beneficial fungi. The only way I have gotten a lot of foam in my tea is to add Jobe's Compost Starter to it, which is mostly a mix of organic fertilizers. It only takes a tablespoon or two in a 5-gal bucket, or else you make stuff that burns your plants, and it stinks too much early in the brew. The stuff I made last fall about this time was also good. It seemed better than doing it in the winter. I may take a few buckets of material inside soon and use that in January when I begin starting seeds.