Whether they were tired of paying outlandish prices for produce at the supermarket or just enjoyed gardening, most people have tried growing their own garden at some point. How did yours turn out? Even if you are successful and get a decent yield of fruits and vegetables, you are apt to notice that many of your crops do not grow as large or perfect-looking as they do in the store. Why? Many commercial farms use fertilizers that contain chemicals to boost size and production. Is this a bad thing? Not necessarily.
The word “chemicals” has become a sort of naughty word but is it really? The air we breath is dominantly made up of the chemicals oxygen and carbon dioxide. These are beneficial to our bodies. Many chemicals, however, are man-made and potentially harmful to our bodies or their surroundings.
Such things as man-made fertilizers and pesticides can be harmful to our health. This essay will detail an alternative method to growing a high yield of fruits and vegetables that look just like (or better) the ones found in the grocery store.
Grow Your Plants Larger and Healthier
What is compost?
Today we are going to talk about something called compost tea. Now, everyone has a general idea of what compost is but allow me to elaborate for a moment. Let’s begin with a definition
Compost- A mixture of various decaying organic substances.
Now, compost usually comes from one of two sources or a combination of the two. One: decaying plant matter such as dead leaves, grass clippings, or vegetable matter. Two: animal wastes such as horse or cow manure. These types of compost you can obtain in the garden section of your local store for relatively inexpensive.
Compost is what feeds your plants and a mixture of plant and animal compost is best. Many people plant their fruits and vegetables with a combination of compost and soil. But then what? Just wait out the season? You can but you will not get optimum growth from your plants.
Many people opt for chemical fertilizers such as Miracle Grow because of their low cost and promises for high yield. There are some inherent problems with this method of growing your garden edibles. Chemicals used in these fertilizers are mixed with water and fed to the plants via their root systems. These root systems are very fragile and have a maliable outer membrane which allows them to take in water and other vitamins and nutrients found in the water. These chemicals, which can be deadly if swallowed, saturates the plants and eventually the vegetables they produce. Since the widespread use of chemical fertilizer on commercial farms, tumors and cancer rates have risen almost 30%.
There is a better way. Not only will this method produce larger, healthier, more productive plants than chemical fertilizers will, but it will only further your soil’s health for future plantings.
When you plant your seeds or seedlings into your soil/compost mix, put a bit of your animal and vegetable composts together, mixing thoroughly, and set it aside. Now all you need is a aerator; maybe out of an old fish tank, an old stocking or sock, a bucket of water, some Karo syrup and some beer for good measure.
Yes I know the combination sounds very odd. When combined they form compost tea, but I’d not recommend drinking it.
Take your bucket of water and add a couple spoonfuls of syrup and two good swills of beer. Drop the aerator in there and turn that baby on. Now what you have is yeast from the beer becoming aerated and activated by the sugar. Take your stocking and put a nice tennis ball size of compost in the toe and tie it shut. Drop it in the water. Now that yeast, starts growing more and more healthy bacteria, permeating it into the water, at extremely advanced rates. After letting the pump run for the night, remove it from the bucket and use all of that super-charged compost tea to feed your plants.
Unlike chemical fertilizers in which you have to be mindful of dilution percentages and overfeeding causing root and stem burn, with compost tea you can feed your plants as often as desired without harmful affects. I personally feed my plants once a week and am growing monster sized healthy plants. No chemicals added.