Bio-Brew Recipe
March 2, 2013
N-Vision Farms, Sissy Taylor-Maloy
Another name for Bio-Brew is compost tea. I was
given the recipe in Earth Activist Training (2011) but have modified it a
little for my soil and farm. Bio-Brew adds living organisms and feeds your soil
to get the process going, like yogurt does for your body.
In
my research to make it cheap and buy it local, I found that organic compost
maker or compost starter has fulvic or humic acid as the main ingredient, although it
is not normally listed on the package. These acids feed the fungi and other microorganisms and break down other materials, making digestible food for
plants. If you use it in your compost pile it will not harm plants or the
environment. So let’s get started!
25 gallon container to hold your brew, trash can
works well
20 gallons water1/2 cup compost starter
1 cup molasses
1/2 cup organic fish emulsion
3-5 lbs horse manure, worm castings, or rich compost (use what you have)
10 or 20 gallon aquarium air pump and hose, weight hose on the end to sink in the brew
- If you are on city water, you are using this in your garden already, right? But it does contain chemicals. If you have rainwater or well water it would be better for brew.
- The compost starter or humic acid discussed above, at garden centers about $10 a bag.
- The molasses is a food source as sugar is to us, it gives energy and speeds up the activity, like making beer, gets the process moving. Find it in feed stores cheaper, used for livestock and hunters for deer ($10 per gallon), food grade is expensive.
- The fish emulsion fertilizer boosts the nitrogen content (any garden center). This is also a fuel to pump up the energy level and feed the microbes. The Native Americans and first settlers in this area always buried fish when planting crops.
- I use raw horse manure, in a mesh bag. But any kind of rich compost works well.
- Toss all this into your water and give it a good stir with a stick to get it started.
- Aquarium Air pump, (about $20) a onetime investment. Attach a weight to air hose to sink to the bottom. Need to make brew near an electrical outlet.
- Once you have everything well mixed, turn on the pump and drop it to the bottom of your brew. Allow brew to bubble 24 to 72 hours. The aerobic process is the most important key component to making the activity grow in the brew. The microbes need air. If you don’t apply it, they will die and you will have a dead brew which will not harm your plants, but you are not getting the process you aim to achieving here.
- Apply brew to new beds before you plant, on seedbeds and seedlings in moderation. Apply to all plants, trees, fruits, flowers and shrubs. It does not store well so use it as soon as you turn off the pump for best results.
