That is fun to read the old ways of doing things. If you did nothing else, moving from the overly mechanized new ways to the more natural ways of doing things will help tremendously, IMHO. Compost is expensive. In my neighborhood it costs me $34 per cubic yard plus $40 for delivery. One cubic yard covers 1,000 square feet so the cost is $74 per 1,000 square feet. Compost tea can be made from very little compost. Less than $1.00 worth of compost will make tea to cover 5,000 square feet. The magic comes in when you add molasses or other food to the tea and aerate it. Then the microbes in the tea can multiply by a factor of 1,000 and your little handful of compost can cover a lot more area. Thus compost tea can cost well under $1.00 per 1,000 square feet. Then the issue is do you need compost or tea at all? I maintain that unless you have had a chemical spill or flood that killed the aerobic microbes in your soil, you probably do not need compost. If you have an area that historically will NOT grow anything, then you probably need compost. Or worse yet, you probably need to replace the soil. The best reason to use compost is to replace microbes. Microbes eat food. They eat the same food we eat. When you see food "spoiling," there are microbes causing it to spoil. Those are the same microbes that live in your soil. Try this: slice into an apple and see how long it takes to turn brown. Did you have to add microbes to kick off that spoilage process? No. All you did was expose the apple to the air. Normally apple skin protects it from rapid decomposition. Leave some cheese out on the counter and see how long it takes to turn fuzzy with green mold. The green mold came from the air. All you have to do is provide food for the microbes and they will take off. If you want to feed the microbes in your soil, all you have to do is feed them. I like to use ordinary corn meal. If you apply at 10-20 pounds per 1,000 square feet, the cost for that is about $2/1,000. I have never seen compost give results anywhere similar to feeding with corn meal.

Hi, I am somewhat dissapointed today,,,,, I got my compost delivered and generally the quality seems fine. Inside of the 10 tons pile its really warm. When I showel it into my wheelbarrow it´s steaming. It smells as well "good". BUT,,,,,,, I have a problem with bringig it to my lawn,,,,,, there is pieces of roots, wood, bark in the compost which are apparentely still worked by bacteria and fungi. Those pieces are warm as well and feel soft. But if I bring this on my lawn , the wood-pieces will stay on top of the turf and only smallest pieces sink onto the soil. Even if I brush it in different directions, back and forward..... What can I do? Leave the compost on a pile until the wood decomposes further ? Or "filter" the bigger pieces from the smaller ones (lots of work probably). My father in law opts for anyhow throwing the compost to the lawn,,,,,,,,, but its not him that is going to ruin his new lawn-mower cutting bark, wood and roots with the next lawnmowing.... Any info welcome,,,, Thanks & a nice weekend,,,,,

Avajay asked: "If I don't want to get into an aquarium setup right now (money's kinda tight), will my outline above serve any purpose? Would it be better than nothing, or am I just wasting my time? No, you are not wasting your time; your method of making compost tea has been used for many, many years. Contrary to what some call the truth, your technique can make a great compost tea in as little as 2 (two) hours. Of course, brewing for a longer time will allow more microbes to grow in the brew, thus creating a more potent compost tea. If the weather is hot outside I would not brew for longer than 3 (three) days to avoid the tea becoming anaerobic (no oxygen in the bucket), this will avoid the tea becoming smelly and possibly dangerous. Better to make a weaker tea and apply it more often. The link below is just one example of a way to make compost tea. Yes, using a bubbler is faster and makes a more powerful tea, however the soil food web and plants will grow regardless of the microbe count. Make your compost tea and feed your plants. Your garden will be very grateful and reward you in both enjoyment, beauty, and harvest. I trust this helps in some small way Blutranes Here is a link that might be useful: How To Make Compost Tea

I'm a lazy composter. I have two bins in the garden and will probably do a third. I fill one all winter, mostly with kitchen stuff, top it off with grass, newspaper and whatever else in the spring. Water it well all summer and then let it sit for another year. I don't turn it, that would be too much work. Just water it the following summer and then that fall take the bottom stuff. Usually about 3/4. Most of it is broken down. I should probably layer more but went it is -30 out who wants too. The plants don't seem to mind. Cheryl