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,,,,,

What was you compost made of? Compost consisting of animal manures might have the disease pathogens that cause E-Coli, Listeria, Salmonella, and several others and if that undigested compost is used to make compost tea those disease pathogens can be present. All of the produce from your garden will need to be washed very well before using, especially if they are to be eaten raw.

The information below is taken from the Fine Gardening article by Dr. Ingham linked in the reply of Sep 26, 09 at 14:23. In addition, I believe that I have read that the brewing equipment should be well cleaned between batches with the use of some hydrogen peroxide. "Also, keep in mind that tea made using this bucket method needs to brew for two or three days and then be used immediately. If you work Monday through Friday, start the tea on Wednesday or Thursday, so it will be ready in time to apply it on the weekend." "After three days, turn off the pump and remove the equipment. If you leave the tea aerating longer than three days, you must add more molasses or the good organisms will start going to sleep because they don't have enough food to stay active. Let the brew sit until the compost is pretty much settled out, 10 to 20 minutes, then strain it into the other bucket or directly into your sprayer. You'll have about 2 1/2 gallons of tea. If you want, this is the time to add foliar micronutrients, like kelp or rock dust. Use the tea right away, within the hour if possible." "With any form of compost, solid or tea, bad smells mean bad business. Healthy, adequately oxygenated compost and compost tea should smell sweet and earthy. Never use a smelly compost tea on your plants. The true bugaboo is alcohol, a product of anaerobic decomposition that destroys cell walls. Roots tolerate only 1 part per million alcohol. That's a very small amount, and human noses aren't good at detecting it. Instead, we can detect all the other smelly compounds that go with anaerobic production of alcohol." Terran Here is a link that might be useful: Brewing Compost Tea by Dr. Elaine Ingham

totoro, my roses have really responded well to the tea. It's the best they've looked all year, so I'm bummed it's getting cold. I so hope all my buds eventually open. I also "accidentally" made some compost tea so I sprayed that with a little bit of AT directly on the leaves to combat BS. It's hard to know if worked, but even the worst offenders haven't caught BS yet, so who knows. Usually those grow back with BS, though. I'll try it from the first of the season next year now that I see how easy it is with my new Chapin mosquito sprayer. Samuel, you are so far ahead of us. We haven't lost any leaves and everything is still green. That will probably change with the cold this week. I've been putting the remainder of this years compost in bags leaving just enough to help with the microbes. I really need a source of nitrogen. Nobody bags grass around here so maybe it's time to try the coffee grounds. The thought has crossed my mind that applying it directly may help with midge due to the ph, but I haven't read any research on that. I have a separate place for my food waste. I'd still like to try turkey manure, but I lost access to a truck so It's bagged for me, I guess. What other easy sources of N could I find? I brought in all my houseplants and cuttings/rootings. I think I can leave my 5gal. potted roses out a bit longer. I don't think my coal cellar is that cold yet. I wonder what the temp needs to be to induce dormancy?