A week ago I ordered a BioActive Micro Compost Tea Brewer, a baby 50L brewer. The moment it arrived, I had it assembled and running, as shown in the picture above.

The concept behind a compost tea brewer is as follows: You add a small amount of mature compost, held in a giant teabag. Nutrient is added to water, and the air pump blows a huge amount of air through the water for 24 hours. The resultant “tea” is diluted, and added to the garden.

This isn’t about adding nutrient to the garden. Instead, it’s about breeding good bacteria. The compost added to the brewer is packed with bacteria, and these multiply into the millions over the 24  hours the brewer runs. When added to the soil, these bacteria create a richer ecosystem that helps the plants make use of the nutrients in the soil. (Plant roots are completely reliant on a symbiotic relationship with soil bacteria and fungi to draw up nutrients.)

I’ll be doing this every three months or so, until the soil is as rich as it can get. I’ll then probably loan the brewer out to community gardens for their use, so drop me a line if you’re interested…