compost tea – Page 3

System10 Tops Off Successful School Worm Program

December 14, 2010 by Growing Solutions

Sharon Tamanaha and a Growing Solutions Compost Tea System10 — Sharon Tamanaha puts the preschool's System10 to work.

Growing Solutions’ distributor Mindy Jaffe of Waikiki Worm Company reports on a great story of a process that we hope to see replicated in schools everywhere. It recalls the sagely adage of “it takes a village…”— in this case, a generous donor supplying a System10 to the Calvary-by-the-Sea Montessori Preschool in Aina Haina, Oahu, Hawaii, where organic waste fed to the school’s worm colony is fully recycled to everyone’s benefit.

Assistant teacher Sharon Tamanaha worked with Waikiki Worm to create the vermicompost program. Not only is the school’s garden and landscape benefiting from the weekly compost tea production, the fourth Sunday of every month is dedicated to tea brewed for sale to church members—always a sell out—that brings revenue to help sustain the program.

“We are very, very happy with our brewer,” Sharon says. “It’s easy to use and clean. Every plant is healthy and robust and the entire property just glows.”

Read the full article in Waikiki Worm Company’s newsletter here.

Compost Tea for the Home Garden

November 25, 2010 by Growing Solutions

Applying Compost Tea — Michael shows Robin how to adjust the spray nozzle for best coverage of the compost tea on vegetable foliage at Common Ground Garden.

Frothy tea on a chilly fall day? Freshly brewed Compost Tea, that is—applied to the Common Ground Garden during the recent “Compost Tea for the Home Garden” workshop. Michael, with Anne Donahue of the Eugene (Oregon) Friendly Neighborhood Farmers, spoke to a hardy group of inquisitive home gardeners looking for insights on winterizing their gardens.

Michael noted that late fall is an excellent time to apply compost tea to garden beds, turf and general landscaping. “Spraying or drenching leaves, turf thatch and veggie plant material in a state of decay assists organic plant matter to break down, creating optimum soil amendments for the following spring,” he explained as the workshop attendees were visited by some of Oregon’s typical rainfall. “Even in light rain, it’s no problem…the additional moisture carries the good microorganisms further into the soil,” Michael continued.

Growing Solutions donated Compost Tea Catalyst, enough for 500 gallons of compost tea, to the Common Ground Garden. Using a 20 gallon sprayer, workshop participants helped distribute the tea Michael provided, and most took home a container of compost tea from a batch Anne had made using her home compost tea system. Hot cocoa and fresh cornbread fueled the conversation indoors as Michael demonstrated the System10 to gardeners of all ages. Another compost tea application workshop is planned for Spring 2011.

Compost Tea System10 — Michael explains the mechanics of the System10 to gardeners of all ages.

Growing Solutions at Italy’s EIMA

November 19, 2010 by Growing Solutions

GrowingSolutions_EIMA — Bryan Ollier (ERREPPI) and Michael Alms at the Growing Solutions EIMA stand.

Italy’s international agricultural machinery exhibition, EIMA, was declared a success with 166,400 visitors at Bologna’s Trade Fair Center last week. Growing Solutions was represented by GSI President Michael Alms and several GSI international distributors, including South Africa, among the 1,600 total exhibitors during the event.

Compost tea production was a topic of great interest with attendees representing the agriculture, landscape, golf, municipal greenspaces and sports turf market sectors. Growing Solutions found that sustainability, as expected, was a consistent theme in discussions throughout the week.

A topic of keen interest for many was water management practices. “EIMA was a great venue to bring together our international distributors to discuss the cost effective benefits of using compost tea for water conservation,” Michael commented. Stay tuned for more on this developing conversation in upcoming posts.

Dirt’s Alive? Oh Yes, and Then Some!

October 20, 2010 by Growing Solutions

Watching a movie is one of life’s diversions that nearly everyone can relate to, especially that feeling of wanting to share the news when you’ve just seen a great one. Our staff watched one such movie this May and posted a link on our Facebook page. Little did we know that our enthusiasm for this film would literally grow into an exciting new alliance.

dirtgraphic1 — Your purchase of the DVD through Growing Solutions adds $5 to the fund for distribution of the movie to schools.

DIRT! the Movie, directed and produced by Bill Benenson and Gene Rosow, and narrated by actress Jamie Lee Curtis, brings to life the environmental, economic, social and political impact that the soil has through the stories of visionaries and experts from all over the world. You’ll learn how industrial agriculture has depleted our once fertile soils over the last 50 years, and how there is hope to reverse this trend in the very methods of sustainable agriculture that Growing Solutions advocates for and promotes through the sales of our products.

Based on the book Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth by Quill and Trowel Award-winning writer Bill Logan, DIRT! the Movie takes you inside the wonders of the soil—Earth’s living skin. It tells the story of this most valuable and underappreciated source of fertility, from its miraculous beginning to its crippling degradation.

That basic understanding of the volume of life that takes place in the first five centimeters of the Earth’s skin resonated with everyone at Growing Solutions. Compost tea plays a large role in a dynamic system of solutions that can revive depleted soils with local inputs, low energy consumption and non-daunting technical skills. Naturally we wanted to find a way to share this educational tool with our customers, families and friends.

As an Affiliate Partner Growing Solutions’ Home Page now proudly displays the DIRT! the Movie icon. Click, buy the DVD, and your purchase will generate a $5.00 donation toward providing DVDs of the movie to schools throughout the U.S.

“I’m very pleased to see the wide distribution of this film, and we’re eager to contribute to the momentum,” Growing Solutions’ President Michael Alms explained. “DIRT! the Movie is the perfect portal to understanding that our soil is actually ALIVE! Your view of where and how our food is grown and enters the world’s markets will forever be changed. I encourage everyone to view this great story and be the change locally, in management of home lawns, gardens, and community greenspaces.”

Organic Lawn Care Expert Visits Martha Stewart’s Farm

October 2, 2010 by Growing Solutions

Paul Tukey, the author of The Organic Lawn Care Manual, visited Martha Stewart’s Bedford, New York estate recently to offer advice regarding the health of her lawn and fields. He is a firm believer of spraying lawns and plants with Compost Tea. And fortunately, Martha has a Growing Solutions Compost Tea System25 in her greenhouse!

The full story and great photos can be seen on Martha’s Blog:

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