Three weeks after compost tea: before and after pics

Before and After Compost tea:

Week of transplant; 6 weeks ago

Before Compost tea - 3 weeks growth

AFTER: grew about 1 1/2 - 2  feet in 3 weeks!!!!

AFTER COMPOST TEA and a little pruning

Thriving in new soil

Here is what the garden is looking like about 3 weeks after the first batch of compost tea. We have lived in the new house for 6 weeks exactly. Our plants have been thriving in their new soil and sunshine. I have brewed 3 batches of compost tea total so far; the first 3 weeks ago, and the second and third  last weekend. My goal is to fertilize with compost tea every 2 weeks until the end of harvest in October or so.

I made 2 last weekend, about 3 days apart, because I forgot to de-chlorinate my hose water, however with further investigation discovered that Oakland does not chlorinate the water. So all three batches should have been full of that beneficial bacteria that I'm looking for that comes from the 'live' compost.

I also pruned my tomato plants to ensure that all their energy goes into fruit production, rather than leaf production. This has spurred the plant's main stems to grow faster vertically rather than produce a lot of low lying foliage. Also, as you can see, I finally mulched my garden now that my babies are big enough to not get squished by the straw.

Pea vines and trellis

Peas starting from seed at the new place

Lettuce so, so good.

New batch of arugula, more to come

 The elephant garlic below started growing these beautiful edible flowers, which we snipped off and ate like garlic in our stir fry. Once you remove the flower stem, the garlic starts putting all its energy into bulb production, rather than flower production. I could have let one go to seed, but I only have 3 and wanted to eat them all. Also, garlic is a biannual seed, meaning that once you let your plants go to seed and you plant those seeds, the first year, you only get a clove, the second year, you plant that clove to get a bulb. Its a 2 year process. I think I'll just buy more bulbs next year, and lots of them, as garlic is my favorite thing in my garden, and something I use quite often. 

Elephant garlic

Laura's Onions

This side is sweet cluster tomatoes

3 Brandywine tomatoes on left, 2 sweet clusters on right

Housewarming heirloom gifts, forget the type

Potted heirloom, same variety as above

Giant pumpkin variety, started from seed 2 weeks ago

3 kinds of cucumbers and summer squash

2 watermelon vines

Zucchini taking over

Lots of zucchini fruits emerging from the stem

Beautiful sun flower that has grown 3 feet in a month.

One week after compost tea

Its been a week since brewing my first batch of compost tea and applying it to all my plants. As I said, I feel that the plants are thriving here at the new home but the compost tea has added new brilliant green growth to most of the plants. The tomatoes have started sprouting new growth all over the entire plant. They are healthier than any tomatoes I have ever grown before. I can not wait to eat them.

Zucchini on left and Brandywine Heirloom tomato on right below.

Midget melon on the left (started from seed in March), cucumbers on the right (from starters).

Radishes on the left, kohlrabi on the right, started from seed 10 days ago.

Crinkle and romaine lettuce

Compost tea: crack for your garden

Lets be honest, its harder growing organic food. In fact, most people these days can't imagine a garden without the term 'miracle grow'. But do you ever wonder what they put in miracle grow to make miracles? I do. And I'm pretty sure what they put in it is chemicals. So the question then becomes, is it really worth it to trade in your organic vegetable garden and food safety for a miracle grow chemical crop just for a few more tomatoes???

ORGANIC =  NO CHEMICALS USED 

Here are some Miracle-Gro Ingredients: 

• Ammonuim Phosphate = Chemical; can be toxic to your soil and plants, salt; degrading soil nation wide
• Urea  = slaughterhouse animal urine, salt
• Potassium chloride = common potassium fertilizer, metal halide salt
• Boric acid = large levels are harmful to subterranean insects
• Copper sulfate = chemical compound = blue oxidized copper and salt (salt = no good for soil usually)
• Iron EDTA = Chemical compound made in a lab
• Magnesium EDTA = Chemical compound made in a lab
• Zinc sulfate = mineral compound
• Sodium molybdate = salt metal compound

Here's my suggestions for good organic fertilizers:

• COMPOST TEA = garden crack
• Fish Emulsions
• Fish tank water and fish poop sludge from a tank
• Worm castings from a vermicompost bin
• Condensed liquid seaweed
• Spent mushroom compost
• Any fresh organic compost is teaming with good bacteria to boost plant's immunity
• Egg shells

Vitamin c +molasses+ worm poop + water + oxygen = garden crack

Brandywine Heirloom Tomatoes

The pictures above show the brewing process for compost tea. It was super simple and cost practically nothing, other than the 2 products that I bought pictured above, Molasses and Vitamin C tabs. Just add an aerator for oxygen and poof, you've got water teaming with good microbes for your plants, the best fertilizer on the planet.

Cluster tomatoes

After 19 hours of brewing the tea, I put it in my watering can and dumped it ALL OVER the plants, not just at the roots. This should boost the good microbs so that the plant forms a protective wax. This will provide defenses against the pests and will allow for that plant to put all its energy towards getting large and producing fruits and healthy foliage instead of fighting off bad guys and regenerating leaves that are just going to get munched again.

Crinkle and romaine lettuce

I will keep posting updated pics of the compost tea results, however I do not have a control plant, I added it to all the plants. Consider these the before pics.
 I think my plants are looking a lot healthier at the new home, and the compost tea should really boost that so I'm expecting a pleasant yield this year. Stay tuned.

 I'll leave you with this. If this doesn't get you stoked about growing a garden, I don't know what does: