Fw: E-Coli

[Frank Teuton]

----- Original Message ----- From: Vicki Bess To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, November 07, 2002 1:02 PM Subject: RE: E-Coli Hello,   Thanks for the inquiry, sorry your name was not attached so that I could address you personally.  I apologize for the delay in response but I have been traveling and this e-mail just came to my attention.   I have been an advocate of compost tea use in agriculture for many years and continue to encourage the understanding of compost tea production and efficacy on a scientific basis. There has never been an intent on my part (primary or otherwise) to thwart its use and, quite to the contrary, by understanding and controlling its production, I would hope for increased use and better results.   I certainly promote the use of E.coli-free compost for the production of compost tea.  In order to answer the research question concerning the fate of E. coli in compost tea production, however, it is necessary to have E. coli in the compost for that testing. One cannot study the fate of E. coli in a system where it does not exist. While it would be great to think that no one ever makes compost tea using compost with E. coli residuals, the reality is that sometimes there is E. coli remaining in compost, even if at very low levels, and we need to understand what happens during tea production in that case. The only way to control and manage compost tea production is ultimately through understanding the process, which means that it is important to know the impact of  nutrients on the microbial constituents.   Compost tea is an important tool for agriculture and I think that we can all agree it is critical that we understand how to produce a tea that is both safe and effective.   Regards, Vicki Bess [Vicki Bess]   -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Saturday, October 19, 2002 5:52 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: E-Coli I read an article by Vicki Bess stating quality of compost is critical in making good compost tea. I agree.  That said, why did Vicki ask for compost contaminated with e-coli to prove that adding molasses can breed additional e-coli in the brewed tea?  Was it Vicki's primary intent to thwart the use of brewed compost tea for organic gardening by following a procedure designed to make brewed compost tea look bad?  Thank-you.