Thanks, Perry, but I don't have Excel. My "Microsoft Word 98" software for my MAC was a gift from a friend and he did not give me the whole office array. I probably don't know how to understand a biological assay anyway. What you've already told me is enough to start on. Lloyd has told me a lot of stuff too. Until you've actually tried some of these ingredients, you can't know what will work for you.
I did already find the article that you cited on making a 5 gallon brewer and, in fact, reprinted and offered it in our "Why Organic?" booth at the county fair along with a demonstration model. We used it for the garden last summer with only BD compost and molasses. I have no where to go but up. What I am trying to do is build a 40-50 gallon size CT maker for use with the garden and the road. The western US is expecting increased drought conditions and we only have 1/2 gal/min water and run out in August and September. I am hoping to rectify this with CT applications so we won't have to abandon certain crops this year. Last year we abandoned the keeper onions and the Brussels sprouts were not very large. We had a good fall planting of broccoli that we used CT on that was awesome. We're getting the hang of it. Herb was an aluminum designer in industry and designed window washing equipment for skyscrapers. He has 3-dimensional visualization and is dyslexic. He also is good with Rube Goldberg water configurations. I can never figure out the garden watering connections they're so complicated. He also makes hydraulic rams. He works intuitively and has trouble collaborating. I am on Elaine's CT list/serve and have a personal archive of all posts which I have read once. It's hard to grasp everything before you actually start using it and it's so garbled in little separate emails. I'm trying to reorganize all the relevant posts for him to read. He's really tied into his own projects, doesn't want to be bothered, but I don't give up. We have looked at a lot of pictures in the CT list files and I saw Jerry Brunetti's model at the Mid-Atlantic Conference. Herb can't understand that a lot of people have been working for years designing CT makers and that they have already established perameters. He finally realized that the bottom needed to be rounded so that anaerobic bacteria couldn't form in the cracks. I don't know what we will finally come up with or when. I try not to expect too much. I tend to be a perfectionist and a small pocketbook. My grant money can't be used for anything that is actually useful to me because everything has to be O.Kd by the Weed Supervisor and he feels it has to be something that makes sense to the conventional-thinking people in the county and state bureaucracy to cover his ass (pardon me). It would be political suicide for me to buy something to make a specialized piece of equipment that would be useful for years both to the road and to our farm. Am I bitter? Yes. But they will probably have to come around if I keep plugging. Best wishes, Merla Perry Clutts wrote: > Hi Merla, Check out this > site.http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/airwaste/wm/recycle/Tea/tea1.htmIt > gives good instructions (w/ photos) on how to build a small tea > machine... not really a machine, but a bucket bubbler. The > instructions show a manifold and several hoses. I just use a long > airstone that fits across the bottom of the 5 gallon bucket. If you > use a larger container, I would suggest there be enough air to keep > the compost moving around the container. Last year, for ingredients, I > used compost, 500, 508, BC, molasses, and cooked whole grains (wheat). > Remember, when designing a feeding program for the tea, less food can > make better tea... so you only need to use very small amounts. I've > got a copy of a biological assay from last summer I can send you if > you like (do you have MS Excel on your computer?). There are some > machines that cost under 100 $US, but the 5 gal system is around > 25$US. Perry > > I'm trying to get him to help me make a homemade compost > tea machine and he thinks he already knows everything > about it without listening to me. I love him! Best, > Merla >
