}
Since my last delivery related to air pollution, I decided to make a brief pause in my blog about these environmental issues, mainly to organize the thematic material that I will be sharing with the members of the agro-ecological reference community in the platform #Hive as it is @ecoTrain, part of the content that I am developing is about the maintenance work I do in my small Orchard, as well as information about the establishment and ecological management of agricultural crops, elaboration of agricultural bioproducts, and even though I know that within the community we have users of the stature of @eco-alex, @fanyokami, @amestyj, @madridbg experts and genuine lovers of agroecology, it is not too much to share some approaches in this area that I am so passionate about, I thought it wise to start with a series of publications of a didactic nature, this with the purpose of socializing the alternative methods of an ecological nature that have given me better results.
If you have reached this paragraph, I have the feeling that you live in urban spaces and were attracted by the title of the article, or would like to know what this agro-ecological manuscript is about, now, if you want to know what creative ecology is about, which in my opinion is nothing more than creative ecological thinking, which should prevail among people living in large buildings, towers, residential areas or housing estates, where large amounts of waste are generated in an exaggerated way, they need to know that modern society and its deep-rooted consumption habits are closely related to the serious problems of environmental degradation. For this reason, the scientific community of ecological interest has been promoting alternatives related to the elaboration of bioproducts through the sustainable use of waste generated in urban spaces.
Fig. 2 The organic remains, or biological garbage as it is also called, represent serious problems of environmental pollution. Image of public domain, Author: Couleur, 2018
In this sense, in the urban spaces one of the bioproducts that can be elaborated under the concept of creative ecology, and that do not deserve more technical complexity for their preparation, are the Tea of composts, that in essence are bioproducts in liquid presentation, that are obtained from the solid fraction of the compost when water is added to them, in other words, it is the resulting solution of dark color that infiltrates of the granulated material of the compost.
Fig. 3 Compost teas, are the bioproducts in liquid presentation that are obtained under similar techniques to the preparation of tea. Image of public domain, Author: Skitter, 2016
It has been demonstrated that compost teas can be used in homes as bioproducts free of chemical traces, with the purpose of fertilizing and invigorating plant species in gardens, orchards or areas destined for the planting of plants, essentially because it is a material of organic origin, rich in soluble nutrients, beneficial microorganisms and favorable compounds that can stimulate the growth and development of plant species either of agricultural, medicinal or ornamental interest.
Fig. 4 Compost tea has multiple nutritional benefits that favor the growth and development of plants. Author: Gad-BM, 2016
Procedure for preparing Compost Tea
The solid product, which is obtained by preparing compost or granulated fertilizers, is the material that is taken as an organic input, there are different techniques to obtain the compost tea, within these I will list the 2 most relevant methods:
Fig. 5 The solid material that is obtained from the compost or granulated fertilizers, is used as a starting material for making Compost Tea. Image of public domain, Author: Varazdin, 2020
Active extraction
Dear friends, the technique of active extraction has its scientific foundation, where the infusion or liquid (compost tea) is produced in a plastic tank in open conditions, which indicates that this procedure is aerobic (in the presence of oxygen), and consists of adding compost in a bag of 50 kilograms and proceed to hold it with some rope at the top, then introduce it in a first container (capacity of 200 liters) with water, for an approximate time of 5 minutes to wash the excesses of toxic salts, after this we proceed to place the bag with compost previously washed in a second container with oxygenation (stir constantly) for a period of 24 hours before being applied in different doses on the species that are established in the urban spaces above.
Fig. 6 Active extraction method for making Compost tea. Author: @lupafilotaxia.
Passive extraction
In the technique of passive extraction of compost tea, there are no open conditions, so the preparation is anaerobic (absence of oxygen), the steps of the active method are executed, with the difference that in this case, the preparation should not be oxygenated, in addition to being slower because it is a fermentation process, the bag with compost previously washed should be left longer, it is recommended between 24 and 48 hours, taking into account that after this time the quality of tea begins to decline.
Fig. 7 Passive extraction method for making Compost tea. Author: @lupafilotaxia.
What raw materials are recommended to use for making Compost Tea?
And to finish, I must answer this question on What raw materials are recommended to use to make compost tea? as it is undoubtedly the most consulted concern, in this sense, I must indicate that the starting materials for the preparation of the solid fraction of compost, you can use organic waste or vegetable origin or kitchen scraps, it is also advisable to add beneficial microbial flora to accelerate decomposition, in my case I recommend using yeast, this in order to extract the nutrients available in the infusion.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES CONSULTED:
[1] Hatam S., and Bahman F. An Overview of the Benefits of Compost tea on Plant and Soil Structure. Advances in Bioresearch. 2015; 6; 61: 154-158. Article: Online access
[2] Joe V., Channah R., and McLain J.. Compost Tea 101: What Every Organic Gardener Should Know. The University of Arizona Cooperative Extension. 2017. Article: Online access
[3] Matthew R. Compost Tea Production, Application, and Benefits. The Rodale Institute. 2013. Article: Online access
[4] Adhikary S. Vermicompost, the story of organic gold: A review. Agricultural Sciences. 2012; 3; 7: 905-917. Article: Online access
OBSERVATION
ā The cover image was designed by the author: @lupafilotaxia, incorporating the public domain background image RoadLight, 2020.
