Poo and pretty flowers

It's the first day of spring so let's make poo brew!

What? Isn't that what you do to celebrate?

Sorry, first let's look at some pretty flowers...

Ahhh...happy spring to us all.

Now let's make poo brew. Or, more specifically, worm casting tea.

This poo brew, or worm casting tea for the conservatives of you out there, is simply the harvested worm castings from your worm bin steeped in water and then strained of debris.

This tea can then be applied as a gentle all-purpose fertilizer to young vegetable seedlings and perennials alike.

You can spray it on plants' leaves or water it in to the soil to give them a good nutritious boost and to add an extra layer of defense against pests and pathogens.

You don't have to worry about burning your plants with worm casting tea like you might with other fertilizers and you can feed your growing plants every other week or so for increased productivity.

So let's do this...

1.  Add a handful of worm castings to a five gallon bucket filled with about three gallons of raw (unsoftened) water or rain water.
   
   
   
2. Stir the castings into a dark brew and allow it to sit uncovered for 24-48 hours. You can come back and stir it about halfway through if you like, but don't let it sit for too long because it will go anaerobic and stink to high heaven. Seriously, now.
   
3. Once it has been sitting and the solids have settled at the bottom, pour the tea through a fine mesh strainer into another bucket. Don't let any bits of debris fall into your strained tea because it will clog your sprayer.
   
   
   
4. Pour your strained tea into a pump sprayer if you want to apply to your plants' leaves or into a watering can to apply directly to the soil.
   
   
   

That's it.

If you want to use the solids that settled during the steeping process (How resourceful! I knew I liked you.), they can be spread alongside established plants as a nutritious side dressing.

Feed young seedlings with worm compost tea after they've been in their growing medium for about three weeks to replenish the nutrients lost during leaching and feed established plants every other week or so during the growing season.

Is it tea time? I'd like some crisps, too, if I may.