I was just getting ready to post this same question. What are people using for the compost? I hear things like "vermicompost is great" or "I used a pound of my compost". Any suggestions for folks that don't have their own compost piles. I've seen places to order worm castings online. Will these work? Do you need to use it right away or can you buy a 5 lb bag and keep it around for a full growing season's use?

Planning to use dchall's texas brewer.....

There is about zero chance that you are going to control all the variables well enough to selectively brew for certain microorganisms in a home brew setting. Fortunately, since you are just trying to grow grass and not send a man to the moon, it isn't going to matter much. Toss some compost in water, drop in a bubbler and let it go for a couple of days in a coolish, shady spot. The better compost you start off with, the easier it will be to end up with a decent tea. If you want to get fancy, you can add seaweed for micronutrients or a sugar source for faster growth.

Anyway, you probably have much too high of expectations for compost tea. It is a jumpstart for microgranisms, but that is basically where it stops. You'll need to address your compacted soil and levels of organic matter in the soil if you want the grass to thrive.

Here is the link to David's website with the info on Deuley's Little Texas Tea Brewer.

I use the compost tea maker in the link above. In the "tea bag " I put a combination of mushroom compost ( I figure there might be some beneficial fungi in there) and earthworm castings.

I put down my grains before the tea figuring there is already something in the soil to feed and also there will be food for the new bacteria as soon as they want it.

Mark_in:

thanks much! So where does one find mushroom compost and earthworm castings? I mean - just a local nursery? I'm having trouble finding compost other than what they sell at Home Depot, etc. I'd like to use something that is "good"!

Thanks much!
Brad

Look at Keep It simple (KIS) brewer. Much simpler design. I'm seriously considering buying it. I've built Duely Brewer but it's just too much hassle. More and more are switching to KIS brewer from Dueley brewer plus they sell compost including fungal compost and food kit to grow microbes. They think the price for KIS brewer is well worth it. They have been tested many many with great results you are pretty much safe with it. You just don't know what you're getting from mushroom compost and elsewhere from the store. Undisturbed forest floor (the few inches of leaves layer on top of soil) is probably a great one to brew with. Very rich in microbes esp fungal.

You might also want to buy Teaming with Microbes by Jeff Lowenfels from Amazon website. Full of good info there.

Soil Food Web by Elaine Ingham is the place to start. Read all those e-zines on the website.

Bill - that's really a bad advice you're giving there. Please stop that. You have no idea what you're really talking about. Leave it to someone else who really knows about improving soil with compost tea.

Great question!