What to do while the Compost is Cooking?

joz

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I've got a bunch of seedlings (tomatoes, peppers, cukes, zucchs, okra) set out, and it's time to feed them. Well, I think it's time to feed them. They've been in the ground for a couple weeks and haven't done much, so I was considering giving 'em a boost.

I don't want to go out and buy plant food if I can help it, tho I'm not adverse to Fish Emulsion.

I do have a compost pile going (kitchen veggie waste, yard weeds, and horse manure/pine shavings). It's only been working for a couple weeks, however.

Can I make compost tea, or something? Or *lightly* dress the beds? Or fetch some fresh manure/shavings and make a tea out of that? Can I do ANYTHING with my immature compost?

The two zucchs I planted next to the compost pile are getting runoff from the Daily Dampening and are looking AWESOME, especially compared to their sibling zucch that was planted in a proper row and is looking a bit puny.

My original soil is clay with lots of worms in. I think I've managed to put my garden in where an old garden was, as there seems to be SOME organic material in the soil, but it's still pretty heavy. So I tilled up my rows (removing all sorts of wee glass bottles and other detritus), and distributed what little compost I had overtop, and tilled again. Amazing how several heapings of the compost pile in yard weeds could break down into one measly yard cart of compost, which was sorta heavy in itself as I believe the worms did more to it than heat.
 

vfem

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Get some that has been breaking down the most, some chicken waste or duck waste if you have it... and let it soak with some water in buckets. Then screen and drain the liquid into a bucket for feeding. This should give you a good compost tea. Let it sit 24 hours since most of what you have is still very fresh.

I do a batch of compost tea weekly.... from my grass clipping, bird waste not done compost heap! It works well, my plants already seem stronger. :)
 

i_am2bz

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vfem said:
Get some that has been breaking down the most, some chicken waste or duck waste if you have it... and let it soak with some water in buckets.
Is there a ratio of water-to-waste? Just a scoop of manure to a bucket of water, say? I mean, can you make it too strong & burn your plants...?
 

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