grow your own: compost tea

We've been gone for a week, and last night I noticed that several of my plants were looking a little iffy. I had to clean out the fridge anyway, so I decided to break out the food processor and make some compost tea.

1.) I have never done this before
2.) If you decide to try this, don't do it with a weak stomach. It smells like puke when it's done.

Now technically, you are supposed to let compost tea steep, hence the name. Usually sitting it outside in the heat is in order. But since I am terribly inpatient, and am also in awe of a few gardeners I know that dump raw kitchen scrap on their prolific plants, I decided to make and toss quickly (the smell may have had something to do with it).

First, gather all your nastyness that you have from your fridge (or the coolers you used while you were camping). No animal products, please - and you probably shouldn't use citrus (ignore the lemon).


Now you will need to dump all the old food into a fairly powerful blender, vitamix or Cuisinart. While you are doing this, don't rush. Try not to drop all the nasty on the floor. If you do, it will wind up looking something like this:

I love this beastly machine that my mom and sister got for me two years ago.

Depending on what types of food you are using, you may want to add some hot water. You will wind up with something like this:


If you have an eldest child, you really should let them mix it up in the bucket. I discovered that they will then torture their brothers by yelling, "Look guys! Mom made you smoothies for dinner!!"