This is probably my favorite topic. Making compost and manure tea. I am always looking for better ways to feed plants, especially ways that require little effort on my part. So I looked at my composting technique for kitchen scraps, a system that has never worked for me, and tried to think of a way that I could compost kitchen scraps on a slightly larger level with no messy, drippy, sticky kitchen composter to have to empty.
My sister had given me a ceramic composting crock, which worked, but it did nothing to prevent odor or fruit flies, and was really gross to have to wash. Also, I do a lot of cooking, so I filled up the crock several times a day. Way too much work.
I needed a system that would allow me to process 10-12 pounds of refuse each day that I did not have to wash, and that essentially does the work all by itself. I don't want to have to be stirring grossness around to keep the goo decomposing.
Then it dawned on me... I had several empty grain buckets I wasn't using, and since they are made from food grade plastic it should be just fine to use them in an organic garden. After all, recycle & reuse, etc.
So I drilled 1/3" holes in the top and bottom for drainage, and holes all around the mid section to allow for airflow and additional drainage, and set them out in the garden.
Airflow is extremely important for this to work. You don't want to be breeding anaerobic organisms. The holes also allow access for flies, wasps, and black soldier flies, the dominators of refuse composting! I started learning about black soldier flies as a potential food source for chickens. They are prolific breeders and easy to harvest.
Wild black soldier fly females will automatically find your buckets almost the moment you place them outside, so don't worry about buying any. When the grubs are ready to pupate they will wiggle out the lowest holes and burrow into the soil.
As the weather heats up, so will the refuse in the buckets, which will speed decomposition, so don't let your little grubs go hungry. Never put any meat or egg products in your buckets, only veggies. Be sure that you add moist juicy gunk like melon rinds and tomatoes to keep the compost wet. You can sprinkle it lightly with water, but not too much or you will drown the grubs.
Keep the lid snug so that the wind doesn't blow it off, and the grubs don't get flooded by rain water. It's important to keep it hot and moist for the right organisms to develop. If it gets too hot the grubs will just leave through the bottom holes and return when it's cooler.
Keep in mind that in warmer weather these little guys are voracious! they can reduce half a bucket of refuse into castings in less than a day. I've never seen anything like it.
Once you have your buckets running, it's just a matter of placing them where they will be most beneficial. They will constantly leak a dark fluid from the lowest holes similar in consistency, although considerably less stinky, than fish emulsion. This is a combination compost and manure tea processed as grub castings. The soil under and around the buckets will quickly turn black with the added nutrients, so spread the buckets around as the soil and room allow.
I move them about every 3 days when I am placing them on brand new compost piles, so that the liquid is equally dispersed across the bed. However, when planting around a bucket, you do lose the space where the bucket sits for seeding, so once they go into a bed, they stay there until the next planting go-round.
Even in a new bed, the difference is amazing. In this photo of one of my newest radish beds, look at the difference in the size and quantity of radishes close to and removed from the bucket. The radishes close to the bucket all sprouted and are more than twice the size of the radishes further away. Amazing huh?
This if course will eventually equalize, since I will move the bucket this Winter to feed the poorer soil. Soil enrichment isn't an overnight process, it takes years in many cases. In fact, it never really stops since you must replace what the vegetables use up each season.
For now it's just a matter of keeping the buckets and their inhabitants fed and happy and watching them work their magic!
