Growing Solutions encourages you to view this great video from Growing Wisdom. The video features Scott LaFleur, of Garden in the Woods, and is about producing and applying Compost Tea. He emphasizes that Compost Tea feeds the soil, which in turn benefits the plants; without the need for chemical fertilizers! We would like to note that you don’t need to add quite so much compost to the basket when brewing a ten gallon batch of Compost Tea. We recommend about seven cups of a high quality, organic compost, and seven tablespoons of our Compost Tea Catalyst.
Please click below, to view the video:
How to Brew Compost Tea
Growing Solutions has a new page on Facebook!
If you are a Facebook member already, you can sign in and then enter Growing Solutions in the search box. You can become a “fan” or simply browse the pictures of our Compost Tea Systems and information. We will be adding more content soon.
If you aren’t a Facebook member yet, you may click here to be taken to the page.
The GSI European Team.
On behalf of Growing Solutions, Michael Alms and the GSI European Distributors gathered in The Netherlands recently for the 10th annual Horti Fair held in the Amsterdam RAI Center. The Growing Solutions company philosophy and product line integrated well with the Horti Fair 2009 Exhibition theme: “For a Sustainable Future.” The event, covering six hectares (15 acres) of floor space was home to over 700 exhibitors, attracting attendees from over 100 countries.
The subject of Compost Tea was a hot topic during the fair. The Growing Solutions Team engaged in a multitude of discussions regarding the use of Tea across a broad range of crops as a beneficial and cost effective alternative to conventional methods of plant production.
In addition to supporting the existing Growing Solutions distributor base in Holland, Belgium, Great Britain, Ireland, Germany, Austria and Switzerland the event attracted business opportunities from over 20 new countries including the regions of Africa, Eastern Europe, South East Asia and The Americas.
“Horti Fair 2009 was clearly a strategic event for our Distributors to attend. The event platform afforded our Team the ability to showcase their Compost Tea products and services, offering solution driven alternatives to the inevitable shift in conventional growing techniques,” according to Michael Alms.
Marc Verhofstede and Urs Hildebrandt, providing in depth detail to attendees from France.
Michael Alms, Urs Hildebrandt and Jitze Peenstra at the 2009 Horti Fair.
Scott LaFleur (at right) talks to Garden Shop customers about compost tea and the Growing Solutions System25.
Organically speaking, the proof is in the pudding, or in this case, the Garden in the Woods, owned and operated by the New England Wild Flower Society (founded in 1900). Here, the Society’s Garden Shop brews its own compost tea and uses it throughout the 45-acre public botanic garden in Framingham, MA.
Scott LaFleur, Botanic Garden Director, says, “We’ve switched to using compost tea as our sole method of feeding plants and the soil at Garden in the Woods. We use it throughout the botanical garden and have seen a huge difference in the growth and strength of our plants.”
The Society’s System25 has been busy this season. Scott continues, “We have to credit our use of compost tea in the beauty of the Garden this year. The weather has been crazy. If we had not built up the nutrients in our soil, our large collection of native plants, including rare and endangered species, could have been in trouble.”
Recently Scott demonstrated how to make compost tea at Garden in the Woods with Dave Epstein of GrowingWisdom.com, using a System10. Take a look at the video clip to find out why Scott says compost tea is “fantastic for the plants.”
Chris Donahue, Down to Earth General Manager, and Michael Alms, Growing Solutions, on a SOLD OUT Saturday!
That’s correct, SOLD OUT! Every Saturday in Eugene, Oregon, Down To Earth’s garden center sells compost tea to die-hard patrons who line up with their recycled plastic jugs for this alive soil and plant elixir. When the gate opens, it’s first come, first serve. “Get here by noon or you’re outta’ luck,” says Chris Donahue, Down to Earth’s general manager.
The garden center staff prepares the Growing Solutions 100 gallon Compost Tea System for brewing Friday mornings so when the gate opens Saturday mornings, they’re ready to go. Last Saturday I was on site, dispensing tea and answering questions of new and returning customers, all very excited about compost tea. Included in the lineup of regular compost tea afficionados were four Down to Earth employees who came in on their day off to fetch jugs of tea for themselves!
With mom's guidance, a young gardener learns the benefits of compost tea right from the spigot.