How to make a liquid fertiliser (that doesn't smell bad!) from nettles or comfrey.
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- Опубликовано: 9 май 2021
- Aranya demonstrates how to make an aerobic liquid plant fertiliser using things that most people would just throw away.
This is one of four videos I just added to my 'Design Your Site with Permaculture' course. www.learnpermaculture.com/ind...
For two-week residential permaculture design courses with Aranya visit:
www.learnpermaculture.com/ind...
the cow in the background is just adorable. 🐄
Yes indeed... :)
As long as I see you collect the plastic drill waste and put it carefully into your pocket, I know this is the decent person that I should respect. You are very careful
Thank you! :)
I love the cow freely roaming in the field ! what a way to live !
For the weight I would suggest mixing a blob of concrete and sticking a piece of scrap metal into it to act as a handle so it can easily be pulled out.
I was thinking engineering bricks or old storage heater bricks with some rope tied around each one
Great idea !!!
@Smeargut I love that idea was going to say you could attach rope to your handle too.
Awesome suggestion
Someone who collects small particles of plastic like that I can really appreciate!
Thank you. :)
makes perfect sense. you dont want them in your soil or garden.
@@jamesgarner2103 I agree!
I don't have any nettles or comfrey but I do have weeds and grass clippings that would work. Thanks for sharing this info. I really did not like the stinky stuff.
Pretty much any leafy healthy looking plant that you know not to be toxic should be good. Grass cuttings however tend to clump together and go anaerobic (even without a weight on top) so you might be able to put a little in your mix but not too much. Nettles and comfrey have quite chunky stems which create air spaces in the mix - grass does not.
Thanks for the added info and you did not say what this liquid smells like. Smells like dirt? @@LearnPermaculture
@@jonisolis9645 The aerobic liquid feed doesn't have a particularly strong smell. 'Leafy' I supposed I'd describe it. Not like soil.
I tried this with comfrey quite a few years ago and completely forgot how well it works and how easy it is! I'll have to get started on doing it again now.
That's great to hear. :)
and no chemical !
@@fortbumper I We all know what you mean, but everything in the universe is made of chemicals. This method of producing fertiliser is entirely a chemical process.
Amazing! Thank you for the video.
This is the funniest video I've seen for ages 😄😄 thanks
Great stuff mate, love your process to liquefy weeds to fertiliser without a stinky brew, airating with aquarium bubbles is fun too, but this is the simplest for sure, I'll definitely be doing this. Thankyou
Thanks! it was originally taught to me by Pat Bowcock at the wonderful Ourganics in West Dorset. It's been the only method I've used for years...
Great tutorial. Clear explanation. Thanks for taking the time to do this and sharing the love! 😊
Thank you! :)
Awesome idea !!! Exactly what I need at the moment .Thank you :)
Enjoy!
Nice simple practicle easy and cheap. May try it myself.
Fantastic teaching. Thank you
You're welcome Sonia. :)
Great tips! Thanks very much.
Glad it was helpful!
This was a really good idea. Thank you
Thank you Violet!
Thank you such a good idea. Well explained.
Thanks Judy! :)
Really good video thanks. So much better than so much online. Your honesty shines my friend!
Thank you! :)
Thank you so much for this and so clearly demonstrated too.
Thank you!
REALLY clever. I will be trying this out. Thank you!
Thanks Robert! :)
Great technique from a Master. Thank you Aranya
Thank you!
Excellent video Aranya :)
Thanks Jessie. :)
Great idea!!very well explained.Cheers from Australia!😁
Thanks for watching!
This was a complete guide and excellent idea. Thank you for sharing.
You're welcome sukkar. :)
Thank you for a very clear explanation as always.
Glad it makes sense. :)
Exelent many thanx and you have a very tidy garden
Thanks Mike!
Great informations!! Thank you!
You're welcome!
Thank you so much for spending some time on showing me how to use nettles.
Thanks Sybil for watching. :)
Very grateful for this. Have tried the method with water but it was soooooo smelly. Am on a budget so it will be a big help for my allotment. A big thank you.
So glad that it helps Katherine.
This looks great. I did the nettles and water thing and boy does it STINK! If this truly doesn't smell I'm going to be thrilled.
It has a smell (like many things) but it's subtle and certainly not bad.
Thanks for sharing
Thanks for sharing,very helpfulnto a new beginners to have a garden at our backyard
You're welcome Elizabeth. :)
Fantastic!👍👍👍
very informative and great way, Thank You
Glad to be of help.
Great video, thank you very much
You're welcome Sophie! :)
It's great how many different ways there are to extract nutrients from unwanted plants. Thanks for the video. It was very thorough and informative.
Thanks Zeb!
And wanted plants such as comfrey(sp?). I grow some of that but need to move it out of late day hot summer sun, doesn't take that well at 105 F without constant water.
@@MrbfgrayMaybe try growing tithonia diversifolia (Mexican Sunflower) instead of Comfrey
@@craigdonald551 Appreciate the suggestion, my comfrey is doing better this yr, dropping a lot of leaves but not entirely wilting like it used to. About yr 3 I think now, getting better established, only sporadically watered it even at 110F. (water is expensive here)
@@craigdonald551 For what it's worth--comfrey is reputed to have litany of 'medicinal' uses.
I'm more or less immune to bee stings (last I checked) but got nailed by a wasp several months ago and it hurt a little for days, not used to that. Then I got wasp stung again a week ago and it dawned on me comfrey might help, half hr later picked a fresh green leaf, with no expectations, wadded it up to juice it into stung thumb. Easily could be coincidental but sting went away quickly.
That was very interesting, thanks
Thanks rudy!
Brrilant idea , thank thank you .
You’re welcome 😊
I've been doing this for years but my favorite plant to work with as a silage is clover clover will breakdown and Juice up the chlorophyll best plus if you use it on your vegetables like I do mostly tomatoes it makes the tomato plant fibrous sturdy my tomato plants got 7ft tall last year and the tomatoes were very good tasty like tomato should anyway enjoy your time out there and I see a lot of people doing this these days it does work believe it or not happy trails
Sounds excellent! Nettles are an abundant weed which many people can find close by, but if you've room to plant clover it's a very valuable cover crop / nitrogen fixer too. :)
thanks,i really need to have a nettle corner on my allotment asap,great presentation !!
Thank you! :)
Great video!
Thanks!
Great video, time for me to look for these items 🙂
Thanks Andy!
I'm so glad I found this. I've been looking for a way to make fertiliser which doesn't smell as I can't use the smelly stuff at all. Your instructions are very clear. Thank you.
You're welcome. :)
I liked when you put that plastic spirals in your pocket 5:18. Unexpected but well appreciated! I am looking for a liquid fertilizer that doesn't smell bad as I have neighbors very close. Does it still work, two years later?
Thanks! Yes, it works fine - no smell from the barrel. The only thing that will create a smell is if you bottle it for later use without filtering out any bits. In a bottle those bits will decompose anaerobically and make a bad smell.
Excellent
Thanks Lauretta. :)
brilliant - always regard nettles as a crop but this is better than just adding them to my compost heaps! Will get on it dreckly. Graham (Cornwall)
Proper job!
Love these types of projects! A drainpipe/waste pipe works quite well,
Yes indeed! Smaller scale, but same functionality.
I use a piece of piping, with a funnel at the bottom to fill a collection bottle, and the bottom of a pop bottle at the top of the pipe to serve as a lid (added after some daft sparrows decided to nest in there). I stuff slightly chopped leaves in the top, get the juice at the bottom. I've never actually removed any leaf matter from it, it all just seems to disappear. The whole kit is just inside the greenhouse door, so it's a bit warmer. And close to where I want to use it!
This is an awesome idea and I'll be doing a much smaller scale but can use it for all my gardening weeds.
So glad to be of help. :)
Merci from Montreal, Canada.
You're welcome!
Thanks for the inspiration. I have used nettles soaked in water for years but I wanted to make a concentrate which is easier to keep and store, and we have vast amounts of nettles here. Although I won't be doing literally what you have devised, I have an old redundant worm bin which can be easily converted to do the same thing. I am actually going to start on it this afternoon. Good video and clearly explained. Thanks.
Thanks BertieFox, I hope it works well for you. :)
This was very interesting to me, I only knew about making stinky Nettle tea and this year was going to try again but with a bucket that has a lid. I'll try and think of a way to use some of what we've got around here to make your setup, I only have new rain barrels, maybe I'll use some buckets. Thanks for a very well explained video!
Thanks Mary! Yes, you could use do this on a smaller scale too. Start with what you've got and when you have the chance to get an old water butt or similar you can scale up. :)
Thank you for the thorough explanation. I’m in the subtropics in Australia, lots of sunshine and moisture so I think this method is perfect for the many weeds I get. I don’t like throwing any organic matter away unless it’s diseased so I’ll keep the pernicious weeds for the anaerobic water method and other weeds for this aerobic method. Great advice, thank you 🙏
Thank you Susan! :)
I really love this idea, thank you. It's much better than the anaerobic method! Will be trying this very soon :) I also very much like your stone retained garden area, it's beautiful!
His garden is definitely epic! and this is a great DIY fertilizer, by looks of it.
Thank you! I hope it works well for you too. :)
Every day you learn something new and today is no exception... What a great explanation and teaching. Thank you very much sir. I am taking the first steps in permaculture and every day I am more passionate, I had read about the nettle method, which I don't have at home, but I was seriously thinking if nettle is sold for seeds or something like that. But I had never heard of this getting on the skin, that was great to know. Ruled out the water method lol. As soon as I have the opportunity to do this as you explain it to us, believe me I will be extremely happy, like today, to have found you. I stay on your magnificent channel. Greetings from Tulsa, Oklahoma.
You're welcome! Have fun experimenting. :)
Look up how to identify nettles, they are ALL around you. You'll never look at weeds the same when you identify all the plants outside your door. The Earth has a symbiotic relationship with us and provides all we need on a personal basis wherever we are ❤ Seriously, you probably have nettles on your land or somewhere you have access to. Blessings
very cool
Your method is so much better due to the often off-putting smell of fermenting plants in a water solution. I've done that, and the smell won't even get off my hands. It is distinctly unpleasant, in my opinion. Your method seems to work as fast as the water method, not even needing covering to discourage mosquitos or smells escaping. Those two things alone make your method better. I am going to try it, but probably not with a barrel, maybe just a five gallon bucket to start and see how it goes. I have the buckets, the weights, the out-of-control vines and weeds, etc. and in this season in Florida, the rainfall. There is a man who converted his 1,000 acres over to natural fertilizer using the water method plus micro-organisms for breakdown. But it takes a year for the breakdown to be complete. He has big tanks that strain the solution and sprays his fields. I don't know if your method would help him or not, as he does focus a lot on fungus/inoculant. Anyway, his RUclips channel is The Plant People, and I think you both have much in common. Perhaps you could share information. The method of making "home brew" is key to circumventing the fertilizer shortage/price, even for big growers, if they are willing to learn this method of soil building. Thank you for a great video. I have never see this method before, in all the videos I have seen. Please make more of them to keep them circulating on RUclips and other sites so farmers looking for alternatives can utilize your method. You could do a series of "shorts" on RUclips, and that would help.
Thanks Lynn, I shall look up The Plant People! I learnt how to do this from my friend Pat Bowcock at Ourganics and I think she learnt it in turn from someone in Eire. Anyway, the limiting factor I think is the amount of leaves you can obtain as raw material, but even making a little can make a significant difference.
Beautiful sir
Thank you! :)
Love this video, I'm experimenting using primarily nettles, with clean cardboard, a bit of brown sugar, and some other compostables.
It's always good to experiment! :)
Beautiful organic solution to a problem
Thank you! :)
subscribed too. My channel promotes permaculture too. check it out
Thank you!
Amazing 👍👍
Thank you!
I followed what you did. my plant in good shape very effective liquid fertilizer thank you very much🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
So pleased to hear that Jeffrey! :)
How has the smell been for you?
Great job 👍
Thanks! :)
@@LearnPermaculture You're welcome Sir!
fabulous
Thanks Rachel!
I like this method best. The water method, obvious drawbacks, especially when on a shared property. The fermentation method requires the expense of the sugar. I don't see any drawbacks to this one. I also appreciated hearing which plants preferred which, well plants, ex; Comfrey or Nettles. Not having a current source of nettles, Comfrey will be my go to for now, with the addition of my weeded plants. Thank you for a great video. Appreciate the "scrounged parts" aspect too. :-)
Thanks Helen, I especially enjoy putting to good use other people's junk. Hopefully a lot more leaky water butts will be saved from landfill now.
I agree. I don't mind the smell of the anaerobic stuff, but I lease my uncles land and he's not fond of it, lol. I'm excited to try this!
Terimakasih Saya akan coba ya...
What an excellent demonstration for someone like me who is just now learning about this method. So cool. Thank you for the video!
Thank you Leah! :)
Excellent thankyou 🐝🐝🐝
Thanks Debs!
Thank you I really like this idea. If your not careful feeding your plants organically can cost a fortune I really like this way of making my own, none stinky fertiliser in large ish amounts.
It can indeed. Doing this is really a no-brainer!
Thank you for this info. I live in town and don't have access to a nettle patch but I have plenty of weeds lol, so I guess they will do.
Pretty much any weed growing happily in your garden will contain useful nutrients for your plants. Just use the leaves and stems though as they break down more quickly and avoid putting in seeds if you can.
@@LearnPermaculture would grass be ok (couch grass I think)?. (Thank you for this inspiring video!).
@@tubthump I've not tried, but it can be a useful mulch in the garden if applied thinly enough. I would imagine nettles and confrey are better because they root more deeply than grasses tend too and so could be accessing more minerals/nutrients.
Excellent demo! Thanks for sharing. Will also try this with decomp as items from the garden are done and the fall leaves start coming down. Would like to know the growth production increase with using this method.
Thanks! The best time of year to make this is when the plants are actively making leaves - generally in the spring - as we're collecting the sap/juice. Once plants start making flowers and seeds they pretty much stop making leaves. The liquid does store very well though - in a cool place - and if you ensure that you don't bottle any undecomposed 'bits' it won't smell bad either. I haven't specifically compared the results of feeding with nettles or comfrey vs any other fertiliser, but it's certainly an improvement on none and apart from your time it costs nothing.
Just made similar out of a 55 gallon plastic drum. As I’m in the tropics I’ve used Tithonia and Moringa with an added dash of Leucaena, instead of Comfrey and nettles.
Sounds like a perfect locally adapted version!
This is a brilliant idea!! Thanks!
Thanks Wendy! :)
Great video. I'm definitely going to try this. I made comfrey before in liquid and I just couldn't stand the smell so I never made it again. Thanks for sharing this, it's class 👏
It's one of the worst whiffs...
Makes sense to me! It reminds me of the KNF prep Fermented Plant Juice, but they add a lot of raw brown sugar with the plant material to draw out the liquids much faster and feed beneficial microbes. That certainly works, but at least in my area those amounts of raw sugar end up being pretty costly, and that partly defeats the purpose of making one's own fertilizer in the first place. I have more time than cash, and there are other good ways to encourage the friendly microbes.
I've been using anaerobic comfrey and weed teas for a couple years now, and I'm sort of used to the, uhh, "tastiness" of them. But my wife would probably appreciate me using this version instead ;)
I think she might. :)
sugar? any free fruits or berries e.g. blackberry, spoiled strawberry, apples can perhaps be a sugar source.
@@zam1007 Sugar is usually added to make compost teas or other ferments. That's a different brew from this one. Fermenting nettles with sugar will make a much stronger fertiliser. At the moment we eat all the fruit we get, but some day we might have surplus. :D
i don't like the idea of using sugar or molasses. for the same amount of money i can just go buy a few bags of compost.
@@matthew04101 The beauty of this method is no need for the sugar.
I made some of that with water and the smell is positively the most horrid thing I have ever smelled I can smell it 20 ft from the barrel and it's almost airtight. Can't wait to try this! Nice neighbors behind you. Never play loud music or romp in the gas! Or bum. Well, they might bum a handful of grass.
Yep! The anaerobic version really stinks. This is so so different.
I suppose to make FPJ you could add shredded sugarbeet if you have the room to grow it. I do like the big bin method though. I have a theory that the best food for plants is themselves - juiced, composted or dried and ground as everything they need is there in the right proportions.
Yes indeed. That's why healthy weeds are perfect.
smart ,,thank you
Thanks!
Genius! thank you
You're welcome!
should I keep it in the sun or shade?
@@TheBahiaVibe It depends on where you are. Here in Britain we don't get so much heat from the Sun so I leave mine out to collect as much as possible. If you're in a hotter place and it doesn't rain so much then you might want to keep it in a shadier place. The bacteria that break down the plant tissues need some moisture and like a bit of heat, but not too much or too little of either.
@@LearnPermaculture Great thank you so much I'm in California, and I thought the heat might be to much for the bacterias
@@TheBahiaVibe Then a shady spot should still be warm enough.
Thank you for a well-explained method. I've not made liquid feeds to date and have just had a bigger compost operation as a result. With 2 allotment plots and gathering all raw material that comes my way, I've ended up with 16 dalek bins - all full at this time of year (end May). The reason I was prejudiced against liquid feeds was the smell of anaerobic decomposition (not relevant here) and the lack of control available over potency. I was hoping for more on the latter, which you partly addressed in the video and in comments. There's no point having a fixed dilution ratio if you can't control the strength of the initial liquid. Maybe it doesn't matter as long as it is 'somewhat' diluted....what do you think?
You're right - if you leave the lid off (as I tend to do) then it'll be more dilute when it rains more often. I tend to judge it on the basis of how dark it looks and dilute accordingly. Certainly you could exclude all rainfall and add a more controlled volume of water for wetting the leaves but I haven't found the need to do that. My approach is to start by using a more dilute solution and then increase the strength a little at a time if the needs of any plant arises.
Thank you for a great video, very interesting and informative. What do you do with the nettles in the bottom, do you throw them out or do they stay in until you've finished making LPF?
Hi Martin. Good question! I just emptied them into the compost bin this week (late March), ready for refilling the butts again soon. After the best part of a year you're left with a bit of mush, but mostly just the woody parts of the stems - essentially fragile sticks. I reckon that's a useful addition of carbon to the heap.
@@LearnPermaculture Thank you for clearing that up for me. I've been following your advice for about a week now and I have already harvested a whole liter of LPF thanks to you and your video. I had to watch it again to pick up on the fact I needed to water it lightly during this sunny period, because there was not a lot of product coming out.
@@martincoates390 Yes indeed, the heat of the Sun speeds the process, but the bacteria also need a bit of moisture. Good to hear that your new system is being productive already. :)
I've used comfrey tea for years. I also chop and drop it as mulch. I use Russian Bocking 14 with an NPK of 1.8-0.5-7.0. I brew it in a 32 gallon black garbage can. Let it sit for 3 months to a year. I don't strain it, I just take the sprinkler off the can so I don't clog up the cans. I also use fermented plant juice made from comfrey which I foliar spray. I use only 1/4 teaspoon for 5 gallons. It's very powerful stuff. I also make lacto microorganisms which is also fermented. I combine it with the fermented plant juice and spray it every two weeks. It works pretty well. The only other addition I use for supplemental fertilization is some fast acting bone meal . I will use it when I start to see flowers forming on my tomatoes and peppers. Love it! Blessings to you. This was a wonderful video.
Thank you Tom! Yes, the Bocking varieties produce a lot of leaf and stem in a small space compared to the smaller ones, though I find the latter good for chopping and dropping around young trees where they won't overwhelm them. It sounds like you have a great system there. :)
Hey, thanx a lot for both this idea and video. It is a real pleasure to watch you. I've been using other method for many years, but I will try this for sure. Just one short question-when you put green stuff inside for the first time, do you use some water at that point? Or you leave as it is and wait for some rain?
Keep up the good work. All the best from Serbia!
Thanks Lada. :) I just put it in as it is as there's plenty of liquid in the leaves themselves and packed in the barrel there's little surface for evaporation. I only sprinkle water on it if it's dry for a couple of weeks.
@@LearnPermaculture Thank you, it makes sense. All the best
Terry King, a wonderful master gardener does this on a grand scale on his plot in Britain. Can't remember his channel name, but it should show up with a RUclips search of his name.
Thanks! Yes, I see that he uses the pipe method, but on a bigger scale than the usual drainpipe. Good if you have a structure to attach it to. Not sure he has any more volume than a butt like this can generate though...
Haha didn't see the cow🐄 come by to investigate the drill noise until the second time I watched this. 😂
It's a great moment... :D
Chicken wire and bricks....Geniuuuuuusssss!!!!
I like this idea. You might want to put marks for where the line of holes in on the outside of the bucket. I’m old and would forget where they are over time
Thanks Donna, that's a good idea. On mine I've drilled them in line with the seam on the barrel so I can use that as a marker.
Looking at it, it would be a really good way to pre-process any sort of perennial weeds before adding them to the compost heap. Once they've been in there for a few months they won't regrow, even from roots. You wouldn't be so sure about the content of the liquid but that's a small price to pay.
Thanks!
Yes indeed. As long as you added your weeds before they seed. :)
never expected to get great gardening tips from the late George Carlin
Alive and well, but with a bit less swearing. :D
Now where did I leave my time-travelling telephone box?
@@LearnPermaculture LOL ❤
Thank you. Its so much better without the smell. How long does the liquid keep?
It is isn't it? I store the last batch of the autumn overwinter and use it in early spring, so it can keep quite a long time. The most important thing to do is to sieve it well before bottling it - if there are any bits in it they'll decompose anaerobially in the bottle and make it smelly. Then keep it somewhere cool and dark - we put ours in the garage.
Thank you so much for this very well video, very nicely explained. I would like to do a liquid fertiliser for paprika and tomato, but I don't think we have comfrey in the garden. Could you suggest any other weed? We have lots of nettle and dandelion, some climbing plant and things I don't know yet what they are :))
Thank you. :) Comfrey has nutrients that are especially good for flowering and fruiting plants whereas nettles are higher in nitrogen and are better suited to younger plants still making stems and leaves. That said, any kind of feed will help your plants to some degree, as long as you're watering them enough. While I primarily use nettles and comfrey, almost any leafy plants that are growing healthily but that you are directly cropping can be added to the mix.
Great idea Aranya. Assume you cover it when it’s raining?
I leave it open as the rain washes the oozing laiquid through to the bottom. It's still good and rich, though the collector will fill up more quickly & need emptying more often.
I may try a smaller version using my bokashi 5 gallon bucket, it has a drain hole and everything and a false bottom with holes.
Worth a go Paul, it's a system that can be scaled up or down - until the container gets too small for the leaves of course. :D
Impatient people like me can skip to 8:30 or 9:00 for the useful info.
Thank you for the great video! I was wondering can I add nettles and comfrey to the same barrel?
Absolutely. I just make separate mixes because the nettles come first and also the nettle feed is more nitrogen rich and best suited to feeding plants at their earlier stages and comfrey has more phosphorus which make it better for flower and fruit production.
@@LearnPermaculture Funny how that works out, isn't it? When garden veg typically need higher nitrogen the nettles etc are already available, and by the time comfrey is ready to harvest the garden plants are starting to want more phosphorus.
@@dogslobbergardens6606 Just perfect isn't it?
Great video. Thank! You mentioned that you can keep adding plant material. But does the barrel eventually build up with the plant material that doesn't breakdown? If so, does it inhibit the process at a certain point?
Yes, the fibrous material does accumulate in the bottom of the barrel. At the end of the year I just empty it out and put it on the compost heap, starting afresh each spring.
After watching your video, I am wondering if making a somewhat stronger mixture from your ratio, and mixing a quantity of it with clean yard/garden dirt/clean sand really well just until it's crumbly wouldn't work to sprinkle lightly around the garden plants. Then water it in with the garden hose, or just leave it until the next watering/rain. It seems it would prevent runoff, and would save time of having to keep mixing with water and walking around with a watering can. I have one, and it's heavy when full.
It's certainly worth a try. I'd be inclined to try both methods side by side and see if the results are significantly different.
Thanks for this content. Really useful. You mention nettles and comfrey, but could I use any green matter tree leaves and grass cuttings for example? I also wondered what ratio of feed to water you recommend?
Thanks in advance :)
Thanks Nigel. The best leaves to use are large and soft, like many herbaceous perennials produce. As long as they're not toxic. Many tree leaves tend to be tougher and don't yield their juice so freely - at least here in colder climes. In terms of dilution I start with 20:1 of water to feed and then if the plants are happy with that might dilute less down to 10:1. If the solution has already been diluted with rainwater then you'll need to make a judgement call.
@@LearnPermaculture - Thanks for your response, that’s really helpful :)
Thanks for this very interesting video. I’ve made nettle tea compost in the past and the smell is definitely not ideal. 😁 I’d love to know if I could use this method as a general composting bin. Let’s say adding cuttings from the garden from pruning, weeding (without seeds) etc or is it necessary to have the typical high performers like nettles and comfrey. I don’t have a huge garden and limited access to nettles & comfrey so if I can create compost tea from the things that normally take me ages to break down, that would be amazing.
Hi Breda, I still put much of our general garden waste onto a normal 'pallet bin' style compost heap and our kitchen scraps go into a Hotbin for fast turnaround. I do however put any leaves and stems that will breakdown quickly into this system. So, any seed-free tops of your weeds could be used, but I'd put prunings and roots on the main heap - otherwise your bin will fill up with tougher material that will end up on the compost heap at the end of the year anyway.
@@LearnPermaculture thanks so much. I think I will definitely try this for soft pruning and weeds. I do have a small double bay wooden compost area in my garden but it doesn’t get hot as each bay is too small. I often have too much to put on it so this method could get me using up things that I normally have to throw out. Thanks again!
@@bredajackson7450 It sounds like will solve one problem and create another valuable resource then. :)
JADAM uses the anaerobic vegetable digestion method. JLF - JADAM Liquid Fertilizer.
Thanks Bob, yes, I'm familiar with that.