Today was the 2nd Earth Day Celebration that we took part in with our Zero Waste Demonstration Park at Dairy Creek Golf Course. We brewed up 500 gallons of compost tea with the intention to give it all away.
Last year we were an after thought as part of the celebration and we had a whopping 2 people stop by in the 7 hours we were on sight. This year I contacted the event coordinators and worked out a route that would create a bus stop right at our ZW entrance. This was a huge step in the right direction, especially since we were the first stop of the day! What a change from last year as we were not officially part of the celebration at all other than our promotion and a banner that invited attendees to come experience a true Zero Waste Tour.
The first buses began to arrive and no one was getting off the bus. Richard and I thought what the heck is wrong?! So we began to take bottles of tea to the bus stop and commandeer the buses and solicit people to take the tour and give away free tea to interested riders. We coaxed some people off the buses and to their delight our site was not a waste water treatment facility. I asked the first person about where she heard it was a treatment facility and she said that's what she thought compost tea was, a recycled water concoction. Throughout the day we gave about 60 tours and informed people about composting, composting with worms, and brewing their own tea in 5 gallon buckets. Everyone was stoked and perhaps we did not get a huge volume of people, but those we spoke with were informed individuals so we had quality even it the quantity was not huge. It is definitely a step up from 2 attendees last year. I can't wait until next year.
Just to set everyone straight...compost tea is not a recycled water brew. Our tea is composed of worm compost combined with traditional compost that is all created at our Zero Waste Park. We take these ingredients and steep them in 200 to 500 gallons of water (our reclaimed irrigation water, it is important not to use tap water as the chlorine will kill the microbes) to create a tea that is at least 100 times more potent than compost alone. This is because the brewing process takes place between 48-72 hours. In this time the microbial population increases exponentially. These microbes feed on your soil and also provide beneficial mycorrhizae that help your plants take up nutrients and water more efficiently. Essentially this is liquid compost with a healthy dose of microorganisms that really give your plant a boost! If you are interested in a tour of our Demonstration Park or would like some tea please contact me at jheptig@co.slo.ca.us and I would be glad to hook you up. No tour group is too large or too small.
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