Just a short note to start - here is a cool frog who peeked his head into what I was doing in the garden. He's hanging off the branch of a tree fern. Looks like a baby tree frog. Frogs are a good sign that something is right in your garden. They are amongst the most sensitive creatures to non-organic substances - herbicides and pesticides.

I decided to try a BFA certified (Biological Farmers of Australia) product this week that apparently promotes nitrogen fixation, increased phosphorous availability and helps to create humus soil in your garden. It is a product that contains bacteria and fungi that are beneficial to your garden. Believe it or not, but 90% of soil is bacteria and fungus. It is a little like your gut. There are good and bad bacteria there too. More of the good stuff keep the bad stuff at bay. By brewing a couple of teaspoons of this product in a compost brewer, it creates billions of these good bacteria and fungi that can then be poured on your garden or fruit/nut trees to give them a helping hand. Being a totally organic product, it is in fact killed by herbicides and pesticides.

I have made compost teas in the past in which I have brewed compost for a couple of days to good effect. This product uses a similar process and I had all the gear so I thought I would try it out.

Here is what I used for this brew. A simple plastic bin, an aquarium aerator with flexible air stone tubing, an aquarium heater, some rock minerals containing essential minerals, a seaweed solution - always great for the vegie patch, some of the product - Nutri-Life 4/20 from Nutri-Tech, and some molasses. Ok here we go...

Make a loop out of the air tubing. This is an alternative to an air 'stone' and is flexible tubing with tiny holes - perfect for a job like this. I have a two outlet aerator here that pushes out twice as much air. Coil the tubing inside the base of the container so that it will create bubbles all the way round. Insert the aquarium heater.

Fill up with water and set the aerator and heater running. I set the heater at about 25 degree celcius. It can be set higher or lower depending upon whether you are looking for a brew with more bacteria or more fungus. Add a couple of tablespoons of rock minerals.

Add some seaweed solution diluted to what is states on your package. Some are pre-diluted and some are concentrate so look carefully. Then add the molasses. This is the food for the bacteria and fungus. They basically use that and the oxygen to reproduce. I added about a cup full here (250ml). That seemed to be enough although truthfully I was just guessing. The packaging for the Nutri-Life 4-20 stated that I should use their branded specific food but it is not organic certified, so I thought I would try using something that does a similar job and is organic.

I put in a heaped teaspoon and a half. I have a 250ml pack which is apparently enough for a few hectares and my plot is a few metres! Here is the brew in action.

Bingo! The packet said 1 day later, but I cooked it up for two because it wasn't frothing up much. It was actually frothing a lot more the night before but I wasn't about to spread it on the garden in the dark! The water had a lot of white particles floating in it - a good sign that the brew had allowed the bacteria and fungus to reproduce. The lower I got into the barrel the more particles there were.

I mixed the brew at a ratio of about 1/4 brew to 3/4 water and watered it onto the garden and fruit trees. I will post the results and any improvement in soil quality or plant health that I observe. The soil here is quite clay and it is slowly improving as I add compost/manures/lime etc. Remember - when performing all tasks with bacteria and fungi - wear a mask because they love to reproduce in warm, dark areas - just like your lungs!