Manure Tea

Manure Tea

Natures' Liquid Plant Food

Manure Tea is the colored water that manure has been steeped in. The nutrients from the manure dissolve into the water, making a concentrated Liquid Garden Fertilizer. You may find Rabbit Manure to be much less aromatic than most other manures, and the Tea likewise.

Use it to dip every new plant before you transplant them. Dip only the root ball, until bubbles quit coming to the surface of the Tea container.

Also use Tea to wet furrows before planting, and fill holes with it before you plant trees or shrubs. Wait until it dissipates before you plant, to allow the nutrients to permeate the nearby soil. Also submerge root balls of trees and shrubs into it until the bubbles stop rising, before planting them. We're betting your Gardening success will improve.

To make the Tea, put five quarts of manure on a 3' X 3' square of burlap or other porous cloth that will act as a strainer to separate the solids from the liquid. Tie the four corners of the burlap together to form a bag. Put the bag in a 5-gallon bucket and add three gallons of warm water. Allow it to steep in the warm sunshine for a week. Remove the bag and suspend it above the bucket until it stops dripping.

You can speed up the process by putting manure directly into the water for 3 days, stirring daily. Then put the burlap over a second bucket and pour the mixture from the first bucket onto the burlap to remove the solids. Suspend these solids as above.

The solids will not have released all their nutrients to the Tea,
and they will still be beneficial as a soil Amendment.

To use the Tea, dilute it until it is about the color of Kitchen Tea. This should be about one cup of concentrate to one gallon of water. Use it to water your plants at soil level. It is not recommended for wetting the leaves because the evaporation may increase whatever aroma is present in the Tea.

Experience will indicate how much Concentrate to use, depending on the strength of your particular batches. Plants in Containers may require more Tea than those in the Garden, since the garden soil will minimize Leaching. Keep a lid or garbage bag on the bucket to prevent mosquitoes from breeding. Store the Concentrate in a cool dark place, where It will remain effective for many seasons.

If you have Many plants, you may want to consider a larger "bucket"
like the one shown buried in this photo:

Read the Details HERE