How to Make Compost Tea: A Q&A with ECO Farm Manager Christian Melendez

A local urban farm, in order to be completely sustainable, uses compost to fertilize its produce plants. ECO's Farm Manager Christian Melendez discusses how Riverdale Park and University Park residents can create their own compost tea at home.

Riverdale Park-University Park Patch: What is compost tea?

Christian Melendez: Compost tea is an excellent fertilizer that can be sprayed onto plants. It's when a batch of compost is steeped in water for about a day.

Patch: How do you make compost?

CM: There are four key ingredients to make compost — greens, or nitrogen; browns, or carbon; oxygen; and water. The farm uses woodchips as its carbon, but residents can use sawdust, leaves or hay. Food waste, grass and brewer's waste are items that can be used as nitrogen.

You know it's a green if flies attract and it stinks. It's a three to one ratio of carbon to nitrogen. You need to add some water so the mixture is moist and stir it regularly.

Store it outside covered with a carbon to defer animals from scavenging. It takes six to eight months to create the compost.

Patch: So what's in the "tea"?

CM: The tea is a couple of handfuls of compost in cheesecloth, steeped in about 5 gallons of water with a bit of molasses. It should soak for about a day and then used within a four- to six-hour period.