Review 193: Compost Tea Making by Marc Remillard

Compost Tea Making
by Marc Remillard
Createspace
Copyright © July 2010
ISBN: 1452822972
120 Pages
$19.95 Paperback
$9.99 Kindle E-dition

I grew up with “green thumb” parents who tended to a number of gardens to grow vegetables for our own dinner table, including several of our neighbors throughout the community.  I remember my father getting up at three in the morning every day during Winter to go out and stoke the fire of a pot bellied stove in his green house and to say good morning to thousands of flats of seedlings.

I hated vegetables and anything related to gardening back then, but these days as Spring approaches, I’m always eager to bid farewell to the grocery store and seek out my local Farmers Markets for fresh fruits and vegetables instead.  For the past four years, I’ve poorly attempted to grow herbs and the occasional tomato or pepper plant in my back yard urban garden, and have since resorted to hostas and bulbs to satisfy by “green” family roots that are slowly turning me into my parents.

My father grew lucrative tomatos by the truck load using only manure, a water hose, and lots of love and attention.  These days, I keep my lawn green using a Miracle Grow spray, but being interested in alternative and “greener” methods of caring for my habitat, I found Marc Remillard’s book, Compost Tea Making, to be quite appealing.

Marc’s book begins with an extensive and scientific approach to compost, what it’s made of, how the organisms in it help each other and help the environment, and so on.  It is quite obvious that he knows what he is talking about!  However, Marc approaches the subject with an often humorous approach and appeals to the reader in almost a fun-loving grade school Biology teacher kind of way.  He is being serious and holds your attention, but you are not bored.  And most importantly, you are learning something.

The second half of the book covers procedures for making compost.  There’s also a plethora of information about the different types of worms and how each is beneficial to your compost heap.  Marc also covers how to make your own worm bed and the do’s and don’ts of how to manage the bed and worms.

Lastly, we learn how to make compost tea and how different environments benefit from it.  Your flowers will bloom longer.  Your vegetables and fruits will be more plentiful.  Your lawn will be greener and healthier.  Even vineyards can benefit from it.  There’s even a troubleshooting section to tell you what to expect and to help you through steps you might be doing wrong.

After absorbing such a wealth of information, I expected the actual brewing process to be just as elaborate, if not more complex.  But the tools you need to set up your brewer can probably be purchased for under $50 total and can all be found at Home Depot.

At 120 pages, I was very impressed by Mr. Remillard’s book because I didn’t feel overwhelmed by useless information.  I’m definitely not an expert gardener, and the author doesn’t treat his readers as such.  He takes you through every step of the process from beginning to end, but he doesn’t just tell you how to do it.  He thoroughly explains each and every aspect of the process as a whole so that you really do get a complete understanding from start to finish.

The book is laced with black and white microscope photos of various compost organisms giving the book a very professional and almost encyclopedic feel. There’s also a personal interview with an organic farmer.  I loved the “blurbs” from various plants and flowers on the book’s exterior too!

So, if you are looking for alternative and “greener” methods for caring for your plants, flowers, lawn, trees, and more, or want to learn how to start composting, I highly recommend Marc Remillard’s Compost Tea Making.