[Squashmania]

David the Good has a t-shirt (and a song) about composting your enemies. What he really means by that isn’t returning your ex to the land, but using weeds as fertilizer (cue the creepy music and the deep echoing bwahahaha laughter from deep inside the castle)

HOW TO MAKE:

I have a 55 gallon pickle barrel that is dark colored with a well-fitted lid. I had it filled 2/3 with water. A smaller barrel could be used (30 gallon plastic barrels are somewhat common) Putting this beauty near a hose is more than ideal.

I have a LOT of weeds. As I pulled weeds (mostly the green parts because I didn’t trust this process to deactivate the seeds) You throw weeds, urine, animal manure…heck, I chopped up a bluegill and put that in. And then you add something heavy to keep all that stuff under the surface of the water. I used a nursery stock pot with some dirt in it. A piece of firewood, etc, would also work.

You want this weedy wonderland under the water because you are now looking for ANAEROBIC breakdown of the aforementioned weeds.

Y’know how compost tea requires water, compost in a net bag, and an aquarium bubbler to encourage aerobic microbiota proliferation?

Well, DFSW isn’t like that at All. It’s easier. It is a set it and write a date on the calendar kinda thing. He recommends 3 weeks to let this elixir of the land rot down and become worthy.

So you have filled the vessel with water, put in your bunches and handfuls and bags of the corpses of the enemy (weeds), and weighed it down. Next, that tight fitting lid goes on, so your property doesn’t turn into a mosquito refuge and breeding colony.

Then walk away.

Write a date 3 weeks from now on the calendar or in your phone app.

–3 weeks has passed–

You go to the barrel. It looks like when you left it. You are now going to gird your loins. Really. Because anaerobic breakdown isn’t for the faint of heart. And when you open that barrel, you will want to flip off the lid and like a fine wine… Let it breathe. It isn’t the bog of eternal stench, but could get a runner-up nomination. Important point. This stuff is only stinky when the barrel is open. When it is dilute and on the garden, the smell is much less noticeable, and after 24 hours, can’t really be appreciated.

Decanting this eau de vie (water of life) is a challenge for me. I don’t have my barrel on a platform, or have a fancy spigot in the bottom, which are all permutations on design. A large ladle or pot to pull the DFSW out is pretty ideal. You can dilute it as much as you want, but David recommends from 3:1 to 10:1. So, 3 parts water, to one part DFSW. I think of the scoop I am using as “one”, so I know how much water to add.

Important point. Because the anaerobic bacteria are different from aerobic bacteria, you don’t want to put it directly on plants you are about to consume. ( Like pouring it on the whole bean plant, then picking beans) Instead, fertilize at the BASE of the plant or around the root zone. If you have used this in the last 24 hours, just make sure to wash your garden goodies before eating. This is SO hard for me to remember, and I am a garden grazer while I am picking.

I leave all the weedy bits in the water to continue to rot, while adding more weeds and water and continuing a perpetual cycle throughout the season. I have dumped a barrel out and put all that in the compost pile and started fresh. I have overwintered a batch to have a Spring jump start ready.

I hope this helps, or it was at least entertaining.