As I wake up to the cool breeze blowing through the window of my cabin, the dawn chorus is just wrapping up its morning symphony. Summer is a busy time here, and I try to make use of the early morning hours to get my outdoor work done. Strolling down the hill I bid "good morning" to Desta as she makes her way down to milk the goats and let out the ducks and chickens. We can expect about a gallon of milk per day as well as a dozen and a half duck and chicken eggs.
I spend a good hour watering vegetables, fruits, and flowers in our 2 acre organic garden. The sweet spicy smell of basil drifts up to me as I make my way around the raised beds. The sun is just now starting to peek down into the garden. After poking around in the greenhouses looking for an elusive ripe tomato, I begin gathering ingredients to start a new batch of compost tea. We have a small 5 gallon KIS brewer and I have been experimenting with different tea recipes over the past few years. Today I will try a mixture of kelp extract, molasses, fish emulsion, humic acid, bone meal, and oyster shell flour. Once all of that is added to the brewer, I turn on the aerator and add a mix of our best composts from last season. The tea will be ready to apply later this evening. I leave behind the sweet smell and gentle gurgling of the compost tea and head up into our strawbale-insulated dormitory to check the time.
