best brand bought bagged compost?

I plan to buy one big bag of good OMRI approved compost and wondered about recommended brands?

Will be using in small amounts for aerated compost tea.

Here are a couple places to look at. OMRI listed maybe isn't that critical. The only OMRI listed one I see is the Lane compost on kisorganics. If there is any way you can start a small worm bin or even a decaying pile of leaves outside that you can get fresh, live compost for you teas right when needed. I would worry that a large bag might become "dead" in storage between using small amounts.

https://buildasoil.com/search?options%5Bprefix%5D=last&q=compost

https://www.kisorganics.com/collections/compost/composts

If I was looking to use a commercial product that is 'easy' to get ahold of and has an OMRI certification, I would probably look at something like Espoma Land & Sea. It is a little spendy but widely available.

Timothy Norton wrote:If I was looking to use a commercial product that is 'easy' to get ahold of and has an OMRI certification, I would probably look at something like Espoma Land & Sea. It is a little spendy but widely available.

I checked out their site and see it's only available on the east and west coast in stores.
thanks though!

Les Frijo wrote:Here are a couple places to look at. OMRI listed maybe isn't that critical. The only OMRI listed one I see is the Lane compost on kisorganics. If there is any way you can start a small worm bin or even a decaying pile of leaves outside that you can get fresh, live compost for you teas right when needed. I would worry that a large bag might become "dead" in storage between using small amounts.

https://buildasoil.com/search?options%5Bprefix%5D=last&q=compost

https://www.kisorganics.com/collections/compost/composts

Les, I was hoping to make tea frequently so might use faster than I think.
I suppose it's more likely the compost is 'dead' or inactive when I buy it though🫤

We don't have livestock for a good hot active compost pile anymore...ours is a mouldering kitchen waste pile that never gets hot but after a year or so is good to plant in.

I have this urge to do something simple for a change rather than adding to an already long list of projects and improvements so I thought a good bag of compost might fit right in.

Some of my concern is after reading and re reading the download that Ben posted in my thread about an aerator.   https://permies.com/t/367204/Compost-Tea-Lab-aerators-recommendations#3730027    Compost-Tea-Manual-5thE-Dr.-Elaine-Ingham.pdf
She stresses the importance of using good compost....ours is not.

How about a searchable pdf of every OMRI listed company and product updated every day?

https://www.omri.org/sites/default/files/opl_pdf/CompleteCompany-NOP-EN.pdf

They have some other lists on their site for Canada specifically.

this one sounds great...

https://www.kisorganics.com/collections/compost/products/fortified-earthworm-castings-blend

"Our fungal compost is an excellent addition to any garden. It can be used as a top dressing or as the compost portion in make aerated compost teas."

Judith, I don't know what zone you are in, but we got red wigglers quite by accident when I ordered worm castings from a local person. There were 2 live worms left in the castings, which annoyed me because it was November, so a bit colder already, and I had nothing set up for red wigglers. I didn't know what to do with them so I just put them out in my little compost bin (we lived within city limits on a very small piece of property at the time), told them I was sorry, that that was all I had for them, and wished them well. I assumed they would die because my compost pile never heated up and it was not warm out anymore, plus we were heading into winter. I forgot all about them after that. Six months later, in May, there was something growing from the compost pile that had me curious what it was from, so I dug down a bit to see what type of produce was growing it, only to find literally 100s of red wigglers! I was shocked! Not only did they survive the winter, but clearly thrived! I have since moved to a larger property, but guess who I took with me along with the compost from that bin. So, about 10 years later, I still have an active red wiggler compost pile with the wigglers always surviving the winters even though the compost never heats up. It's wonderful to always have ready what I call super-compost to help get gardens going, compost teas, new compost piles, etc. The compost pile that has the worms I always keep separate since I know they don't do well with onion and garlic refuse, as well as citrus peels, and anything that has salt left on it, since that all burns their very sensitive skin. They also get corrugated cardboard in with them to lay their eggs in and help keep them warmer during the cold months, etc. They are so easy to keep. I love my wiggly worm friends!

Annie, we are zone 7 or so...maybe 7b?
this week we've had nights in the teens and expecting single digits on the weekend.

Sometimes our winters have long cold spells well below freezing.

In the winter of '75-'76 we had 18 below...real temp not wind chill.

I've seriously considered a worm bin...have some worm activity in the kitchen scrap piles but not red wigglers.

I've also looked into bokashi and am tempted by that also.

I'm trying to keep my wandering brain focused on one thing that might give our gardens the biggest boost this next year.😊

Judith Browning wrote:Annie, we are zone 7 or so...maybe 7b?
this week we've had nights in the teens and expecting single digits on the weekend.

Sometimes our winters have long cold spells well below freezing.

In the winter of '75-'76 we had 18 below...real temp not wind chill.

I've seriously considered a worm bin...have some worm activity in the kitchen scrap piles but not red wigglers.

I've also looked into bokashi and am tempted by that also.

I'm trying to keep my wandering brain focused on one thing that might give our gardens the biggest boost this next year.😊

We're in the same zone and have also had some seriously cold weather. In fact, our HVAC system can't keep the house above 61 these days.
I dig down and check on the wigglers every time I add compost for them and always find them moving about. I've been adding more layers of cardboard on top for them this winter to increase the insulation, just to make sure they make it. But we've had brutal winters before, the worst in the last 30 or so years about 5 or 6 years ago, and they made it through that as well. They are a lot hardier than I thought and read about them.

Decades ago i would buy "compost" or "topsoil."   In time, I learned way, way, way, too much ...  

The short version:  I would like to dissuade you from buying compost or topsoil.  Ever.  Instead, I would like for you think about what are the end results that you desire, and then think about how you get there without such commercial products.

15 years ago:



And the stuff you get now is worse.



What you want is happy, healthy growies.  There are many paths to happiness.  Select one that doesn't have commercial products.

hi Paul,

I could probably be easily dissuaded as I've never bought bagged or unbagged compost before, or topsoil for that matter...that is why I was looking for high quality stuff.

I just had the urge to give some of the things we are growing a big boost this year...impatient at 75yrs and reading Elaine Ingham's 'compost tea' manual I was inspired to try.

I've never bought a 'gadget' such as an aerator either (and have not yet)...more plastic.

We have always gardened slowly although in the past had the full range of livestock to provide a bigger boost for growies.

thanks for your input😊

I don't buy compost anymore, in bags, in bulk or any other form. I used to in the winter because I live in Colorado and it gets really cold during the winter.

I've managed to keep a small amount going in a tumbler on my deck, even though I hate using plastic tumblers. I can keep it hot enough not to freeze and inoculate biochar at the same time.

You can also do hot piles in mid-winter as long as you keep the nitrogen levels nice and high. It requires a lot of maintenance if your area gets really cold though, so I've heard. Been meaning to try it out.

Maybe get a 50 pound sack of organic alfalfa pellets.  

Have you tried urine yet?  Wow, it makes a huge and immediate difference.

paul wheaton wrote:Maybe get a 50 pound sack of organic alfalfa pellets.  

Have you tried urine yet?  Wow, it makes a huge and immediate difference.

Yes, the pee bucket has been part of our gardening practices for many years.

We scythe areas for mulch and use all of our mower bagged grass clippings.

I've wondered about alfalfa pellets...might help until the alfalfa I've planted is better established.

I have comfrey everywhere for a green tea and mulching.

Maybe what I need to do is go back over what we have and see how best to utilize differently....reassessing is always ongoing!

Judith,

One thing I thought of that is easy and I've noticed made a difference bringing life back on abused farmland is to use a diverse inoculant something like this one. This had the most diversity of the ones I've looked at.

https://plantrevolution.com/collections/shop/products/great-white

I just mix some with water and water in once when planting a new tree etc. A little goes a long ways. Dust some on the roots of transplants. I figure once I know there's the life I want in the soil, as long as I'm feeding with mulch and chop-n-dropping etc. the microorganisms can reproduce and take care of themselves after that. I don't follow their recommendations of every week or whatever. I think that is more for the alternative growing methods than a living soil.

I second the organic alfalfa too. Easy to just scatter the pellets around and let the 'invisible' magic happen.

https://redefiningcompost.com/where-to-buy/

Seacoast is the best commercial compost that I've used. We used it to make tea at a commercial scale (like 500 gallons at a time) and were very happy with the results.

I will agree with Paul though that you likely have a lot of paths to your goal that don't require purchasing something, or that could lead you to feeling the need to purchase less than you're currently thinking

I remember you are in the ozarks but don’t remember which major town you are closest to. There are a few hydroponics/organic shops around Springfield and Branson that should have a choices and hopefully someone that knows what they are talking about.

This is also a good product, have used it for years on our garden. Quite affordable, 1 gallon will treat a lot of territory. Found out about it years ago at an Acres USA Conference. I was in the exhibition area and asked a farmer there did he use any of the products on display. He said yes, Natur's Way Soil Biological, had been using it for years. His brother farming right across the road did not use it, he said the difference in soil hardness and tilth was very noticeable between the treated and untreated farm.

https://naturs-way.com/soil.htm

thanks everyone!

Have decided to put this off....because $$$.

I still really like the idea of an aerated compost tea although not being able to afford something is often a good thing for us.

...am rereading 'one straw revolution' to get me back on track😏

I assume that you do not make compost.  Compost is highly desirable for compost tea though another tea of value would be weed tea.

Weed tea is a quick way to get nutrients especially nitrogen.

A couple months ago, I was watching lots of Dr. Ingham's videos and I noted down two particular brands of compost she suggested for their complete biota. I just searched through all the place I thought it would be and can't find it now. One of them had Alaska in the name (which probably doesn't suggest cheap shipping -- but I'd spring for it one time in order to get started with the right inoculant.)  If I find it and discover that they're still in business, I'll come back to this thread with info.

Anne Miller wrote:I assume that you do not make compost.  Compost is highly desirable for compost tea though another tea of value would be weed tea.

Weed tea is a quick way to get nutrients especially nitrogen.

We do make compost but the slow mouldering kind...layers of kitchen scraps and foliage of different kinds...pee bucket but no manures...we leave it in place and eventually plant a bush or a tree....it is not a hot compost nor is it turned.

and I do make weed teas...comfrey etc for a nutrient boost for certain plants poured on the soil.

What Elaine Ingram describes in her book 'Compost Tea Manual' is using a more complex active compost (tea quality) to be aerated for a period of time and then used to provide beneficial organisms, etc. to foliage surfaces and soil.

I don't have the info in front of me to explain further but I am convinced it could give plants a healthy boost.

She goes into great detail about the quality of compost required to get a beneficial aerated compost tea and we do not produce that here

One year we were given one of those spin type composters.

Dear hubby only put grass clipping in it and it made such great compost which I plated directly into to see the difference. It was amazing.

I don't know if it ever got hot and was only aerated by the spinning.

When I moved, I bought a bag of each of the best 3-4 worm casting and compost brands I could find through Sparetime Supply to inoculate my Johnson Su compost piles and make teas or extracts with to broadcast inoculate. I now make my own, as any bagged product is going to be at the mercy of the distributor and seller (much like beer, which I’ve learned not to judge unless getting from brewery instead of a random grocer in the boonies. Both are living products). From what I have heard by the owner/founder/director of Malibu Compost on podcasts, I think they would be where I'd go to now for your needs. He seems knowledgeable, well intentioned and fastidious in his sourcing and testing.

https://www.malibucompost.com/

h

Anne Miller wrote:One year we were given one of those spin type composters.

Dear hubby only put grass clipping in it and it made such great compost which I plated directly into to see the difference. It was amazing.

I don't know if it ever got hot and was only aerated by the spinning.

That's a great result!
grass clippings are wonderful.

We add them to the compost pile and mulch with them thinly around certain plants.
I believe I've made a tea with them in the past.
I've read that a steady application of grass clippings is all the nutrients needed in a garden...have never had enough to test that.
The tumbler you used must have worked just right to keep the green grass from becoming a slimy mass which it does if piled or spread too deep.

Ben Zumeta wrote:When I moved, I bought a bag of each of the best 3-4 worm casting and compost brands I could find through Sparetime Supply to inoculate my Johnson Su compost piles and make teas or extracts with to broadcast inoculate. I now make my own, as any bagged product is going to be at the mercy of the distributor and seller (much like beer, which I’ve learned not to judge unless getting from brewery instead of a random grocer in the boonies. Both are living products). From what I have heard by the owner/founder/director of Malibu Compost on podcasts, I think they would be where I'd go to now for your needs. He seems knowledgeable, well intentioned and fastidious in his sourcing and testing.

https://www.malibucompost.com/

at first glance it looks like they only sell in the west....sounds like a great compost though.

I know what you mean about shipping/storage ...another time I was tempted by what looked like good OMRI approved bagged compost at our local feed store but it was sweating out in the sun in their parking lot and who knows how hot it had been on the way there? I didn't buy any.

Judith Browning wrote:

Ben Zumeta wrote:When I moved, I bought a bag of each of the best 3-4 worm casting and compost brands I could find through Sparetime Supply to inoculate my Johnson Su compost piles and make teas or extracts with to broadcast inoculate. I now make my own, as any bagged product is going to be at the mercy of the distributor and seller (much like beer, which I’ve learned not to judge unless getting from brewery instead of a random grocer in the boonies. Both are living products). From what I have heard by the owner/founder/director of Malibu Compost on podcasts, I think they would be where I'd go to now for your needs. He seems knowledgeable, well intentioned and fastidious in his sourcing and testing.

https://www.malibucompost.com/

at first glance it looks like they only sell in the west....sounds like a great compost though.

I know what you mean about shipping/storage ...another time I was tempted by what looked like good OMRI approved bagged compost at our local feed store but it was sweating out in the sun in their parking lot and who knows how hot it had been on the way there? I didn't buy any.

A very informative podcast, this episode with the aforementioned director of Malibu Compost. It is pricey, but probably worth it for a one time inoculant if starting out. This is also a great reason to join a garden club or permaculture guild, or local school garden work party. I think something benign but akin to toxoplasmosis happens with composting people where we want to help spread those good microbes.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/farm-small-farm-smart/id1271270819?i=1000755380943