Serving the Metro Boston Bioregion and Surrounding Area

Safe for Children, Pets, Bee's & all Living Things!

Place-Based, Purpose-Oriented, Data-Driven

What is Compost Tea?

Compost tea can be described as a highly concentrated liquid compost solution comprised of trillions of beneficial microbes, which can be applied as a fertilizer to any plant life, increasing the carbon content of the soil. Increasing carbon means expanding the microbial life of the soil. Compost tea is made by steeping biologically active compost in aerated water, creating an oxygen-rich liquid environment where microbes can proliferate.

What are the results of Compost Tea application?

When compost tea is applied to soil, organic matter increases, microbial life proliferates, soil texture improves, roots go deeper, worms drag organic matter down their holes and make rich castings of nitrogen, nutrient uptake is enhanced, and water retention increases severalfold (creating drought-tolerant insurance). This covers all typical issues related to fertility, pests, weeds, and yield, removing the necessity for chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides since well-nourished plants exhibit greater resistance to pests and diseases. Just like humans, plants also have an immune system. Plants grown in healthy soil are more likely to have a strong immune system that can fight off diseases and resist the damage of pests.

Why use Compost Tea?

Compost tea is an eco-effective way to convert linear waste flows into valuable material stocks within a circular economy. This closed-loop system is designed to keep material flows of waste cycling by repurposing food scraps typically discarded in landfills and reintegrating them into the soil as a value retention strategy. Compost tea is a safe alternative to the 4 billion tons of chemical fertilizers used globally yearly, contributing to downstream externalities that drive social and environmental injustice. This alternative regenerates resources and living systems by reducing the impacts of ecosystem degradation caused by NPK fertilizer production. Further, compost tea is renewable because it replaces the finite material throughput of NPK fertilizers with the renewable labor throughput of tireless efforts of trillions of soil microorganisms. Compost tea is a radical collaboration effort between man and microbe that designs pollution, toxicity, and waste out of the system. Compost tea restores degraded lands and improves the resources it uses rather than destroying or depleting them.

Long Term Results

No regenerative process combats global warming as effectively as capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide in the soil. Regenerative agriculture shows remarkable benefits, with farmers reporting organic matter levels rising from 1-2% to 5-8% in ten years. Each percent of soil carbon equals 8.5 tons of carbon per acre, totaling 25 to 60 tons over time. Regenerative agriculture may grow from 108 million to 1 billion acres by 2050, driven by the growth rate of organic agriculture. This could lead to a reduction of 23.2 gigatons of carbon dioxide through sequestration and lower emissions. By 2050, regenerative agriculture has the potential to yield a $1.9 trillion financial return on an investment of $57 billion. This demonstrates that we can effectively address the climate crisis while generating profit. For those aware of the severity of the climate crisis, regenerative agriculture offers hope. The idea that we can harness the benefits of intact ecosystems to turn this situation around feels almost miraculous.

About Us

Statement of Purpose

The IPCC warns that the world will lose its remaining topsoil in 60 years due to industrial agriculture. One-third of topsoil has vanished since 1970, and with over two-thirds of land desertified, billions may soon be soil refugees. Poor land management and rising populations threaten food security for future generations. A global crisis is here, and the human race faces a razor-thin timeline for a radical reorientation of civilization. Unfortunately, few recognize the urgency of this reality. Avoiding environmental catastrophes will require transforming our global economy, society, and way of life without precedent in human history. Scientists warn that climate change drives humanity and other species toward the sixth mass extinction. The last major extinction event occurred 65 million years ago. Species extinction from human activity is accelerating rapidly enough to threaten more than half of all species by the end of this century. Scientists face a colossal challenge as extinction rates surpass the time needed to observe biodiversity loss extinction. The soil is the planet's most biodiverse habitat, containing more living microorganisms in just one teaspoon than stars in the sky.

However, the rate at which topsoil is being depleted is causing immeasurable microbiological biodiversity loss, trophic cascade, and runaway extinction vortices. Suppose the entirety of the global economy is subsidized by nature, and the soil subsidizes all of nature. In that case, the ability of soil to facilitate the carrying capacity of the global Western capitalist economy, based on the false promise of infinite growth, cannot continue unchecked. However, the health and quality of soil is generally overlooked. Bridging this gap is our purpose here at the Permaculturist. Beyond just environmental impact, compost tea is a significant catalyst for social change. Contrary to popular belief, a fundamental transformation in global human behavior starts at a microscopic scale, not at the local level. Instead of waiting for top-down political changes that may come too late, we advocate for grassroots initiatives to foster change from the bottom up, starting with the soil.

Our 9 Operating Principles

1. insists on rights of human and nature to coexist. 2. Recognizes Interdependence. 3. Respects the relationship between spirit and matter. 4. Accepts responsibility for consequences of design. 5. Creates safe objects for long-term value. 6. Eliminates the concept of waste. 7. Rely on natural energy flows. 8. Understand the limitation of design. 9. Seek constant improvement by the sharing of knowledge.

Mission Statement

As early adopters of regenerative and circular disciplines, The Permaculturist's mission is to transform linear waste streams from the linear economy into circular value stocks. As a company, we seek to exemplify a new economic direction that improves soil health, eradicates poverty, reduces inequalities, fosters resilience, and sequesters more atmospheric CO2. Our goal is to exemplify by creating environmental management practices that align with the global target of restricting the temperature rise to 1.5°C, essential for sustaining the planet’s ability to support 9.5 billion people by 2050.

Aldo Leopold: The Land Ethic

The Land Ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, water, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land. A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong if it tends otherwise. The land ethic changes the role of Homo sapiens from conqueror of the land community to plain member or citizen of it. It implies respect for his fellow-members, and also respect for the community as such. We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.

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