{
  "block": 106142978,
  "op": [
    "delegate_vesting_shares",
    {
      "delegatee": "egolution",
      "delegator": "steem",
      "vesting_shares": "7120.635099 VESTS"
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2026-05-17T23:51:33",
  "trx_id": "2dbabb9133e7e079a4e714f6c3ad63230e020588",
  "trx_in_block": 1,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 105973779,
  "op": [
    "delegate_vesting_shares",
    {
      "delegatee": "egolution",
      "delegator": "steem",
      "vesting_shares": "4408.424694 VESTS"
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2026-05-12T02:13:48",
  "trx_id": "80878e4e7efe15c33902e5778bfe339432bdad91",
  "trx_in_block": 1,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 105510639,
  "op": [
    "delegate_vesting_shares",
    {
      "delegatee": "egolution",
      "delegator": "steem",
      "vesting_shares": "7133.150855 VESTS"
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2026-04-25T23:13:03",
  "trx_id": "6cb6448e21e944f60545cbf1a8f69e947b77765e",
  "trx_in_block": 1,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 102850524,
  "op": [
    "delegate_vesting_shares",
    {
      "delegatee": "egolution",
      "delegator": "steem",
      "vesting_shares": "4449.971513 VESTS"
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2026-01-23T06:43:48",
  "trx_id": "422f3de5fda03dcb8dd4b500f9793b73b5d0166a",
  "trx_in_block": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 91296942,
  "op": [
    "delegate_vesting_shares",
    {
      "delegatee": "egolution",
      "delegator": "steem",
      "vesting_shares": "4614.190710 VESTS"
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2024-12-17T02:03:12",
  "trx_id": "949f2b0a80b149faa92db50a14727caefd266441",
  "trx_in_block": 2,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 79851145,
  "op": [
    "delegate_vesting_shares",
    {
      "delegatee": "egolution",
      "delegator": "steem",
      "vesting_shares": "4783.324242 VESTS"
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2023-11-13T17:46:00",
  "trx_id": "af17d22cb5b7d7a48f4217949167581cd55e09f6",
  "trx_in_block": 1,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 78347262,
  "op": [
    "delegate_vesting_shares",
    {
      "delegatee": "egolution",
      "delegator": "steem",
      "vesting_shares": "7720.603028 VESTS"
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2023-09-21T21:21:30",
  "trx_id": "10d6bc042e1f232ba162ec5c47318146b6569b4d",
  "trx_in_block": 6,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 69112683,
  "op": [
    "delegate_vesting_shares",
    {
      "delegatee": "egolution",
      "delegator": "steem",
      "vesting_shares": "7942.284466 VESTS"
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2022-11-03T11:13:09",
  "trx_id": "bab7e6fe7b92920649dc0e0d8b82eba387aaaa76",
  "trx_in_block": 1,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 60808894,
  "op": [
    "delegate_vesting_shares",
    {
      "delegatee": "egolution",
      "delegator": "steem",
      "vesting_shares": "8162.817697 VESTS"
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2022-01-17T10:31:21",
  "trx_id": "6fb4359c86a7368e3eb8871a3f8a343b41d061f0",
  "trx_in_block": 30,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 54607305,
  "op": [
    "delegate_vesting_shares",
    {
      "delegatee": "egolution",
      "delegator": "steem",
      "vesting_shares": "8346.586355 VESTS"
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2021-06-14T00:27:42",
  "trx_id": "c309ea726bb9131e6b3ad39b90f639e797f593a2",
  "trx_in_block": 2,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 49354783,
  "op": [
    "delegate_vesting_shares",
    {
      "delegatee": "egolution",
      "delegator": "steem",
      "vesting_shares": "8534.008329 VESTS"
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2020-12-11T10:47:18",
  "trx_id": "b7a8ee55ddd01bd2fd022ce1b654177284ae39a1",
  "trx_in_block": 12,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 49206351,
  "op": [
    "delegate_vesting_shares",
    {
      "delegatee": "egolution",
      "delegator": "steem",
      "vesting_shares": "1912.543513 VESTS"
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2020-12-06T04:24:39",
  "trx_id": "19d86173ebcdf3d710ac85606c843a6dac5271b7",
  "trx_in_block": 1,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 49189883,
  "op": [
    "delegate_vesting_shares",
    {
      "delegatee": "egolution",
      "delegator": "steem",
      "vesting_shares": "8540.216183 VESTS"
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2020-12-05T14:25:36",
  "trx_id": "358bd8f5d54e89f01a76e238b6930ea779d9521e",
  "trx_in_block": 2,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 48256863,
  "op": [
    "delegate_vesting_shares",
    {
      "delegatee": "egolution",
      "delegator": "steem",
      "vesting_shares": "1920.017158 VESTS"
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2020-11-02T14:50:39",
  "trx_id": "a2f1f2fce1a57b1fcb7ccf95b96895185295ee75",
  "trx_in_block": 6,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 43216589,
  "op": [
    "delegate_vesting_shares",
    {
      "delegatee": "egolution",
      "delegator": "steem",
      "vesting_shares": "8743.021542 VESTS"
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2020-05-09T05:21:33",
  "trx_id": "4990d35515550dd6831b9a3072062156cb1adb51",
  "trx_in_block": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 43192617,
  "op": [
    "delegate_vesting_shares",
    {
      "delegatee": "egolution",
      "delegator": "steem",
      "vesting_shares": "1953.311140 VESTS"
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2020-05-08T08:54:03",
  "trx_id": "f09c693382929647586136179089bde579cd1592",
  "trx_in_block": 6,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 40416419,
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "author": "steemitboard",
      "body": "Congratulations @egolution! You received a personal award!\n\n<table><tr><td>https://steemitimages.com/70x70/http://steemitboard.com/@egolution/birthday2.png</td><td>Happy Birthday! - You are on the Steem blockchain for 2 years!</td></tr></table>\n\n<sub>_You can view [your badges on your Steem Board](https://steemitboard.com/@egolution) and compare to others on the [Steem Ranking](https://steemitboard.com/ranking/index.php?name=egolution)_</sub>\n\n\n###### [Vote for @Steemitboard as a witness](https://v2.steemconnect.com/sign/account-witness-vote?witness=steemitboard&approve=1) to get one more award and increased upvotes!",
      "json_metadata": "{\"image\":[\"https://steemitboard.com/img/notify.png\"]}",
      "parent_author": "egolution",
      "parent_permlink": "the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea",
      "permlink": "steemitboard-notify-egolution-20200131t181102000z",
      "title": ""
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2020-01-31T18:11:03",
  "trx_id": "58e91b970d19aadd0ea754fe27dfff9facae2178",
  "trx_in_block": 4,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 33533149,
  "op": [
    "delegate_vesting_shares",
    {
      "delegatee": "egolution",
      "delegator": "steem",
      "vesting_shares": "8937.692086 VESTS"
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2019-06-05T12:25:24",
  "trx_id": "6dcf273fc1731c90df89ccacbe9b9354791f1959",
  "trx_in_block": 14,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 29945239,
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "author": "steemitboard",
      "body": "Congratulations @egolution! You received a personal award!\n\n<table><tr><td>https://steemitimages.com/70x70/http://steemitboard.com/@egolution/birthday1.png</td><td>Happy Birthday! - You are on the Steem blockchain for 1 year!</td></tr></table>\n\n<sub>_[Click here to view your Board](https://steemitboard.com/@egolution)_</sub>\n\n\n> Support [SteemitBoard's project](https://steemit.com/@steemitboard)! **[Vote for its witness](https://v2.steemconnect.com/sign/account-witness-vote?witness=steemitboard&approve=1)** and **get one more award**!",
      "json_metadata": "{\"image\":[\"https://steemitboard.com/img/notify.png\"]}",
      "parent_author": "egolution",
      "parent_permlink": "the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea",
      "permlink": "steemitboard-notify-egolution-20190131t190606000z",
      "title": ""
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2019-01-31T19:06:06",
  "trx_id": "cace3bc3a899c007b4938b9b1b22eb79e45c67c3",
  "trx_in_block": 5,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 23262037,
  "op": [
    "delegate_vesting_shares",
    {
      "delegatee": "egolution",
      "delegator": "steem",
      "vesting_shares": "9136.934201 VESTS"
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-06-12T16:43:00",
  "trx_id": "1d045cd4daad06c24a62db5662873f3723ab206d",
  "trx_in_block": 38,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 22546236,
  "op": [
    "delegate_vesting_shares",
    {
      "delegatee": "egolution",
      "delegator": "steem",
      "vesting_shares": "29496.495218 VESTS"
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-05-18T19:17:12",
  "trx_id": "bab4c1dc877080299c812a8445490f8544b4d3a2",
  "trx_in_block": 27,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 22047665,
  "op": [
    "transfer",
    {
      "amount": "0.001 STEEM",
      "from": "bigshot",
      "memo": "✪♨✪ Hi friend ! Do you want that your post was noticed ? Resteem to 16.000+ Follower , Upvote 100% , + 35 Upvote . Send 1 SBD or STEEM to @bigshot ( URL in the Memo ) . Service Active ✪♨✪",
      "to": "egolution"
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-05-01T11:43:42",
  "trx_id": "51d3cea4764dda47c62901af3cadb0341a771db9",
  "trx_in_block": 16,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 21254676,
  "op": [
    "transfer",
    {
      "amount": "0.001 STEEM",
      "from": "resteemboss",
      "memo": "★★★ Hi, my friend! Wishes success in your creativity on Steemit! If your post hasn't been noticed , @resteemboss can help you. Send 1.5 SBD or STEEM to @resteemboss or to any of 4 services, and we will make resteem to 50.000+ followers, guarantee + 45 upvote , your post will be surely noticed . RESTEEM BOT 4 in 1 . @bigshot + @hotlist + @re-blog + @artcity . Service Active ★★★",
      "to": "egolution"
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-04-03T22:15:42",
  "trx_id": "781c5185e18b61afe676fd774329f40826199383",
  "trx_in_block": 74,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20860726,
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "author": "riverflows",
      "body": "This is an amzing and informative article - well done you!! I use comfrey - it's right near my vegie patch so I can layer it in the compost, and I have two big bins there so I can rip big leaves off and chuck in the water so it's constantly brewing. I bottle it up and give it away sometimes, and everyone swears their plants just grow by sniffing at it!!",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"gardening\"],\"app\":\"steemit/0.1\"}",
      "parent_author": "egolution",
      "parent_permlink": "the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea",
      "permlink": "re-egolution-the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea-20180321t051419023z",
      "title": ""
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-21T05:14:18",
  "trx_id": "7213906c8f3efce718c256002142604f64a36641",
  "trx_in_block": 30,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20860705,
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "author": "egolution",
      "permlink": "the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea",
      "voter": "riverflows",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-21T05:13:15",
  "trx_id": "02336a1df8f53ff68815217695866f3d98d28482",
  "trx_in_block": 12,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20815859,
  "op": [
    "transfer",
    {
      "amount": "0.001 STEEM",
      "from": "sportic",
      "memo": "Resteem to 19.000+ Followers . Min +30 Upvote , +100% Upvote Sportic . Send 1 SBD or STEEM to @sportic ( URL in the memo ) . Service Active",
      "to": "egolution"
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-19T15:48:36",
  "trx_id": "6b6c6923bd2c7d7413d2d80a88eb9bdd9f98a207",
  "trx_in_block": 16,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20814406,
  "op": [
    "author_reward",
    {
      "author": "egolution",
      "permlink": "the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea",
      "sbd_payout": "0.263 SBD",
      "steem_payout": "0.008 STEEM",
      "vesting_payout": "306.157798 VESTS"
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-19T14:36:00",
  "trx_id": "0000000000000000000000000000000000000000",
  "trx_in_block": 4294967295,
  "virtual_op": 25
}

{
  "block": 20788825,
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "author": "liberyworms",
      "body": "This article is very well written with lots of good information.  I use an abundance of different things in my tea brews depending on what I am brewing for.  Have you ever tried using frass in your brews?  It really made a big difference in mine and then I top feed the tea brew mix back into my plants or worm bins.",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"gardening\"],\"app\":\"steemit/0.1\"}",
      "parent_author": "egolution",
      "parent_permlink": "the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea",
      "permlink": "re-egolution-the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea-20180318t171645480z",
      "title": ""
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-18T17:16:48",
  "trx_id": "535ce5d8a8cffc0397f41c2dd313df3ab03df2aa",
  "trx_in_block": 34,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20732606,
  "op": [
    "author_reward",
    {
      "author": "egolution",
      "permlink": "the-soil-food-web-archaea-and-the-origins-of-earth",
      "sbd_payout": "0.047 SBD",
      "steem_payout": "0.000 STEEM",
      "vesting_payout": "44.909871 VESTS"
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-16T18:25:06",
  "trx_id": "0000000000000000000000000000000000000000",
  "trx_in_block": 4294967295,
  "virtual_op": 6
}

{
  "block": 20707921,
  "op": [
    "author_reward",
    {
      "author": "egolution",
      "permlink": "h1agriculture-and-blockchain-making-cents-of-the-futureh1",
      "sbd_payout": "0.051 SBD",
      "steem_payout": "0.000 STEEM",
      "vesting_payout": "44.911900 VESTS"
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-15T21:50:12",
  "trx_id": "0000000000000000000000000000000000000000",
  "trx_in_block": 4294967295,
  "virtual_op": 8
}

{
  "block": 20675790,
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "author": "senorcoconut",
      "body": "A lot of details and a lot of science... thank you. I'm saving this one for sure and will be making some tea for our garden soon. \n\nThis was very exciting to read, a lot of info\n\nThank you... following you",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"gardening\"],\"app\":\"steemit/0.1\"}",
      "parent_author": "egolution",
      "parent_permlink": "the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea",
      "permlink": "re-egolution-the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea-20180314t185850060z",
      "title": ""
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-14T18:58:54",
  "trx_id": "f4c92c9100b1f514c51d4e9dd2ece824c9f0696c",
  "trx_in_block": 4,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20675499,
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "author": "egolution",
      "permlink": "the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea",
      "voter": "senorcoconut",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-14T18:44:21",
  "trx_id": "aa3de1427c7a3cbd785fb160cfa88c8bad23884a",
  "trx_in_block": 28,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20646943,
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "author": "phusionphil",
      "body": "I always like reminding religious people that 6 inches of top soil is what determines our survival.",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"microbes\"],\"app\":\"steemit/0.1\"}",
      "parent_author": "egolution",
      "parent_permlink": "the-soil-food-web-archaea-and-the-origins-of-earth",
      "permlink": "re-egolution-the-soil-food-web-archaea-and-the-origins-of-earth-20180313t185556050z",
      "title": ""
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-13T18:55:57",
  "trx_id": "e34862bd72f3dc528cf8fabd4179d77859a9dee7",
  "trx_in_block": 22,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20646920,
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "author": "egolution",
      "permlink": "the-soil-food-web-archaea-and-the-origins-of-earth",
      "voter": "phusionphil",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-13T18:54:48",
  "trx_id": "a33bd92a31911bcc582be69d7003203f74a73831",
  "trx_in_block": 24,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20646041,
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "author": "snowbird",
      "body": "So much to be done to assist Gaia!",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"microbes\"],\"app\":\"steemit/0.1\"}",
      "parent_author": "egolution",
      "parent_permlink": "the-soil-food-web-archaea-and-the-origins-of-earth",
      "permlink": "re-egolution-the-soil-food-web-archaea-and-the-origins-of-earth-20180313t181049406z",
      "title": ""
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-13T18:10:51",
  "trx_id": "40e8d4213f49e0f8e1e4c1b3c0e199fd9ec0db66",
  "trx_in_block": 1,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20646031,
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "author": "egolution",
      "permlink": "the-soil-food-web-archaea-and-the-origins-of-earth",
      "voter": "snowbird",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-13T18:10:21",
  "trx_id": "47523576d2887e149c603b8c6c02c965f0e47964",
  "trx_in_block": 25,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20643718,
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "author": "the-hearth",
      "body": "Yay! That makes us super happy to hear ❤️",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"gardening\"],\"community\":\"busy\",\"app\":\"busy/2.4.0\"}",
      "parent_author": "egolution",
      "parent_permlink": "re-the-hearth-re-egolution-the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea-20180313t144937634z",
      "permlink": "re-egolution-re-the-hearth-re-egolution-the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea-20180313t161436524z",
      "title": ""
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-13T16:14:42",
  "trx_id": "5c379b71c5d99e25df4acfcda154e0ec01e97a5f",
  "trx_in_block": 50,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20643713,
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "author": "egolution",
      "permlink": "re-the-hearth-re-egolution-the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea-20180313t144937634z",
      "voter": "the-hearth",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-13T16:14:27",
  "trx_id": "b41887ebc962550ff2c2a4152c4a608212a25c5b",
  "trx_in_block": 13,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20643299,
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "author": "egolution",
      "permlink": "the-soil-food-web-archaea-and-the-origins-of-earth",
      "voter": "awakehippie",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-13T15:53:45",
  "trx_id": "616c0c2dac2da581da8a72f017353c76a04cc5bb",
  "trx_in_block": 20,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20642049,
  "op": [
    "custom_json",
    {
      "id": "follow",
      "json": "[\"follow\",{\"follower\":\"egolution\",\"following\":\"the-hearth\",\"what\":[\"blog\"]}]",
      "required_auths": [],
      "required_posting_auths": [
        "egolution"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-13T14:51:15",
  "trx_id": "7e0dd7fe9916e8d38a8348a67fd53a77b640baac",
  "trx_in_block": 55,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20642030,
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "author": "egolution",
      "body": "My pleasure, @powellx5. Glad it could be of assistance!",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"gardening\"],\"users\":[\"powellx5\"],\"app\":\"steemit/0.1\"}",
      "parent_author": "powellx5",
      "parent_permlink": "re-egolution-the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea-20180312t235603647z",
      "permlink": "re-powellx5-re-egolution-the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea-20180313t145018764z",
      "title": ""
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-13T14:50:18",
  "trx_id": "761526947fcd6027b77fa77d9064e6d8d43d6c82",
  "trx_in_block": 25,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20642016,
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "author": "egolution",
      "body": "Blessings @the-hearth. Your message is why I do this!",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"gardening\"],\"users\":[\"the-hearth\"],\"app\":\"steemit/0.1\"}",
      "parent_author": "the-hearth",
      "parent_permlink": "re-egolution-the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea-20180312t232853643z",
      "permlink": "re-the-hearth-re-egolution-the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea-20180313t144937634z",
      "title": ""
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-13T14:49:36",
  "trx_id": "3c1397034d8778469b01c565031d41953ea53df5",
  "trx_in_block": 45,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20641999,
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "author": "egolution",
      "body": "Fantastic. Let's stay in touch ;)",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"gardening\"],\"app\":\"steemit/0.1\"}",
      "parent_author": "skycae",
      "parent_permlink": "re-egolution-the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea-20180312t231556006z",
      "permlink": "re-skycae-re-egolution-the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea-20180313t144845941z",
      "title": ""
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-13T14:48:45",
  "trx_id": "9dc56bad4ff72efd029a38ecebb06305af0d2aa8",
  "trx_in_block": 25,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20641979,
  "op": [
    "custom_json",
    {
      "id": "follow",
      "json": "[\"follow\",{\"follower\":\"egolution\",\"following\":\"skycae\",\"what\":[\"blog\"]}]",
      "required_auths": [],
      "required_posting_auths": [
        "egolution"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-13T14:47:45",
  "trx_id": "d387dfbf61532c31858748a5d6cd1c4d5830d5aa",
  "trx_in_block": 45,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20628738,
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "author": "egolution",
      "permlink": "the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea",
      "voter": "medicinewheel",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-13T03:45:15",
  "trx_id": "58aac920736ab1918c3e2efa5f342c35fdbc1703",
  "trx_in_block": 4,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20624969,
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "author": "egolution",
      "permlink": "the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea",
      "voter": "wwf",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-13T00:36:45",
  "trx_id": "f4838add11e568b520cf8e840aaa68b99bac2145",
  "trx_in_block": 51,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20624890,
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "author": "greengrowth",
      "body": "You got a 55.56% upvote from @greengrowth thanks to @skycae! You too can use @GreenGrowth by sending your post URL in the memo field to the bot. Minimum bid is 0.01.\n\nIf you feel this post is spammy or not worthy of @Greengrowth you can contact a moderator in our Discord Channel https://discord.gg/6DhnVTQ.\n",
      "json_metadata": "{\"app\":\"postpromoter/1.8.6\"}",
      "parent_author": "egolution",
      "parent_permlink": "the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea",
      "permlink": "re-egolution-the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea-20180313t003142332z",
      "title": "re-egolution-the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea-20180313t003142332z"
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-13T00:32:48",
  "trx_id": "a6217bcf08fc59c0d7b503d89806023293402f07",
  "trx_in_block": 22,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20624867,
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "author": "egolution",
      "permlink": "the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea",
      "voter": "greengrowth",
      "weight": 5556
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-13T00:31:39",
  "trx_id": "20db0d84cc3eba707eea3a5ffbc28725722c821d",
  "trx_in_block": 6,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20624844,
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "author": "egolution",
      "permlink": "the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea",
      "voter": "kiaraantonoviche",
      "weight": 800
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-13T00:30:30",
  "trx_id": "091e1f78444b2577e7da17259b709ab692962ae2",
  "trx_in_block": 27,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20624156,
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "author": "powellx5",
      "body": "Thanks for all the detail. So many of the composty articles I read make it look and feel so simple, but then you get into it a little, and realize the article is missing a few steps and needed equipment. I appriciate getting all the nuts and bolts in one read! ",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"gardening\"],\"community\":\"busy\",\"app\":\"busy/2.4.0\"}",
      "parent_author": "egolution",
      "parent_permlink": "the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea",
      "permlink": "re-egolution-the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea-20180312t235603647z",
      "title": ""
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-12T23:56:03",
  "trx_id": "8918cf88af9ed58073fc5832d9b3032a9371e4af",
  "trx_in_block": 57,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20624099,
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "author": "egolution",
      "permlink": "the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea",
      "voter": "powellx5",
      "weight": 2500
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-12T23:53:12",
  "trx_id": "fe1b3f157354423b453d91e48e68d65060a7871c",
  "trx_in_block": 62,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20623649,
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "author": "egolution",
      "permlink": "the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea",
      "voter": "mountainjewel",
      "weight": 4600
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-12T23:30:42",
  "trx_id": "a16d385086407a3ea0201e8f039c479919d19c87",
  "trx_in_block": 33,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20623641,
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "author": "egolution",
      "permlink": "the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea",
      "voter": "the-hearth",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-12T23:30:18",
  "trx_id": "b107886d188968298c188513f5c83091e0774998",
  "trx_in_block": 68,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20623613,
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "author": "the-hearth",
      "body": "![BC9E15DB-69E2-4DD9-9DFB-68B76E3D5B68.jpeg](https://res.cloudinary.com/hpiynhbhq/image/upload/v1520897077/avjizjxzro4hinghsi1g.jpg)\n\nI loved reading this post, such quality info here, congratulations on writing such a great article. We’re all about promoting microbes in our lives and this article got me stocked on stepping up our AaCT game!!! May even build a double vortex 55 gallon system after being inspired by this article. \nThe world needs the info, thanks for creating such high quality content. ",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"gardening\"],\"community\":\"busy\",\"app\":\"busy/2.4.0\"}",
      "parent_author": "egolution",
      "parent_permlink": "the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea",
      "permlink": "re-egolution-the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea-20180312t232853643z",
      "title": ""
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-12T23:28:54",
  "trx_id": "429e4533c2e9387989913f032c5b24a5b03f1b7b",
  "trx_in_block": 19,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20623385,
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "author": "egolution",
      "permlink": "the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea",
      "voter": "carrioner",
      "weight": 6400
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-12T23:17:30",
  "trx_id": "913dcd4d22e4c37634c1b83e2e249e8594e8dd68",
  "trx_in_block": 52,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20623367,
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "author": "egolution",
      "permlink": "h1agriculture-and-blockchain-making-cents-of-the-futureh1",
      "voter": "wisewoof",
      "weight": 5000
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-12T23:16:36",
  "trx_id": "a085f7e75986fd1e02350f3b11dd693a808a9669",
  "trx_in_block": 27,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20623364,
  "op": [
    "transfer",
    {
      "amount": "0.100 SBD",
      "from": "skycae",
      "memo": "https://steemit.com/gardening/@egolution/the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea",
      "to": "egolution"
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-12T23:16:27",
  "trx_id": "ddff78faa383ae6465aaf5ed7df4d92fc3c68ff1",
  "trx_in_block": 26,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20623353,
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "author": "skycae",
      "body": "Wow, this is EXACTLY what I was looking for on Steemit this morning, to no avail. Glad I found you! Please do stop by my blog and chat some more elsewhere!",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"gardening\"],\"app\":\"steemit/0.1\"}",
      "parent_author": "egolution",
      "parent_permlink": "the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea",
      "permlink": "re-egolution-the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea-20180312t231556006z",
      "title": ""
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-12T23:15:54",
  "trx_id": "138bcb1c51f82b9c50c33b72b4fb37cc8d5f7ba8",
  "trx_in_block": 53,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20623338,
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "author": "egolution",
      "permlink": "the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea",
      "voter": "skycae",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-12T23:15:09",
  "trx_id": "36ee9410b43ed96511e2253d476328b0ecf9ee63",
  "trx_in_block": 24,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20623336,
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "author": "egolution",
      "permlink": "the-soil-food-web-archaea-and-the-origins-of-earth",
      "voter": "skycae",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-12T23:15:03",
  "trx_id": "308dc6facb134f4a2b269f0fad4109328e5761a5",
  "trx_in_block": 1,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20623334,
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "author": "egolution",
      "permlink": "h1agriculture-and-blockchain-making-cents-of-the-futureh1",
      "voter": "skycae",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-12T23:14:57",
  "trx_id": "b345ad275b87e894530bc0032a8f08d94f20dbc1",
  "trx_in_block": 88,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20614543,
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "author": "egolution",
      "permlink": "the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea",
      "voter": "sensation",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-12T15:55:18",
  "trx_id": "075d6fdd4ffaba2834130cfcfc1e86e81b7e5a7e",
  "trx_in_block": 11,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20613379,
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "author": "egolution",
      "permlink": "the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea",
      "voter": "prepperbot",
      "weight": 2500
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-12T14:57:00",
  "trx_id": "81584ab65575fb76715a82d4e040cd1ccc25d004",
  "trx_in_block": 64,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20612973,
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "author": "egolution",
      "permlink": "the-history-of-hydroponics",
      "voter": "egolution",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-12T14:36:39",
  "trx_id": "8b78d48d7892c07999101663ad7400203553471c",
  "trx_in_block": 47,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20612960,
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "author": "egolution",
      "permlink": "the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea",
      "voter": "egolution",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-12T14:36:00",
  "trx_id": "a43ca20b2afc090670283e90a652dccb5aa0ed8d",
  "trx_in_block": 33,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20612960,
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "author": "egolution",
      "body": "<h3>Do you drink it? No!!!</h3>\n\n_If you are a gardener or farmer and you have never heard of compost tea, consider this your lucky day._\n\n<h2>What Is Compost Tea?</h2>\n\n<center>https://image.ibb.co/mXRhL7/compost_tea_brewer.jpg</center>\n\nCompost tea is a living solution. It is a process that involves growing soil micro-organisms, or microbes, found in healthy soil and compost by aerating water in the presence of organic microbe foods.\n\nAll of these components play key roles in creating optimal conditions for aerobic microorganisms to grow and replicate. This is the goal of what is called _Actively Aerated Compost Tea_ (AACT).\n\nMicrobes perform the vital function of creating soil, this does not just happen. Tending a compost pile concentrates this natural process, and compost tea concentrates the process even further. Performing the process of brewing compost tea is simple and a very effective way to increase the diversity and biomass of beneficial aerobic microbes in the soil and on the leaf surface of crops.\n\nThink of soil microbes like construction workers. Your job as the contractor is to consistently bring them to the job site so that they may build the neighborhood. Once the neighborhood is built it takes on a life of its own and the soil will be working for you, mitigating pests and disease, and reducing the need to irrigate and fertilize to support growth.\n\n<h2>What is the Soil Food Web?</h2>\n\nSoil microbes are comprised of bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and nematodes. Together with the macro-organisms like earthworms, rolly polly’s, spiders, etc. they make up what is called the _“soil food web”_.\n\n<center>https://image.ibb.co/dLvEYS/Siol_Food_Web.jpg</center>\n\nThe soil food web, like any food web, works through what are called _“trophic levels”_, or life levels. In other words, the big fish eats the small fish.\n\nAnother good analogy to understand how important soil microbes is to consider the soil food web like you would all of the fish and organisms in the ocean. Think of bacteria as the plankton, and the larger nematodes as the sharks. Apex predators like sharks only appear in mature ecosystems, and the average landscape or garden does not have mature soil, and therefore does not have the higher organisms present. This is the source of common landscape and garden pest and disease issues — there is simply nothing there to eat what is eating your plant.\n\n<center>https://image.ibb.co/jui1DS/fungi_nematode.jpg</center>\n\nWhat would happen if you took all of the plankton out? Life as we know it would end. This lack of life is the state of the average conventional landscape, garden, and farm, and compost tea is a simple way of bringing back life so it can seek its own balance in the soil.\n\nMuch of the reason we take microbes for granted is we cannot see them. Some stats:\n\nMicrobes are small. Up to 500,000 bacteria can fit in the period of the exclamation point at the end of this sentence! There’s another universe down under your feet!\n\nMicrobes are magical. Humans cannot accomplish the vital processes undertaken to create health soil. The soil food web not only creates perfect plant food, but they help plants eat it and protect them from stress, pests, and disease. Plus they work as Nature’s recycler to mitigate contaminants and environmental toxins.\n\nMicrobes are abundant. A teaspoon of native grassland soil contains 600–800 million bacteria comprising ~10,000 species, plus approximately 5,000 species of fungi, the mycelia of which could be stretched out for several miles. In the same teaspoon, there may be 10,000 individual protozoa of over 1,000 species, plus 20–30 different nematodes from as many as 100 different species.\n\nMicrobes are extraordinarily prolific. According to the book Secrets of the Soil, a single microbe reaching maturity and dividing within less than half an hour, can, in the course of a single day, grow into 300 million more, and in another day to more than the number of human beings than have ever lived. In four days of unlimited growth, bacteria can outnumber all of the protons and even the quarks estimated by physicists to exist within the entire universe.\n\n<h2>Why Brew Compost Tea?</h2>\n\n* **Increased Nutrient Cycling**: Microbes make perfect plant food, that is how soil works. Think of microbes like tiny fertilizer factories! Nutrient cycling is what helps make the nutrients and minerals in the soil into a form that is available for plants to uptake. When you apply organic fertilizer, you’re not directly feeding the plant but rather the microbes in the soil that will work to convert the nutrients into an ionic form available to plants.\n\n* **Healthy Soil Structure**: Typically, humans move the Earth to create good soil structure, but microbes will do this for you over time. Fungal hyphae helps in creating soil aggregates, and bacteria and archaea assist in breaking down organic matter and aerating the soil.\n\n* **Use Less Water**: Growing with microbes increases the soils ability to retain water through correcting soil structure, increasing organic matter and exchange capacity, and through the presence of the living organisms themselves. Compost tea can reduce water usage 20–40% and in many cases eliminates the need for irrigation in landscapes entirely.\n\n* **Use Less Compost**: Rather than haul organic matter over large (or small) areas, now you can spray it! Plus, because you have grown the population of microbes through the brewing process, it is much more cost effective and efficient.\nUse Less Fertilizer: Fertilizer is a crutch, it is a compensation for the soils inability to provide fertility for plants. Think about it, you don’t have to fertilize a forest and it grows trees! Growing the microbial soil food web can help you ween yourself of the requirement for fertilizer to grow a garden over time.\n\n* **Higher Yields**: Improving the fertility and maturity of the soil automatically enhances the garden or farms ability to grow larger and more abundant crops.\n\n* **Treat Disease**: Disease organisms are merely microbes that are eating your plant who have nothing to eat them. Many commercial biological biocides are derived of microbes found in compost tea and in healthy soil. Rather than trying to kill the disease, you can eliminate it with microbial balance.\n\n* **Mitigate Pests**: Many soil microbes seek protein, and the exoskeleton of pests is protein, so consistent applications have shown compost tea to have pesticidal properties. But the most effective pest control is healthy biologically diverse soil and a healthy plant.\n\n* **Reduce Weeds**: Weeds are indicators of mineral and biological imbalance in the soil. For example, clover grows to regenerate nitrogen in the soil. Almost 80% of the air we breathe is nitrogen, so you get it for FREE from nitrogen-fixing bacteria that thrive in healthy soil. It should be noted that this is best experienced in lawns as any soil left uncultivated or without perennial plants like turf will experience weeds.\n\n* **Untold Benefits**: We know very little about the diversity of microbes in the soil food web. Brewing compost tea will help establish good populations of nitrogen-fixing bacteria, nitrogen and phosphorus-solubilizing bacteria, and all sorts of other beneficial microorganisms, many of which have yet to be identified and fully understood in their role in soil health.\n\n<h2>Other Types of “Tea”</h2>\n\nThe compost tea conversation can become complicated due to the different methods available for leveraging microbes to benefit the garden or farm. Here is some discussion around the compost tea landscape.\n\n**Actively Aerated Compost Tea (AACT)**: This is the primary focus of our attention here, and has been described above in some detail. The result of brewing is very high populations of aerobic soil microbes found in healthy soil.\n\n**Compost Extract**: Compost extract is where the microorganisms are stripped from the soil aggregates using water and extracted into a liquid form. This process will contain good biology for soil drenches, and can be made very quickly, as it does not require a brewing process. It does however require a large amount of compost relative to the final liquid product, and is primarily used in large commercial productions. Extracts are often advertised as “instant compost tea”, so appear advantageous relative to AACT, but typically contain a fraction of the activated microbes found in AACT.\n\n**Compost Leachate**: These teas are what you will find seeping out of a worm farm or compost pile during the composting process. Leachates will consist primarily of soluble nutrients, but will also contain some small amount of biology. By all means use this liquid in your garden application, but it is not sufficient to rely on as a means of establishing a healthy soil food web.\n\n**Plant Teas**: This is where plants such as nettle or comfrey are soaked directly in water for an extended period of time. This is an anaerobic process, so does not really aid in growing the soil food web, however, anaerobic microbes are very good at extraction nutrition from the plant material and it can be a good tool in the garden.\n\n**Manure Tea**: Manure tea may be the most popularized method of making “teas” simply because of how many old timers have performed the process. It amounts to no more than liquefying the manure for ease of application. The microbes that make manure in the gut are anaerobic, so this process will not aid in the development of a healthy soil food web.\n\n\n<h2>How To Brew AACT</h2>\n\nThere are many ways to brew compost tea, and many commercial brewing systems on the market, but the process can be accomplished in just about any container.\n\nThink about the process like you would creating an aquarium for fish. Rather than aerating water for fish to breathe, we are aerating the water for aerobic microbes to breathe.\n\n<center>https://image.ibb.co/mJsdtS/Aquarium.jpg</center>\n\n<h4>Brewing Equipment</h4>\n\nThe brewer is the hardware of the compost tea brewing application. It is important because you could be using the best microbial compost and food sources available, but if your brewer doesn’t maintain adequate dissolved oxygen (DO) levels or thoroughly mix the liquid, then the quality of your tea will suffer.\n\nThere are many different brewer designs on the market. For hobby gardening it is best to DIY and brew in a 5 gallon bucket (or larger suitable container), as the cost you will pay for a molded or small commercial unit will not be worth the price.\n\nDO is accomplished by infusing air into the solution from an air pump. An air pump does what it says, it pumps air. As opposed to a water pump that pumps water. This is typically accomplished through air tubing, which should match the diameter of the air pump and airstone you are using.\n\nAs a general rule, you want .05-.08 cfm per gallon of water when selecting an air pump. It is better to err on the side of more air than less, aeration cannot be overdone.\n\nUsing airstones are commonplace on smaller brewing units. An airstone simply breaks up the large bubbles coming out of the air tubing from the air pump creating more surface area for the air and dissolving more oxygen.\n\nAssuming you have enough aeration occurring, methods involving airstones do a decent job mixing the solution adequately in the container. But using the air lift method when brewing compost ta is a superior way to achieve increased mixation, DO, and oxygen retention in solution.\n\n<center>https://image.ibb.co/kmpxnn/vortex_style.jpg</center>\n\nAir lifts involve using air to displace water up to the top of the container so that a drain can replace it and allow for circulation of the compost tea solution. The best brewers that accomplish this create a vortex spiral that constantly exposes the skin of solution to the air and sucks it in, like a roiling river. This method does not require airstones, as the air is simply used to move the solution around.\n\n<h4>Brewing Ingredients</h4>\n\n<center>https://image.ibb.co/bSWGf7/compost.jpg</center>\n\n**Compost (humus)**: Even the best compost tea brewer won’t make a good tea if you don’t start with good compost. This is where your beneficial microorganisms come from, so it’s a vital part of the process.\n\nWithout a microscope and some experience, it is not easy to determine the quality of compost visibly. In general, avoid municipal or commercial compost because they are typically not made for quality, often have uncomposted animal manures, and tend to be made to recycle industrial waste.\n\nBecause worms perform much of the composting process in their gut, worm castings (or worm manure) are much safer sources of humus for brewing compost tea. However, worm castings do not have a complete soil food web in their gut, so it is a good idea to seek out as many healthy sources as possible when getting started brewing. You can add these sources to your own compost situation and make your own brewing inoculant over time.\n\nIf you find yourself needing to purchase commercial compost to get started brewing. Ask the source if they have done biological testing on their compost. Ask them about their ingredients, and how long the compost was allowed to process before being sold. If the compost is still hot to the touch at the point of sale this is an indication that it is not finished the composting process. And if the material is dried out this can harm the microbes, you want the moisture level to be generally what it would be for plant growth, like a wrung out sponge.\n\nOne good way to test the biology in a compost source is to add a food source and give it some time to see what happens. You should see a bit of white fuzz develop on the top of the compost or if added in higher amounts it may actually cause the compost to heat up. This is caused by the bacteria and other microorganisms reproducing rapidly to use up that food source, which produces heat.\n\n**Microbe Catalysts**: Many in the compost tea brewing realm do not focus on catalysts in the brewing process, but they are very important. These are materials such as sea minerals, rock dusts, or other diversified mineral sources that do not represent food for growing microbes, but that are used by them to create the enzymes that allow them to operate. Microbes do not chew on the banana peel in the compost pile, they manufacture enzymes out of specific mineral elements that work to chemically break the organic matter down. The enzyme potential for microbes is so large that we will probably never discover all of them. Not allowing a diversity of elements for enzyme production is like hiring microbes to build a house and giving them half of the tools.\n\n**Microbe Food**: One of the main benefits of organic food sources is that they feed the soil, not just the plant. Artificial fertilizers focus on growing the plant at the expense of the soil. The main food sources used in compost tea brewing are soluble to aid in ease of distribution, these include: molasses, fish hydrolosate, seaweed kelp, and humic acids.\n\nThe following directions are for brewing compost tea in a 5 gallon bucket, but they can be applied to a compost tea brewer of any style or volume:\n\n**Materials**: (1) 5 Gallon Bucket, (4–5’) 3/16” Air Tubing, (1) Small Air Pump, (1) 4” Airstone, Recipe Ingredients\n\n<center>https://image.ibb.co/i68wf7/compost_tea_5_gallon_bucket.jpg</center>\n\n1. Fill the 5 Gallon bucket with clean water.\n\n2. Attach one end of the clear tubing to the small nipple on the Air Pump and attach the other end to your air pump. Plug the air pump into an electrical outlet and submerge the air diffuser in the bucket. DO NOT SUBMERGE THE PUMP! Note: You should see bubbles coming from the air diffuser, like in an aquarium.\n\n3. Mix in the ingredients to your favorite recipe and brew for at least 12 hours and no longer than 48 hours. A brewing time of 24 hours is most typical.\n\n**_Simple!!_**\n\n<h4>Water Quality</h4>\n\nWater is an important consideration when brewing compost tea. The most ideal source of water for brewing is rain water, or a natural source such as a spring or stream.\n\nWell water can be good, but it is a crap shoot, unless you have had it tested there is no way to tell the level of potential contamination.\n\nThe one good thing about municipal water is that it is consistently bad. Meaning, you are not going to get extreme levels of contamination, and if your water supply has had chlorine added to it you can aerate it out by running your aeration for at least an hour before brewing. If your water system adds chloramines you will need to seek a source of filtration such as a carbon filter or reverse osmosis to remove for ideal conditions.\n\nHaving said all of this, the level of microbial action you are going to be encouraging in the brewing process far outpaces the killing action of the amount of chlorine in the city water. Worst case scenario, you are not helping the microbes, but you are not killing all of them either.\n\n<h4>Temperature</h4>\n\nThe higher the temperatures the faster the rate of biological growth. The lower temperatures are, the more DO you can accomplish in the water, but the biological growth slows. The sweet spot for brewing is between 55F-85F, with ideal conditions between 65F-75F.\n\nThe best course of action is to brew the compost tea in the temperatures that it will be used in. It doesn’t really make sense to brew microbes in 80F temperatures and then use them in 50F conditions.\n\n<h2>How To Use Compost Tea</h2>\n\nCompost tea is not a defined substance. Sort of like a compost pile — every recipe is different. So take these suggestions accordingly. As long as you are not using high NPK materials such as bat guano or a lot of fish hydrolysate, you should have no problem burning plants and it will be hard to overuse. As with any application, consider trying your recipe on a smaller area first to monitor results.\n\n**General Use**: A gallon of compost tea concentrate can be applied on 250–500 square feet as a soil conditioner and plant tonic, regardless of the dilution. Use at least 20 gallons per acre on larger applications when starting, which can be stepped back to at least 5 gallons per acre over time.\n\nKeep in mind, the more you use, the faster and greater the result will be.\n\nTry not to dilute compost tea concentrate more than 1:16 (or 1 cup per gallon) for all applications.\n\nOne of the main reasons compost tea is so important is that microbes are not mobile, they do not jump over the fence ;) For this reason it is very important to apply compost tea to the entire soil area. You may apply fertilizer products as a top dress to the plant, but make sure to “paint the soil” with compost tea. Microbes move as little as a micrometer in their lifetime!\n\nUse compost tea weekly for maximum results, or at least monthly.\n\nPoor soils, or soils that have been treated chemically (artificial fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, etc.) should be treated more intensively to start than land not treated synthetically.\n\nTry to apply outside of direct sun, ultraviolet rays from the sun can have detrimental effects on microbes when on the leaf surface.\n\nHere are some further ideas for using compost tea in different applications:\n\n* **Compost Pile Inoculant**: Dilute 1 gallon of concentrate into enough water to saturate the pile completely, repeat monthly.\n* **Foliar Feeding**: Mix 1 gallon concentrate to 4 gallons of water and apply weekly.\n* **Seed Soak**: Soak seeds in compost tea concentrate for at least 1 hour, but no longer than 12 hours. For smaller seeds a paper towel moistened with compost tea concentrate can be used.\n* **Plant Cuttings**: Dip cuttings into full strength compost tea.\n* **Diseased Plants**: Spray plant with undiluted compost tea until healed.\n* **Tree Root Soak**: Mix 1 gallon of concentrate to 2 gallons of water and apply weekly.\n* **Transplanting**: Mix 1 gallon concentrate to 2 gallons of water and spray planting hole. Water the rest into the soil after planting. Dip roots directly into solution if possible.\n* **Houseplants**: Mix 1 gallon concentrate to 8 gallons of water and apply monthly.\n* **Raised Beds**: Mix 1 gallon concentrate to 8 gallons of water and apply weekly. For overwintering, apply full strength concentration to recycle dead roots into fertilizer for next season.\n\n**_<h3>Now Get Brewing, and Grow Life!!</h3>_**\n\n_The future is open source and decentralized. Evan Folds pursues his passion of integrating the natural and spiritual world with human centered technology by developing and sharing content shared across the digital landscape on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/evan.folds), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/EvanFolds), and [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/evanfolds/). Upvotes appreciated, and please support Evan's projects on [Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/foodmovement)!_",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"gardening\",\"compost\",\"farming\",\"agriculture\",\"soil\"],\"image\":[\"https://image.ibb.co/mXRhL7/compost_tea_brewer.jpg\",\"https://image.ibb.co/dLvEYS/Siol_Food_Web.jpg\",\"https://image.ibb.co/jui1DS/fungi_nematode.jpg\",\"https://image.ibb.co/mJsdtS/Aquarium.jpg\",\"https://image.ibb.co/kmpxnn/vortex_style.jpg\",\"https://image.ibb.co/bSWGf7/compost.jpg\",\"https://image.ibb.co/i68wf7/compost_tea_5_gallon_bucket.jpg\"],\"links\":[\"https://www.facebook.com/evan.folds\",\"https://twitter.com/EvanFolds\",\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/evanfolds/\",\"https://www.patreon.com/foodmovement\"],\"app\":\"steemit/0.1\",\"format\":\"markdown\"}",
      "parent_author": "",
      "parent_permlink": "gardening",
      "permlink": "the-ultimate-guide-to-brewing-compost-tea",
      "title": "The Ultimate Guide to Brewing Compost Tea"
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-12T14:36:00",
  "trx_id": "a43ca20b2afc090670283e90a652dccb5aa0ed8d",
  "trx_in_block": 33,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20559122,
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "author": "egolution",
      "permlink": "the-history-of-hydroponics",
      "voter": "sullair",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-10T17:39:24",
  "trx_id": "fbc6df76f8e07986a783451c2f706d240c4363c3",
  "trx_in_block": 46,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20559065,
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "author": "egolution",
      "body": "Hydroponics is a modern technology with roots in the origin of Earth. In fact, hydroponics is the oldest form of growing with ocean-going photosynthetic algae and photosynthetic bacteria actually existing before terrestrial plants, helping to produce the oxygenated environment we breathe today.\n\nModern hydroponics was developed from the findings of experiments carried out to determine plant composition dating back to the early 1600’s, but plants were being grown in soilless culture far earlier than this, even if it was not identified directly as hydroponics. The worlds rice crops have been grown hydroponically from time immemorial, as they are to this day.\n\n<center> https://image.ibb.co/hDqh07/Hanging_Garden_of_Babylon.jpg </center>\n\nThe first known instance of water-based hydroponics is in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The gardens thrived off of an elaborate watering system that supplied a steady stream of river water rich in oxygen and minerals. Located on the East bank of the Euphrates River near present day Baghdad, the gardens were built by King Nebuchadnezzar II (604–562 BC) to please his wife Amyitis.\n\nSimilarly, ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics dating back to several hundred years BC depict the growing of plants along the Nile River without soil, as do the floating gardens of the Chinese, as described by Marco Polo in his famous journal.\n\n<center>https://image.ibb.co/dKa707/chinampas_1.jpg</center>\n\nThe Aztecs of Central America developed an ingenious method of utilizing the concepts of hydroponics. Treated with hostility by their more powerful neighbors and denied any arable land, they learned how to build rafts of rushes and reeds they called chinampas.\n\nChinampas were stalks and tough roots that were lashed together and loaded up with sediment from the shallow lake bottom. Because the sediment came from the lake bottom it was rich in a variety of organic compounds and minerals that the Aztecs used to nourish and grow plants.\n\nThe chinampas supported abundant crops of vegetables, flowers, and even trees. The roots of the plants grew through the floor of the chinampas allowing a constant water source and root oxygenation.\n\nThe chinampas were sometimes joined together to form floating islands as much as two hundred feet long flanked by waterways and drainage canals. Some chinampas even had a hut for a resident gardener. On market days, the gardener might pole his raft close to a marketplace, picking and handing over vegetables or flowers as shoppers purchased them. Talk about local agriculture!\n\n<center>https://image.ibb.co/b4GrSn/chinampas.jpg</center>\n\nThe chinampas were such a success they supported a thriving civilization of over 200,000 people at the height of the Aztec rule, making it larger than any city in Europe at the time. A makeshift village invented out of creative desperation to stave off certain demise ultimately proliferated into a system of horticulture capable of supporting the capitol city of Central Mexico — a testament to the efficiency of intensive soilless culture.\n\nWhen the Spaniards arrived in the New World, the sight of these floating islands must have astonished Cortes and his gang. William Prescott, the historian who chronicled the destruction of the Aztec empire by the conquering Spaniards, described the chinampas as _“Wondering Islands of Verdure, teeming with flowers and vegetables and moving like rafts over the water.”_\n\nChinampas continued in use on the lake well into the 19th century. Similar systems flourished in present-day Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador well before Columbus’ arrival in the New World. Functional examples of the system persist today in Xochimilco in Mexico City and southwest Tlaxcala State, Mexico.\n\nThe earliest recorded scientific approach to discover the requirements of plant growth was in 1600 when Belgian Jan Van Helmont showed in his classic experiment that plants obtain substances from water.\n\nHe planted a 5-pound willow shoot in a tube containing 200 pounds of dried soil isolated to ensure accuracy. After 5 years of regular watering with rainwater he found the willow shoot increased in weight by 160 pounds, while the soil lost less than 2 ounces.\n\nHis conclusion that plants obtain substances for growth from water was correct. However, he failed to realize that they also require carbon dioxide and oxygen from the air.\n\nThe modern theory of chemistry made great advances during the 17th and 18th centuries and, along with the scientific method, revolutionized the scope of scientific research. The ability of scientists to work off a commonly agreed upon platform of chemical compounds allowed for a more spirited, and presumptuous, debate on the essential nutrition needed in order for plants to grow and laid the foundation of the modern perception of plant growth requirements.\n\nIn 1792, the English scientist Joseph Priestly discovered that plants placed in a chamber having a high level of carbon dioxide will gradually absorb it and give off oxygen.\n\nA couple of years later, Jean Ingen-Housz carried Priestly’s work a step further and demonstrated that plants set in a chamber filled with carbon dioxide could replace the gas with oxygen within several hours if the chamber was placed in sunlight.\n\nIngen-Housz went on to establish that this process worked more quickly in conditions of bright light, and that only green parts of the plant were involved. Now we’re getting somewhere!\n\nThrough various experiments during the middle of the 19th century scientists determined the composition of plants and what substances they required for growth. It turned out that soil itself was not found to be directly beneficial to the plant for anything other than support and holding the required mineral elements needed for growth.\n\nOf course, this is a gross generalization of the critical and dynamic role of humus and microbes in healthy soil systems, but, nevertheless, it paved the way to a greater understanding of essential plant requirements and hydroponic technology.\n\nRather than the soil itself, it turned out that it was the minerals incorporated into the soil, and the corresponding spaces in between (for oxygen), that the plants thrived off of. The next step towards the articulation of hydroponic technology was to eliminate the growing medium and grow plants in a water solution that contained all of the necessary minerals.\n\nIn 1860 Julius von Sachs, Professor of Botany at the University of Wurzburg, published the first standard formula for a nutrient solution that could be dissolved in water and in which plants could be successfully grown. The technique was termed “nutriculture”.\n\nThese early investigations in plant nutrition demonstrated that normal plant growth can be achieved by immersing the roots of a plant in a water solution containing salts of Nitrogen (N), Phosphorous (P), Sulfur (S), Potassium (K), Calcium (Ca), and Magnesium (Mg).\n\nThe elements Hydrogen (H), Oxygen (O), and Carbon © are all derived from the air and water. These nine elements are defined as the macronutrients.\n\nWith further refinement in laboratory techniques, scientists established seven elements required by plants in relatively small quantities, called micronutrients or trace elements. These include Iron (Fe), Chlorine (Cl), Manganese (Mn), Boron (B), Zinc (Zn), Copper (Cu), and Molybdenum (Mo).\n\nThe actual number of elements plants require is a matter of some debate, some say 15, others 17. However, as we will see, anyone who claims to have a complete understanding of the actual requirements for natural systems to operate at maximum efficiency is limiting the natural system.\n\nPlants want MUCH more than they have to have. Even modern hydroponic nutrient solutions leave a lot to be desired, however, it is worth noting that hydroponic agriculture typically delivers a higher value of crop relative to the budget fertilizers used in conventional agriculture.\n\nInterest in the practical application of nutriculture did not develop until around 1925, when the greenhouse industry expressed interest in its use. Greenhouse soils had to be replaced frequently to overcome problems of soil structure, fertility, and pests. All these problems were alleviated in soilless culture.\n\n<center>https://image.ibb.co/crxFnn/Gericke.jpg</center>\n\nIn 1929, Dr. William F. Gericke of the University of California effectively transformed his nutriculture laboratory into a commercial crop production operation.\n\nFirst calling it “aquaculture”, he learned this term was already being used for aquatic organisms and termed his nutriculture systems “hydroponic”, meaning literally “water” (hydro) and “working” (ponos), or working water, in Greek.\n\nHis operation was a tremendous success. Newspapers printed outlandish headlines claiming an agricultural revolution with pictures of Dr. Gericke atop his ladder harvesting his 25 foot tomato plants.\n\n<center>https://image.ibb.co/kVsy7n/Gericke_Book.jpg</center>\n\nAccording to author J.S. Douglas, _“The American Press hailed it as the most colossal invention of the century, reporting…that farmlands had become relics of the past.”_ While we are currently in the midst of an agricultural revolution the claims of this “colossal invention” were premature because the techniques and systems themselves were rudimentary and required much technical knowledge.\n\nThe unfounded claims actually did more to harm the acceptance of hydroponics than it did to help. People feeding off the fervor created by the press banked on selling useless equipment to unknowing consumers hoping to take advantage of the new “colossal invention”. The disdain created by this farce lingered for many years and left the science of hydroponics dormant until our global endeavors deemed it undeniable.\n\n<center>https://image.ibb.co/fAxWSn/Hydro_World_War.jpg</center>\n\nScientific curiosity in hydroponics was revived and government sponsored experiments began when World War II started in 1939. The United States and British Army’s established hydroponic units at military bases on several islands in the Pacific to provide fresh produce to troops during wartime.\n\nAfter WW II the military continued to use hydroponics as its sole method of overseas food production. The US Army’s hydroponic branch grew over 8,000,000 pounds of fresh produce in 1952, a peak year for military demand. Some of the most successful operations have been those at isolated bases, notably in Guyana, Iwo Jima, and Ascension Island.\n\nDuring the middle of the 20th century many setbacks were overcome, including crude environmental controls, poor growing mediums, and the use of unsuitable materials. Concrete used for growing beds became toxic and iron pipes corroded quickly, also releasing harmful or toxic substances into nutrient solutions.\n\n<center>https://image.ibb.co/eyMEf7/Hydroponics.jpg</center>\n\nWith the mainstream adoption of plastics in the 1970’s hydroponics had finally arrived as a viable way of cultivation. Plastics freed growers from the costly construction and destructive properties of the early system components. With the development of suitable pumps, timers, plastic plumbing, and effective growing media hydroponic systems could now be automated, computerized, and streamlined reducing both capital and operational costs. Hydroponics could now be available for personal and commercial uses in a cost-effective manner.\n\nHydroponics has been adopted in the mainstream, and controlversially received adoption by the USDA for use in “organic”cultivation. The future of hydroponics is now. The technology addresses food and water scarcity, probably the two largest issues of the 21st century. It can produce 10x’s the yield per acre and use 1/20th of the water.\n\nHydroponics is better than what we find in the grocery store, but it has its drawbacks. Namely, hydro typically accounts for what plants require, not what they want. No method of growth will ever replace crops grown in the Earth under the sun. But with intention, we can learn to use this amazing technology for the betterment of humankind.\n\n…\n\n_The future is open source and decentralized. Evan Folds pursues his passion of integrating the natural spiritual world with human centered technology by developing and sharing content shared across the digital landscape on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/evan.folds), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/EvanFolds), and [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/evanfolds/)._",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"hydroponics\",\"farming\",\"agriculture\",\"food\",\"history\"],\"image\":[\"https://image.ibb.co/hDqh07/Hanging_Garden_of_Babylon.jpg\",\"https://image.ibb.co/dKa707/chinampas_1.jpg\",\"https://image.ibb.co/b4GrSn/chinampas.jpg\",\"https://image.ibb.co/crxFnn/Gericke.jpg\",\"https://image.ibb.co/kVsy7n/Gericke_Book.jpg\",\"https://image.ibb.co/fAxWSn/Hydro_World_War.jpg\",\"https://image.ibb.co/eyMEf7/Hydroponics.jpg\"],\"links\":[\"https://www.facebook.com/evan.folds\",\"https://twitter.com/EvanFolds\",\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/evanfolds/\"],\"app\":\"steemit/0.1\",\"format\":\"markdown\"}",
      "parent_author": "",
      "parent_permlink": "hydroponics",
      "permlink": "the-history-of-hydroponics",
      "title": "The History of Hydroponics"
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-10T17:36:33",
  "trx_id": "0a80b764869c6468c6f5102d8aaa107ad363d5c7",
  "trx_in_block": 34,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20543420,
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "author": "egolution",
      "permlink": "the-soil-food-web-archaea-and-the-origins-of-earth",
      "voter": "wolfeblog",
      "weight": 2500
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-10T04:31:45",
  "trx_id": "8b392ce36c8aeedbfedcb69603c385003fa8d92b",
  "trx_in_block": 32,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20534170,
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "author": "egolution",
      "permlink": "the-soil-food-web-archaea-and-the-origins-of-earth",
      "voter": "moby-dick",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-09T20:47:51",
  "trx_id": "3aded302b9b59e2280d7a048e6fd89f5c07ca8c2",
  "trx_in_block": 9,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20533131,
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "author": "egolution",
      "permlink": "the-soil-food-web-archaea-and-the-origins-of-earth",
      "voter": "sensation",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-09T19:55:51",
  "trx_id": "e552e90e6ff6c1a432cc63565ac486f3639f56cd",
  "trx_in_block": 31,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20531406,
  "op": [
    "account_update",
    {
      "account": "egolution",
      "json_metadata": "{\"profile\":{\"profile_image\":\"https://image.ibb.co/ju11sn/be_Facebook.jpg\",\"location\":\"United States\",\"cover_image\":\"https://image.ibb.co/nad0JS/Beginning_is_Near.jpg\",\"name\":\"Beyond Money\",\"about\":\"Ag Consultant | Blockchain Enthusiast\",\"website\":\"http://www.BeAgriculture.com \"}}",
      "memo_key": "STM7f95S99L7RSh9mJDasqs5P2DzE3ZnJ1QMtdiZm3nfNihBaixp6"
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-09T18:29:36",
  "trx_id": "bb0010403e4fe6174835244c2932b84765f2e880",
  "trx_in_block": 24,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20531376,
  "op": [
    "account_update",
    {
      "account": "egolution",
      "json_metadata": "{\"profile\":{\"profile_image\":\"https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10214596432002202&set=a.1597594057450.2082749.1163956127&type=3&theater\",\"location\":\"United States\",\"cover_image\":\"https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10211196651809822&set=a.4236135579339.2174638.1163956127&type=3&theater\",\"name\":\"Beyond Money\",\"about\":\"Ag Consultant | Blockchain Enthusiast\",\"website\":\"http://www.BeAgriculture.com \"}}",
      "memo_key": "STM7f95S99L7RSh9mJDasqs5P2DzE3ZnJ1QMtdiZm3nfNihBaixp6"
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-09T18:28:06",
  "trx_id": "a6ed9e2e6126870481a814d0ec68d2856f4705ca",
  "trx_in_block": 17,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20531324,
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "author": "egolution",
      "permlink": "the-soil-food-web-archaea-and-the-origins-of-earth",
      "voter": "raise-me-up",
      "weight": 60
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-09T18:25:30",
  "trx_id": "39806d32afbda8b023b29bc8e363258c2206ae5c",
  "trx_in_block": 32,
  "virtual_op": 0
}

{
  "block": 20531316,
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "author": "egolution",
      "body": "<h3>Everything on Earth starts with the soil.</h3>\n\nhttps://image.ibb.co/fxcCF7/Germination.jpg\n\nFor billions of years the living topsoil has been accumulating naturally, and in only the last one hundred years we have abused its bounty to the point that in some places it is literally running out.\n\nSoil doesn’t just happen by chance, it is manufactured through a very deliberate process based around the work of what is collectively called the “soil food web”. There is another universe under our feet made up of an intricate web of life encompassing tiny micro-organisms, or microbes, that are charged with the most important work of all — growing soil.\n\nThink about the soil food web like the web of life in the ocean. The big fish eats the little fish on down to the plankton that represents the base of the oceanic food chain. Microbes are the “plankton of the soil”, or the base of the terrestrial food web. [Research shows that this is literally true.](http://timeless-environments.blogspot.se/2018/02/northern-arizona-university-mycorrhizal.html?m=1)\n\nMicrobes support the earthworms that feed the birds, which inevitably nourishes and culminates in people. Now make the connection that essentially every modern conventional farming practice works against the fundamental soil building activity of microbes — tilling, fungicides, artificial fertilizers, mono-cropping, and the list goes on.\n\nHow did our agriculture become so counter-intuitive? How did we get so far away from the point?\n\nBack in the 1500’s Leonardo da Vinci said, *“We know more about the movement of celestial bodies than about the soil underfoot.”* This statement remains true to this day, with estimates telling us that science has only identified 5 percent of bacteria and 10 percent of fungal species based on the rate of discovery. Why are we so malicious towards something we know so little about?\n\n<center>https://image.ibb.co/bOfcxn/Lichen.jpg </center>\n\nEvidence of how little we know is all around us. For instance, the description of one of the central concepts in our understanding of Nature was recently redefined. The term “symbiotic relationship” was first used by Albert Bernhard Frank in 1877 to describe lichens. For almost 150 years lichens were understood to be an alliance between a single fungi and a single algae, but a pioneering scientist named Toby Spribille [recently overturned this textbook understanding](https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/07/how-a-guy-from-a-montana-trailer-park-upturned-150-years-of-biology/491702/) with the discovery that a lichen is a symbiont, not of two organisms, but of *three*. It is a fascinating story of assumption and finding new ways to look at things, as with most realities in the natural world the truth was hiding in plain sight.\n\nDue to their size and diversity, studying microbes is notoriously difficult, as evidenced by the lack of authority in soil science and the ostensible “experts” in the realm of compost tea brewing. Compounding the issue is the fact that for most people, microbes are out of sight out of mind. For example, it is not uncommon to meet a gardener who is unaware of the role of microbes in making compost or that the soil is alive to begin with!\n\nThe effort of defining life is a precarious motivation, as Nature does not fit neatly into boxes. For much of the twentieth century the “tree of life” was segmented into two main branches — the eukaryotes that contain membrane-bound organelles made up of organisms that are familiar such as animals, plants, fungi and protozoans; and the prokaryotes that lack membrane-bound organelles thought to be comprised mostly bacteria.\n\nIn 1977 a team led by Carl Woese first classified “bacteria-like” organisms he called archaea as a separate group of prokaryotes based on the sequences of ribosomal RNA genes. Ribosomes are large and complex molecules that convert the DNA message inside cells into a chemical product. Because ribosomes are so critical to the functioning of living things, they are conserved and not prone to rapid evolution, making them ideal to study in the effort to unlock the secrets of bacterial evolution.\n\nBy comparing the slight differences in ribosome sequence among a wide diversity of bacteria, groups of similar sequences could be found and recognized as a related group. When DNA technology was first adopted as a means of studying microbial life scientists discovered that the RNA sequences of archaea were no more similar to bacteria than they were to starfish or sunflowers. In fact, archaea RNA in many ways appeared more similar to eukaryotes. This is quite the conundrum for those attempting to put Mother Nature in a box.\n\n<center>https://image.ibb.co/e8W8Nn/Archaea.jpg</center>\n\nIn April of 2016 a New York Times headline read, *“Scientists Unveil New Tree of Life”. The study introducing these new ideas was published in the journal Nature Microbiology and read, in part, “Organisms from novel lineages have eluded surveys, because many are invisible to these methods due to sequence divergence relative to the primers commonly used for gene amplification.”* In other words, new methods of discovery were needed and science simply did not know how to look for them or grow them in the laboratory.\n\nThe word archaea comes from a Greek term meaning “ancient things”, as the first representatives of archaea discovered were methanogens, or organisms that produce methane. Because of this association, archaea are often described as extremophiles. Many are extreme, being found present in temperatures close to boiling, the guts of animals, and extremely salty water — some archaea can even survive inside granules of salt!\n\nBut archaea are also found in common soil, some even postulate that they “eat ions” rather than just the organic matter like in the compost heap. This is a particularly fascinating idea considering the discovery of electric microbes that were first discovered in 1987 by Derek Lovely and his lab at the University of Massachusetts.\n\nIt is this ability to survive in extreme environments that highlights archaea’s potential importance to the origins of life on Earth. The atmosphere that gave rise to life billions of years ago before there was an oxygen-based ecosystem is thought to have been made up of methane, ammonia, and seawater, known as the “primordial soup”, then sparked into life by pressure or electricity. Scientists speculate that archaea were the original organisms that formed during these times due to a gradual development of molecules with increasing complexity.\n\n<center>https://image.ibb.co/c7OYoS/Primordial_Soup.jpg</center>\n\nOne of the most important pieces of experimental evidence to support the primordial soup theory came in 1953 when a graduate student named Stanley Miller under the guidance of his professor, Nobel laureate Harold Urey, performed an experiment now known as the “Miller-Urey experiment”. They used simple organic molecules like amino acids and mimicked the primitive conditions thought to be present in Earth’s early atmosphere with a mixture of methane, ammonia, water vapor, and hydrogen. They then sparked electrical flashes to simulate lightning and when they analyzed the solution after a week they found that organic amino acids had formed spontaneously from the inorganic raw materials.\n\nOf course, the primordial soup theory does not account specifically for how life was born from the original amino acids, and it has many critics. For example, in his book Intelligent Universe the British astrophysicist Fred Hoyle compares the likelihood of life appearing on Earth by chemical reactions in this way, *“A junkyard contains all the bits and pieces of a Boeing 747, dismembered and in disarray. A whirlwind happens to blow through the yard. What is the chance that after its passage a fully assembled 747, ready to fly, will be found standing there?”*\n\nScience is an undeniable tool in our desire to describe and explain living systems; but it is born of an anthropocentrism that creates blind spots and false certainty. Namely, that if we do not know to test for it, or if the test we develop cannot be replicated in the exactness expected by the mighty scientific method, “it isn’t there”. Too many well-meaning people stifle the collective scientific imagination believing that if it has not been discovered it cannot be true. Try proposing the merits the radionics of Dr. Albert Abrams or the biodynamic methods of Dr. Rudolf Steiner with the wrong crowd!\n\n<center>https://image.ibb.co/n4r3oS/Steiner.jpg</center>\n\nThe imagination of the human spirit is unstoppable, but modern popular science does its very best through the dogma of deduction. Without peer reviewed studies published in major scientific journals, those who seek to expand our understanding of life and the natural world are left carrying the burden of proof for things that do not fit neatly into the confines of academia. In other words, popular science must remove data from context in order to study it, but in the end it is only the context which gives the data its value.\n\nEnter James Francis Martin, or Jim as he was known, an eccentric inventor from Texas who, according to family records was born on December 13, 1894. There is quite a history, and many modern product formulators, behind the story of his creation of an enzymatic biocatalyst he called “the living water”.\n\nIt was derived from seawater, cow manure and yeast — simple ingredients that were transformed by a fermentation process into a substance with remarkable qualities. Some of the results claimed from using this seemingly magical substance read almost as fiction, but he was issued a patent in October 1959 — number 2,908,113 — and during his lifetime attracted the attention of many influential business people as well as renowned scientists to his work.\n\nAs described in the patent, Martin’s process propagated microbes by combining filtered cow manure with fresh seawater containing algae, which was fermented in a digester with regular infusions of cow manure along with large volumes of fresh water and small quantities of yeast. The liquid was then further diluted with fresh water until only byproduct and enzymes were left.\n\nGiven our understanding of archaea there is some logic to explain the fantastic claims made around Mr. Martin’s substance. Ruminants have compartmentalized stomachs that permit anaerobic archaea to thrive. Cow manure contains methane and ammonia, but even more interesting is the reference in Martin’s patent amendments stressing that bacteria found in manure from milking cows are unique. All cattle need calcium to build their bones, but lactating and pregnant cows have an exceptional need to make calcium for both milk and the bones of the calf. In other words, the archaea from milking cows are understood to be stronger.\n\nThis presents an interesting discussion for another article in regards to investigating the relative abilities of lab-derived microbes in gardening products versus those found in Nature. It is also interesting to note that biodynamic practitioners also prefer the manure from milking cows for use in making the biodynamic preparation BD500 horn manure. Again, the idea being that the milking cow organism is considered stronger in order to provide for its young. Many women who have experienced child birth out there would probably agree!\n\nThose who have looked closely at Mr. Martin’s process believe that the ingredients produce a special form of highly reactive oxygen through the fermentation process of the archaea, much like those proposed to have formed billions of years ago in the primordial soup. The archaea received the hydrogen for photosynthesis directly from the water and released the single oxygen from the water molecule into the atmosphere as waste. The atomic oxygen (O1) formed from this chemistry is very reactive and unstable, but eventually began to combine to form the molecular oxygen (O2) that we breath and the ozone (O3) that shields us from the ultraviolet rays of the sun and encapsulates our current atmosphere.\n\nDuring his career, Dr. Carl Oppenheimer specialized in bioremediation, or the use of biological means to clean up pollution such as oil spills or other forms of toxic waste. Through acquaintances Dr. Oppenheimer tested some of Mr. Martin’s special soil activator with exceptional results. He proposed that the atomic oxygen produced through the process stimulated microbes to grow rapidly, allowing them to operate aerobically in environments they otherwise could not — think scuba tank for microbes. This may be why Mr. Martin was able to utilize it, not only in growing soil and making the desert bloom, but in cleaning up oil spills and mitigating dangerous chemicals. To this day, science remains mystified about exactly how the process works.\n\nPopular science tends to scorn and ignore the questions that cannot be answered, but this happens to be where the most fascinating stories lie. Look into the biological transmutation of Louis Kervran or the implosion research of Viktor Schauberger. It is a travesty that more people have heard of Nikola Tesla through a car company named after him than due directly from his discoveries!\n\n<center>https://image.ibb.co/hhYG8S/Tesla.jpg</center>\n\nThe question becomes, is it more important to know the mechanism of Jim Martin’s “living water”, or to put it into use to help clean up and regenerate our world?\n\nThe truth is, the more we study Nature, the harder she becomes to define. Here is a mantra worth living by, _“As long as it works”_.\n\n…\n\n_**The future is open source and decentralized. Evan Folds pursues his passion of integrating the natural spiritual world with human centered technology by developing and sharing content shared across the digital landscape on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/evan.folds), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/EvanFolds), and [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/evanfolds/).**_\n\n_**UPVOTES** appreciated._",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"microbes\",\"soil\",\"agriculture\",\"bioremediation\",\"farming\"],\"image\":[\"https://image.ibb.co/fxcCF7/Germination.jpg\",\"https://image.ibb.co/bOfcxn/Lichen.jpg\",\"https://image.ibb.co/e8W8Nn/Archaea.jpg\",\"https://image.ibb.co/c7OYoS/Primordial_Soup.jpg\",\"https://image.ibb.co/n4r3oS/Steiner.jpg\",\"https://image.ibb.co/hhYG8S/Tesla.jpg\"],\"links\":[\"http://timeless-environments.blogspot.se/2018/02/northern-arizona-university-mycorrhizal.html?m=1\",\"https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/07/how-a-guy-from-a-montana-trailer-park-upturned-150-years-of-biology/491702/\",\"https://www.facebook.com/evan.folds\",\"https://twitter.com/EvanFolds\",\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/evanfolds/\"],\"app\":\"steemit/0.1\",\"format\":\"markdown\"}",
      "parent_author": "",
      "parent_permlink": "microbes",
      "permlink": "the-soil-food-web-archaea-and-the-origins-of-earth",
      "title": "The Soil Food Web, Archaea & the Origins of Earth"
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-03-09T18:25:06",
  "trx_id": "20986e1a10a96514cf7e684c6a01ff650b03fef7",
  "trx_in_block": 3,
  "virtual_op": 0
}