midsize brewer

The French have an edge on the effective microbe activation front for serious home orchardists. Check out this fermenteur EM 30 L pour activation EMA from Hector Produits Naturel. I'm quite happy with brewing large batches in a 55 gallon drum but recognize there are growers who might really rock'n'roll with an eight-gallon brewer. Airlock, check. Temperature control, check. Pouring tap, check. Looks like a fine business opportunity to me!

Building a resource base for growers in other countries is within the scope of the network as we encourage holistic impetus. This link comes by way of a consultation client in France . . . and yes, Claude, I am telling them about vous!

Lost Nation Orchard
Zone 4b in New Hampshire

Doesn't look that much different from a cider fermentation vessel!
See here the 30L Speidel cider fermenter
[shop.speidels-hausmosterei.de]
To which one needs to add a couple of accessories, airlock and outlet valve (see link on left of page).
However, looking more closely, I see a plug there, so there must be a heater inside... That one isn't available from a cider outfitter. So go and get that one from an aquarium accessories supplier...

And the price is a bit stiffer. Yes, I guess there is a good business opportunity there for you Michael.
Claude

Jolicoeur Orchard
Zone 4 in Quebec

This was shared primarily to give people further ideas on how to activate effective microbes. And while I might think about starting a "holistic supply house" now and then . . . someone else can pick up this idea and go commercial.

Let's run the numbers. Purchase one gallon (128 ounces) of mother culture, whether from TeraGanix or SCD Probiotics. This brewer allows 8 gallons to be activated at a time. Based on the three-quarter cup (6 ounces) recipe per gallon of activation . . . that calls for 48 ounces of mother culture per batch . . . thus making possible three activations of 8 gallons, 8 gallons, and 6 gallons.

Now out to the orchard. A modest size orchard (along with extended gardens) requiring 50 gallons of coverage per application would use one gallon of activated EM each time. The first spray of the season and the fall application are double rate, as is the case with competitive colonization boosts during boom when conditions are right for fire blight. Activating a gallon of mother culture makes possible the full holistic spray schedule with a "splash" left over for composting and perhaps bokashi for chickens. The full season cost for that gallon of mother culture runs around $60, plus you'll need a gallon of blackstrap molasses. Good value on the dollar for all that microbial coverage methinks.

Lost Nation Orchard
Zone 4b in New Hampshire