Compost tea. Organic potion, heavily championed by the SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE crowd, that’s made by adding water to compost, letting the mixture steep and ferment, and straining out the liquid, which is then sprayed on crops or poured into their soil. A well-made compost tea, which can use anything from molasses to fish scraps as a food source for beneficial microorganisms, works as both a pesticide substitute, keeping deadly plant diseases at bay, and as an enhancer of flavor and fertility for fruit and vegetable crops. All it took was a few gallons of compost tea, and voila!—my orchards were free of apple scab.