It all began with a remarkable discovery at an abandoned mine tailing site.
“Mine tailings are pretty toxic environments – but this particular site had plants growing on it! In my master’s degree, I found that the microbial community was the driving force that determined which plants grew where on this contaminated site. So, I wanted to invent a product that would help make plants at contaminated sites grow better, help plants grow in an urban environment, and help agriculture.”
This from professional ecologist Dale Overton, who went on to invent EcoTea in his Charleswood garage in 2007 and started the company in 2008 – which has been steadily gaining market share ever since.
Overton explains that EcoTea is essentially a biological amendment made from worm castings and various bio stimulants to help plants grow better while reducing conventional inputs – ultimately helping to produce healthier soils.
“It’s like a probiotic for the soil in your plants,” he explains. “You know how your guts have microbes that help digest food? EcoTea gives the plant those similar microbes that allow it to digest its food and create immunity within the system.”
Today, EcoTea operates a large worm farm near Steinbach, where Overton and his team build different types of biologically active compost.
“I hesitate to say ‘compost’ because you’d never see this in a composting operation,” he’s quick to add. “But it’s the closest thing to the process that you can imagine. We then blend them together to make an extract into water, so it’s like a tea in that sense.”
Overton says EcoTea also gives plants the ability to use nutrients better, so producers can reduce fertilizer and other conventional inputs.
“Our product really helps with early season stress. Because it's a potent root stimulant, EcoTea helps plants survive intense environmental stress at early stages and even later in plant development – drought, flooding, cold, insects – that kind of stuff.”
Overton adds that their research has shown that EcoTea can replace conventional seed treatments, creating a more robust plant.
“We've proven over the last six years that EcoTea creates healthier plants and soils, from reducing compaction to improving the way plants use fertilizers. Our company puts our money where our mouth is by working with third party researchers to prove our products perform in the field. Our main goal is to help farmers reduce reliance and become more profitable.”
Ultimately, EcoTea is a cost-effective tool, particularly as the regenerative ag scene gains momentum. But it’s not only farmers who are sitting up and taking notice.
“EcoTea is also being used in really fancy landscape installs,” reveals Overton. “We're doing the Waterfront Toronto Portlands project, we did the Google headquarters in San Jose, and we're doing the YouTube headquarters as well. So we’re working on some really, really cool projects with some big, big companies.”
To find out how you can use EcoTea to benefit your operation, you can text or call 204-417-4122, visit EcoTea.ca, or get social with EcoTea on YouTube, X, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.