Vermicomposting

We first got our Worm Factory Worm Bin in July right after the holiday. We set-up our bin on July 8th and on the 10th our live worms (Eisenia fetida or red wigglers) arrived in a relatively small cardboard box with holes punched all around it.

I hurried to the door soon after it was delivered around 4pm to retrieve it from the hot front porch. The high temperature was 106 degrees that afternoon. That was the hottest day we had had. Very unfortunate. I know the mail trucks don't have air-conditioning. We had watched the Worm Factory video about vermicomposting and we knew that the worms handle cool temperatures much better than warm and 106 degrees is very hot - too hot for the red wigglers. 

After bringing them into the house and opening the cardboard box to cool down for awhile, I opened the sack they came in and poured them into their new home. They were pretty limp and not active. Now was the watch and wait period to find out if they could recover from a horrendous mail trip like that. My take on it is that many of them (1000 to start I think) did not make it. After their rest period they did not go through the handful of kitchen scraps as expected. It has been very slow going.

We bought the 5 tray Worm Factory bin and of course started with one tray. Finally in Sept.-Oct. we graduated to two trays, with the first tray still containing egg shells with what we hoped were nests of babies and also some material that was still not completely broken down. 

Finally in December, after adding a third tray, I was able to make my first harvest of our very own worm castings. This is one trays worth of worm castings. This is so exciting!

The worm bin and its contents are so fresh. It smells good - a very very mild earthy scent and feels good in the hands. The small pieces that are not dark brown in the mixture are pieces of egg shells (brown eggs). I crushed many of the shells, but also added some that were half shells as well as small pieces. Part of the mix sent with the Worm Factory kit included some small pumice rocks which a couple can still be seen.  No other material is evident in our very first harvest of worm castings. Pumice rock and Coconut coir block for worm bedding came with the bin, as well as a thermometer, a scraper and the yellow rake shown in the picture above.

Below is some great information from the Worm Factory - there is a difference between Vermicompost and worm castings.

First you need to determine if you have true worm castings, or vermicompost.  What's the difference? 

Worm castings are essentially worm poop.  Worm castings are the result of the red wiggler worm eating the decomposed organic matter and passing it through their gut.

Vermicompost is a combination of worm castings, decomposed, and/or partially decomposed organic matter that has not yet been processed by the worms.  Vermicompost may contain some organic matter that is still identifiable.  Generally, vermicompost will mostly be made up of worm castings.  However, if you still have a small amount of decomposing organic matter it will decide how you store your vermicompost.

The partially decomposed organic matter in vermicompost continues to break down during storage. If you store actively decomposing organic matter in an airtight container it will cause anaerobic decomposition, which results in foul-smelling, plant-toxic by-products.  Also if the vermicompost dries out it prevents further decomposition, and often causes it to become impossible to re-wet (hydrophobic).

The best way to store vermicompost is to first dry it until it is damp, not wet.  This will ensure sufficient air penetration through the material to prevent anaerobia.  Once it is damp, you will want to store it in a non-airtight container.  If you store it this way the vermicompost slowly stabilizes in an aerobic environment and has a shelf life of more than three years.

Storing true worm castings is much easier, since they are essentially stable and can be both stored in airtight packages and dried to 5% moisture with no loss of plant growth impact.

In order to test if you have vermicompost or true worm castings you can seal a small handful in an airtight plastic bag.  When you open the bag after a few days and it smells like deep, earthy soil, then you have worm castings.  If it smells putrid and foul then you have vermicompost and should be stored in a non-airtight container.

Is Spring really here?

The Vernal Equinox

Ah, it is spring! The Vernal Equinox, which is the beginning of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere was on March 20, 2012, at 1:14 A.M. (EDT).

The word equinox is derived from the Latin words meaning “equal night.” The spring and fall equinoxes are the only dates with equal daylight and dark as the Sun crosses the celestial equator.

It is this season that brings increasing daylight, warming temperatures, and the rebirth of our flora and fauna.
Spring is all about "new" - new life and growth!

According to folklore, you can stand a raw egg on its end on the equinox. Is this true?

One spring, at the minute of the vernal equinox, (Pacific Time) I tried this. For about 1/2 the day my egg stood on its own end, then I took it down. Try this yourself and let me know what happens!


  
We can all envision what we think of when spring arrives. Maybe it is the tender new light green growth we see, or the smell of warming soil or a flower in bloom, the feel of warm rain or a light breeze. 

Spring is also the time when green buds appear and blooms cover many trees, birds are active and insects buzz by, and flowers begin to bloom. Daffodils, Lily of the Valley,  and other spring flowers provide a sight for sore eyes after a long cold gray winter.

The vernal, or spring, equinox signals the beginning of nature’s renewal in the Northern Hemisphere.

Gardeners have been waiting for this day to arrive. Winter provides lots of time to dream, to look through garden catalogs and decide what new things to grow this year. This is spring, the beginning of a new growing season and a time to again be in harmony with Mother Nature.

Today is the Summer Solstice

Today is the longest day of the year and the shortest night of the year!!!  It is the first day of summer, and it is 91 degrees, which seems pretty hot.

So, summer is here and I am still planting my spring/summer veggies. I have most of my peppers in. Would like to find 2-3 Anaheims to plant. 

I have five San Marzano paste tomatoes planted. I have two organic Early Girls and a Costoluto Genovese in large pots. Still have two slicing tomatoes to plant: a Paul Robeson and Sun Gold to plant, as well as one more Costoluto Genovese. 

This is what the Paul Robeson looks like - something like a Black Kim in color I think. I have never grown them before.

I have one Zucchini squash planted and one more French White Bush squash to plant. I lost a couple eggplant starts in the greenhouse and only have one left to plant. I haven't even gotten any beans planted yet, and need to look to see if any tomatillos have volunteered in a dry bed. I am watering that tomatillo bed right now.

It is pretty much covered with mugwort up to 6 feet tall. Very happy mugwort, but I don't need mugwort in that bed. It already has its own place on the other side of the house in an herb bed.

I have three kinds of Swiss Chard, the white, orange/yellow and red that are growing extra large leaves. They are not liking this hot sun as well as some other plants that are unhappy with this sudden hot sun. 

 And the late planted broccoli wilts during the hot of the day, but is still healthy because of the afternoon shade. The onions and leeks are in full bloom from this hot sun too. At least the round flower heads are pretty.

Oh, and the raspberries are coming on and are very sweet. I hardly get many of them into the house. Only twice have I not eaten all of them to get a bowl's worth in the house.

One of the greatest things this year is that the native bees and honey bees are very plentiful. The honey bees have been thick on my Vitex tree and my El Grosso Lavender (pictured below).

So, my ever changing garden is a very busy place!

From the South Lawn, a Sweet smell of Honey

First just a small White House Vegetable Garden.
Now the White House Garden is beginning to expand
into an even better example of sustainable urban gardening.
A key to a sustainable garden is an emphasis on diversity.


This is a fun Multimedia Audio Slide Show by the New York Times.
Click on the photo to jump to the New York Times page so you can play this show.

At the end of the show click on your browser's back arrow button twice
to return to this blog page. Enjoy!

by Viktor Koen
Multimedia
Audio Slide Show

Fall is here!

Today was the first day that has really felt like fall.
What a wonderful day.
Now if I could just clone today's weather!

The garden is still providing overwhelming amounts of tomatoes, zucchini, beans, onions, leeks, eggplant, tomatillos, herbs, and all sorts of peppers!

The grapes are still hanging thick from their trellis and the blackberries are still turning black. The raspberries are between crops now and the figs are just finishing up. The black elderberries are still hanging from their limbs and the rosehips are turning orange and red on many different plants.

Yet, with all this bounty, it is weighing on my mind that I have not started fall veggie seeds yet.

What should I grow this fall?
Well, of course, lettuce, spinach, green onions, swiss chard, potatoes and broccoli. Oh, and I must not forget peas. In fact I have one plant that volunteered about 2-3 weeks ago. Fresh raw peas from the garden are a delicacy that everyone should experience.

It is late I know, but I have a lot of sweet potato starts with a nice set of roots which will go into the garden this week. Yes, it is late, but if they don't develop fully in a few months, then they will be ready in early spring.

Then I am thinking about growing brussels sprouts again.
Oh, the choices are many!

In the ornamental arena, I am including more native plants into my landscape. Native plants strengthen and build diverse beneficials in the garden.

This is all part of sustainable gardening.

All is well!

I am well aware of the effects of pesticides and herbicides on the land and all the life on this land.

Last year and a couple years before that, my neighbors had two chemical lawn care companies (Chemlawn and Scott's) come and spray chemicals weekly and even bi-weekly. What was especially disheartening was that both companies would spray during high winds (14mph sustained winds with gusts up to 25 and sometimes 35mph). I would have the heads-up that they were doing this because I would be knocked out by the smell coming into my house on the second story level. These same neighbors also had and still do have a chemical company come and spray poisons all around their home.

Small blessings, the neighbors do not have the two lawn care companies anymore. They came once this year, but I think that was the end of their contract. So, my roses in the front yard are beginning to have green leaves (instead of a brown-green color) and are starting to have typical growth and leaf shape again. But the most exciting part is that I have honey bees, bumble bees and other native bees of all sizes and shapes. I have seen lots of butterflies, ladybugs and praying mantis this summer and moths that are really pretty too. The birds are plentiful and life is just buzzing all around in a harmonious manner. My vegetables are full of flowers and the fruit is plentiful. My fig tree is loaded with huge figs and the Thompson Seedless grape is heavy with huge bunches of ripening fruit. All is well on my sustainable piece of land!


This is the trailer to a movie called "A Chemical Reaction." This is a documentary about making change for our future. One small step for mankind, one huge step for this earth!



I think they are entering the documentary in film festivals first before national release. It would be fun to go to a film festival again, but also it would be great to see this film come to my town and for all of us to get to see it. If change can take place in one town and spread to several others, it can spread all across North America and eventually the world. This is an important step in saving the health of this whole planet.

And now I am off to pour some compost tea on a few of my flower and vegetable beds. It is a glorious day with temperatures in the mid 80's!

Oh, life is beautiful!

Happy July

Wow! was June a mixed bag or what? We had some unseasonal cool weather and then very hot weather near the end of the month. My plants didn't know what to think about it and the newly planted plants were not happy campers at the end of the month. It was wilt city during direct sun.

Yet, with all of these weather changes my plants grew and grew. Today I only had time to deadhead roses and prune back a tiny bit of my wild Wisteria. Well I did make time to harvest tomatoes, onions, raspberries, zucchini, plums, lemons and grapefruit.

Many things are in full bloom and I am thankful for everyday that I hear the buzzing of the bees. My Vitex tree is still electric with their sound. There are native bees flitting about and today I even saw a tiger swallowtail.

The bees are also covering my El Grosso Lavender in the front yard. The lavender is so happy that I will need to harvest it soon.

All another day!