WHAT'S going on down there? Life amongst the wormies.

I spend a lot of time during the dark days of winter contemplating a picture perfect garden.  You know, the one in Organic Gardening, with nary a wisp of a weed.  Chickens abounding, eating critters, but only the ones I don't want.  Oh, by the way, Organic Gardening Magazine has turned into some sort of ultra-hip, you don't actually expect me to get my hands dirty, kind of urban gardening 'zine.  Read by people with man buns,  and aloof attitudes about coffee. Not my kind of reading any more. I have picked up Permaculture Magazine recently at the Lafayette Library,,  I can NOT pay 8-10 bucks for a magazine,,,it is a British publication, that is probably published by a bunch of old hippies. However, they are old hippies who have some good , no , great, ideas about how we should change the way we think about gardens, food, agribusiness, and relating to our post-modern world... sheesh, that sounded pretentious,   but stay with me,,, I'm gleaning info that is useful, and I hope you are able to get some great ideas from it, also.  I promise not to tell you to "get involved in the inner life of your soil,"  or "join in the great consciousness that will develop a new world view,,," blah, blah, blah,,  I may throw out some tidbits that you can employ in your own garden life that will improve your soil,  increase your harvest, and lighten your gardening load.

First thing, do you compost?  I always have a bag, a veggie box, a coffee tin, or old soda cup on the counter, filling up with peelings, scraps, lint, pits,  leftovers, whatever, except no meat, dairy, or fat.  Two years ago Bill built me a composting turner,   a 55-gallon blue (plastic?) barrel suspended between two posts, with a 3 inch PVC pipe run through the middle of it,  which is then attached to the two posts.  There is a door cut in the side, which I toss scraps into, close shut, and then, using all my superpowers, I am able to usually rotate the barrel at lightning speed,, but in the middle of winter, most of the rotting matter is in a big oooky blob  in the bottom of the barrel... but, when it warms up, I should be able to pull out some nice compost. 

For egg shells, I have been rinsing out shells, and storing them, crushed, in an old PB jar.  I used to close the lid, but then retch, when I opened it to add more... If I rinse the shells well, then they dry and don't cause a problem.  I will use these shells when I plant tomatoes in May!!! (imaginary trumpet blast!)  The three things you can use in your garden right out of the kitchen are coffee grounds, banana peels, and egg shells. 

Now, I am considering another kind of composting.  I used to pile up stuff, and hope that the "greens" and "browns" and moisture would do the trick of making a beautiful pile of compost, but that doesn't always seem to work.  I have been researching different forms of composting, and considered worms (yes, my life is that boring).  Did I want to go with the whole "drill holes, use screen, keep a warm light on it"  worm bin in the basement?  Or, a new thing I just found.. Here's a link...

http://www.homecompostingmadeeasy.com/foodscraps.html

    I like the idea of making a "worm bed."   I'll have a designated area, maybe with some old 2x4's from the garage for edging.. I'll till up, or dig it up,  add some red wigglers or wrigglers, from Beautiful Bud's Bait Shop, and dig in scraps as they come available.  I will also add leaf litter occasionally, or shredded newspaper,  to liven up the place.  I think that would be a great place to plant some pumpkins or squash mid-summer, they love compost soil.  I looked up some pictures, and most of them had chicken wire, or window  screening on top, to keep critters out... hmmm, may have to consider.  Here's a picture I found that follows my idea.  This has a bottom in it, and four sides, so I'll have to consider maybe a child's swimming pool?  So the wormies don't escape. 

http://gardeningwormcomposting.com/worm-composting/       This blogger has some great ideas.  I hope I can be as successful. 

I tend to be a visual learner ( I've read that all that "learning style" stuff I spent ages learning during my M.S. in Ed. Psych studies has all been debunked... sooo... lots of money and time down the drain.)  I like to look at Google images of different composting ideas, hoping something will take.  Try it...

Okay,, I have a stack of magazines, a few cold days coming my way,  and a yearning for learning.  So I'll put my knitting down for a few hours, and do some serious gardening research.    And maybe eat some chocolate.   Watch for more ideas to rumble around in my head in the next few weeks, as I GEAR UP  for GARDEN!!!!!


Dirt UP!!!

Dianne      

Come on, People, We're Burning Daylight!

It's time,  yes, it's time---for what?   LET'S GET DIRTY!!!! I swear my blood pressure crashed 20 points while I was outside mucking around in the dirt (soil) today...  "but, Dianne,"  I can hear you thinking,,,"it's only February 1,, what on God's blessed Earth are you doing?"

"I'm gardening!  I'm outside. I'm breathing fresh air.  I'm digging in soil.   I'm planting seeds.   I'm getting the whole growing season started!"

How? It's called winter sowing.. I started by saving or buying or bugging Brad Thada for seeds of native plants and vegetable seeds. Brad Thada is a young man who works for Cardno, an environmental company that gave away native flower seeds at our state meeting of the Indiana Native Plant and Wildflower Society.  I also knew him as a little boy at Pleasant Hill School, so I hit him up for more packets.  They are planted and ready to grow. 


Watch what I did... not terrible difficult, but does involve using  a sharp knife, so I had to watch myself.  First of all, dig out gallon milk containers from your recycle bin, or wander down the street nonchalantly, gathering them from the neighbors' bins...  whistle and dance a bit,  people will think you are slightly crazy and will let you go along your way. 

Then, cut your container around the middle  leaving a bit  under the handle  to hold the container together.. Make sure you also poke holes in the bottom for drainage.  You do not need to keep the cap on,  leave it off to provide fresh air. 

Okay, that wasn't hard.  Then put some moistened seed starting soil mix in the bottom of the container.   Plant seeds in the soil mix, and then duct tape the top of the container to the bottom.   Voila!   A tiny greenhouse that should work well for starting native seeds that need stratifying.  What does that mean?  Well,  I need to replicate the growing conditions the seed would endure in the wild.  So,  moisture, heat, cold, freeze, thaw, over and over.  This breaks open the hard seed coat on many native plants and lets them survive winter in Indiana.

Sorry for all that shiny sunshine on my photo, but, please, people, work with me here. No complaints about sunshine today.   So I marked each container with a wax pencil with the plant name and date of planting.  I placed the containers in front of the house, where they will get the most daylight in the next few weeks.  I also used some half-gallon containers, placed on a long side, and a take-out container.   I also sowed some milkweed and Zizia  aurea (Golden Alexander)  in some long flower pots.  Since they are both natives, I'm trying out sowing them openly in a spot I can control.  I have a few more containers to fill later in the week.. I have to dig out all the seeds that are wintering in the pantry.

Has anyone else noticed new growth on evergreens?  I have some in front of the house that look as if they are not dormant.. hmmmm,  I hope we don't get any prolonged cold soon, or they could be in trouble.

So planted today,, Feb. 1, 2016:

Purple Coneflowers,,, Native Flower mix,  Zizia Aurea,  Common milkweed, Butterfly weed (small orange milkweed).   

I also have a mostly empty flower pot into which I threw several handfuls of common milkweed pods.  I have left them outside all winter, and I'm waiting for spring to see if I get any growth.  I learned this from my Monarch Maniac friend, Reni Winter-Evans ,   She has a great FB page here, 
https://www.facebook.com/winterhaven.wildflowers  with great pictures of growing monarchs on milkweed.

I am going to start some more things as spring approaches.  If you want to try this,  throw in some lettuce, radishes,  broccoli,  or  lettuce mixes.   All of these  are cool weather crops and won't be hurt by a few cold nights.  I have seen pictures of containers covered in snow that were full of green plants.  Check out Pinterest for "winter sowing" if you want to see some more examples.  I may even try some tomatoes in a month.  What will you be out?  A packet of seeds, some tape, and a recyclable container.   Give it a go!  I'll keep you updated on how my first batch goes. 

Yes, the greenhouse got built, it's air tight, it's wonderful, but it doesn't have heat for nighttime yet, so I'm waiting to start anything out there yet, until I can get a long extension cord and heater out there.

Winter garden UP!!

Dianne