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