Blog Archive

Thursday, March 24, 2016

Worms and Vermicompost

Someone dumped a chest freezer out a while back and at first I was aggregated and then I remembered one of my great uncles used to raise worms in an old chest freezer.  I had been wanting to add a worm  bin to start vermicomposting so I did a little research, made a few mods to the freezer, and purchased my worms.  I ordered $40 worth of worms which is about 2000 worms.  They arrived 3 days later and I added them to my already prepared chest freezer.  All I had to do was drill a few holes in the bottom for drainage and fill the freezer about half full with sand.  I then added shredded water soaked cardboard and about 8 inches of shredded leaves.  I threw a few old coffee grounds in as well.  You need to make sure you have proper aeration so that gases can be expelled and oxygen can enter.  Since the lid does not close tight I don't need to really worry about it for now.  I plan to add a defensive plan in case ants decide to invade but I haven't decided which option I'm going with yet. 

Supposed once the worms get settled they can produce 1/4 to 1/2 their weight in compost per day.  So starting with 2 lbs of worms I'm hoping to achieve about 20 lbs of compost a month. 


Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Milkweed for Monarchs

"The fact that I can plant a seed and it becomes a flower, share a bit of knowledge and it becomes another's, smile at someone and receive a smile in return, are to me continual spiritual exercises." - Leo Buscaglia

Milkweed is the host plant of the Monarch Butterfly.  The Monarch has been in decline and there is a push for more milkweed to be planted to help its recovery.  I purchased some milkweed seed from rareseeds.com and was very pleased with the germination rate.  I believe it takes two years for the flower to bloom but occasionally some do bloom the first year.  I can't wait to get these in the garden.