jenny.shadegarden

  I lifted the lid on the worm farm Level 1 and could see worms at the top of the compost material, there were a couple migrating into Level 2. Microbiology is like magic. There are all these interacting lifeforms too small for me to see. What I do see is the compost pile slowly turning into soil.  This gardening experience is very different from my previous attempts - over decades - to grow a garden. I never understood soil biology. I never understood that the plants growing in the garden need bacteria working in the soil. The soil is alive. When there is healthy soil, there are healthy plants. My worm friends are teaching me about soil biology. It is fun to go out and check on them, to see how they are doing, to make sure their newsprint cover is moist. As I picked up Level 2 of my worm farm to check on Level 1 activity, I could see a couple of wigglers working their way up through the screen to get to the new food supply in level 2.

  A modest collection of mustard greens and lettuce leaves from our first year garden. I walk around my neighbourhood several times a day to exercise with my dog. I notice other boulevard and front yard gardens and see how big their plants are at this time of year.  My garden does not come close to the production I am seeing in my neighbour's gardens. However, it is a first year garden in a front yard and boulevard that have been continuously under construction since 2011. Before we started renovating to put a new basement under our house, our entire yard was surrounded by a mature, 30' cedar hedge. It was very hard to get anything to grow near that hedge.  The hedge was removed to make way for excavation to install a new foundation and basement under our 1911 house. The entire yard was dug out, new drainage and foundation installed and then the foundation walls backfilled with sand. The only soil remaining was around the perimeter, and it was the soil that had been condi...

  Adele waits patiently in her crate while the caregiver gives Mom her morning personal care. Now that I am committed to setting up a comprehensive in-home composting system, I am thinking more deeply about the flow of organic waste throughout our household. Yard waste - leaves, weeds, grass clippings Kitchen waste Non-dairy, non-meat food waste Dairy, meat food waste Worm farming - feeding the worms yard and kitchen waste Pet waste - composting dog waste The heat is hitting us this week and with it comes the reminder that the dog waste waiting for collection from the City is also sitting and heating up. I am thinking about how to process the waste that cannot go into the yard waste, non-dairy/non-meat kitchen waste and worm farm. This is another stream for composting that will be suitable for fertilizing ornamental plants, not for the food garden. What I am going to do is set up a compost for pet waste, meat and dairy waste. This compost is going to be critter proof and specifical...

  The new composter is assembled and ready for service. Mom read Pogo aloud while I tightened the 64 nuts and bolts to complete assembly. Setting up the shade garden and worm farm has led me to take a close look at our composting system. Previously we had thrown all organic waste into the city green bin. The bushels of leaves that fell from the Lombardi Poplar were bagged up and hauled away. My priorities have changed and the value of this green waste has gone up significantly. Our theory for shade garden success is that we are going to need a vigorous and vital soil habitat for the plants to draw maximum nourishment during the hours when they have direct sun. The soil on this property was severely impacted by a gigantic cedar hedge that surrounded the yard for 30 years. After the hedge was removed, there was major construction when we excavated to put a new basement under our 1911 house. This year we hauled 5 cubic yards of composted soil from the City. All these events have contr...

  Worms are snug in their habitat of garden waste, shredded paper, last winter's dry leaves, and the inoculum. We wanted to make sure they had enough air flow but keep the flies out so we threw a burlap coffee bag across the opening. Inside the container, I added a bit of water to the waste material to make sure the worms have enough moisture to feel comfortable. I wanted to poke around in the layers of material we had put in yesterday, to see how my worms are doing, but I resisted the temptation and left them in peace. We have to be patient now, and let the worms go about their work of transforming organic waste into garden compost to enrich the soil.

Today I visited  Burnaby Red Wigglers  and met Bintoro Gunadi, founder and Soil Biologist. It was fascinating having him explain what the worms are, what they need, and what to expect. I took home two handfuls of worms and a bag of worm cocoons and inoculum.  When I got home my gardening friend, Honami, stopped by and showed me how to set up my worm nest in a food waste bucket. We added leaves and torn up paper to the small amount of food waste in the bucket. Then we tipped the bag of worms in, covering them with the inoculum. We left them to do their magic with a lid on the bucket, carefully placed in a shady area out of direct sun. Going forward, we will put the garden waste in the outdoor bins, and that is also where we will put our coffee grounds. They are too acidic for the worms to enjoy. So now we have a kitchen compost for food waste that is growing worms. I cannot explain how satisfying it feels to have this worm culture start up. The worms are so quiet and ...