Happy Worms - 2025 08 31

 

Worms are thriving on a mix of cardboard, sterile compost dirt from the municipality, coffee chaff from a local coffee roaster, alfalfa pellets, kitchen compost and clippings from mowing the yard.

I have not been an exemplary gardener this year. I have been trying to do too many things everyday and falling behind on everything. I did not have a plan when I laid out my beds in the spring and I created areas that were difficult to access for watering. I don't know which volunteer plants to keep and which ones I need to remove or at least reduce. I tried soaker hoses this year but because my plantings are in clumps on raised beds, a lot of the water is falling in areas that don't benefit the plants I am cultivating but it does benefit the plants I don't want to cultivate. My rain barrels are catching rain on the west side of the house but most of my garden is on the east and south side of the house. I have to carry every gallon from the rain barrels around the house to throw onto the plants. 

That said, the volunteer sunflowers my sister-in-law gave me in the spring have survived my haphazard gardening care.

My collection of three volunteer sunflowers gifted from my sister-in-law have survived a cold spring, and dry, hot summer. I have been watering them with my concoction of worm water and the tallest is now over 8' tall.

The worms have diligently worked in their bins to turn cardboard, coffee chaff, yard clippings, kitchen compost and alfalfa pellets into lively soil amendment.

No matter how badly I feel about my actual gardening skills or my ability to maintain the garden, it is deeply satisfying to cultivate worms. They have survived to the twelve bins I have in production now. I am able to give away buckets of worms and worm castings to my gardening neighbours and friends. My worms bins serve as an incredibly efficient rat-proof composting system. We compost cardboard, paper and household food scraps. 

Whenever I am feeling overwhelmed or depressed and not sure what to do next, I can go out and toss the worm bins and marvel at their nature.