Vermicomposting: From Garbage to Garden

First of all, what is vermicomposting? Well, in short, it is a form of composting that in addition to bacteria and microbes, also uses worms to break down organic waste. This waste is full of awesome nutrients that help your plants grow healthy and strong without the use of chemical fertilizers.

Vermicomposting uses two types of worms that are specially adapted to conditions such as high temperatures and rotting vegetation. Basically, these aren't your average garden earth worms.

So, how does it work? Essentially, you feed your worms organic waste, they then eat it and help break it down.  And when they are done they poop! I know, super exciting, I didn't say it was a particularly glamorous process. But if you are one of those people that get squeamish at the word "poop," the more eloquent term for worm leave-behinds would be "worm castings."


So, what do you need to get started on your worm farm adventure?

First, you will need a bin. There are three types of worm composting bins.  There is a non-continuous bin that you throw all of your worms, bedding, and so forth into and then when the process is complete you have to empty and sift through the compost to find your worms to start it over again.  This is popular because it is cheap and easy to make, but it is also hard to harvest your compost without removing some worms.
There is also a continuous vertical flow bin set-up; this bin uses a series of trays that are stacked on top of one another.  You fill the bottom tray with your worms, bedding, and organic materials and let them go to work. Once the process is complete, you start filling the tray on top with bedding and organic matter and the worms will start to migrate upwards toward the food, making it easy to harvest the bottom tray. The third bin is similar to the CVF bin and is called the continuous horizontal flow bin, but instead of migrating up, the worms migrate to the side.  This set up, however, takes up a lot of space so is therefore undesirable for small spaces.
I use the vertical flow method as it is efficient and doesn't take up a lot of space.  The brand of bin I have costs about $105 and is called The Worm Factory.

The second thing you will need is bedding.  
For bedding you can use shredded paper, cardboard, dead leaves, wood shavings, etc.  The idea is that this bedding should be high in carbon: think brown.  Sawdust, hay and peat moss also work. You want anything that is loose and facilitates aerobic respiration and decomposition. Loose bedding is also easier for the worms to move around in.  This bedding should be kept moist.

You should avoid using glossy paper because it may have toxins that aren't good for the system.  Cereal boxes and other cardboard used to hold food should be avoided as well because it is hard to break down.
You will then need worms. As mentioned before there are two types of worms you can use: Red Wigglers and Red Earthworms.  I have Red Wigglers. You can get them at most nurseries or online for about $25/lb.

Finally, you will need organic material.  Worms are pretty low maintenance, they will eat almost anything.

• Veggie/fruit scraps and peelings
• coffee grounds (and filters), tea leaves/bags
• egg shells

However, there are things that even worms won't or should not eat:

• anything citrus, these fruits are way too high in acid
• onions, tomatoes, chilies. Again, these are too high in acid.
• Dairy products. Think of your worms as being lactose intolerant. 
• Dog/cat waste. However if you do use this in your non-worm compost bin make sure to not use this compost on your edible plants. Dog/cat waste can have diseases.
• Ashes from a fireplace: wood ashes are very alkaline which is bad for your worms and the micro bacteria that are working on your compost.
• Meat: This mostly makes the worm bin stinky as it breaks down, which attracts flies and other annoying critters.

Here are some tips to send you on your composting way:

• In warm climates, put your bin in the shade, worms don't like too much direct heat.
• Contrarily, in cool climates bring your worm bin inside or put it in a warm/dry spot, they don't like being cold either.
• Keep the contents of your bin moist (like a sponge that has been rung out).
• when your bin starts to stink that means there is too much nitrogen (from greens) and it is time to add high carbon stuff (brown items) The general idea is to have 30 parts C to one part N
• Large items take longer to decompose. Help your worms out by making things smaller, like putting your waste through a food processor first.

After all is said and done you have some awesome compost to work into the top soil of your garden.  Try not to use it as straight potting mix though. Also, there is a liquid fertilizer from the worm castings that you can use. I like to put it in a cleaned out milk jug to use when needed. You only need about two tablespoons of this vermicast to a liter of water.  My sister recommends letting it sit for a day and then to water your plants or add it to a spray bottle for an insecticide/foliar fertilizer (worm poop is also great for keeping away bad bugs).

So why do we do this? What is the point?

First, worm compost has a ton of nutrients. It also has microbes that helps break down nutrients in soil into plant available forms.

Last, it is a free form of fertilizer that is sustainable and organic. Why spend money and fossil fuels on synthetic fertilizers that will only promote desertification in the long run?  Exactly.

So go adopt yourself a pound of worms and get started.  

I found all of my information on worm composting at treehugger.com and wormfactory.us. I hope you found this useful!

My sister also recommends the book: Worm's Eat My Garbage: How to Set Up and Maintain a Worm Composting System by Mary Appelhof for a more in-depth idea of how to compost with worms.

Artichokes!

Artichokes have been, and always will be, my favorite vegetable. EVER. So of course, Bob and I planted one artichoke plant back in March with the idea that we would easily be eating artichokes by May.  Our hopes were dashed as summer came and went, with no artichokes on the horizon.  The plant grew large but there were zero budding arties.  Then for about a week I didn't visit the garden due to some late summer/early fall rain keeping me inside... Finally, a day came where I threw open the curtains of our bedroom (which overlooks the garden) on the first sunny day after those rains and saw to my happy surprise that there were artichokes growing!  

We will be eating one of them tonight :)

harvest satisfaction

I have been steadily harvesting fruit and vegetables for months now, each time with increased awe and wonder over the fact that this was MY creation.  How could something so tasty come from something so small as a seed?  I have harvested onions, garlic, tomatoes, potatoes, squash, and carrots, many times.  This is beautiful. Something so primordial and so right.
When I started this project, I planted only foods that I KNEW I liked: Large tomatoes, zucchini.. etc.  But later in the season, Bobby convinced me to plant foods that I wasn't necessarily crazy about, i.e. cherry sized tomatoes.  I have NEVER liked cherry tomatoes despite my everlasting love of their larger counterparts.  I've never liked the way they explode in your mouth, or how sour they sometimes were.   But plant them I did, in a mission to find something good about them.  I cared for these tomatoes as aphids and powdery mildew tried to kill them off. I watered, I fertilized, I pruned. Then came the day the first of the bunch ripened.  It was one little tiny runt of a thing, all lonely and sad.  Bobby ceremonially cut it in half and we each ate a half right there in the garden, we were desperate for any form of tomato as our larger tomatoes hadn't ripened yet. I bit, I chewed.... I nearly cried. It was wonderful!  If anything could convince me that this project of growing my own veggies for taste was a good idea, it was this moment.
Isn't it funny how your whole outlook on food changes when you have cultivated it yourself?  When you have watched this living thing sprout from seemingly nothing, carefully monitoring its progress, fighting off disease and pest with precision and care, you grow to love it. It doesn't just taste better because it doesn't have preservatives and hasn't been carted 2,000 miles to get to you... it tastes better because it was yours from start to finish.

There is nothing more beautiful or poetic than that.

Harvest, kinda.

Quick update:

Garlic, the stinkiest harvest ever!

Again, garlic, successfully braided.

The kind of carrots only a mother could love

My, what big onion you have!

The vines finally have little leaves!

This zucchini tasting freaking delicious! 

After a two month germination period, the parsley is finally up.
Gosh, it took long enough!

Lovely tomatoes.

And just for fun, Seamus being dapper indeed.

This is my future

Two days ago, Bobby and I came home with 17 grapevines, given to us by the vineyard manager at Tally Winery. This brings our vine family up to 18. It is not certain that all of the plants will live, however positive thoughts and daily watering will be applied.  After packing mushroom compost around each plant and giving them a thorough soaking, I had a sobering thought. This could be the beginning of my future vineyard. What a story that will make for a back label: "these grapes began as nothing more than a college student's dream of green."  I have placed them in pots until I can purchase half wine barrels for each. Let us keep our fingers crossed. Right now, these new vines appear to be nothing more than sticks in the mud.

A Bevy of Books for the Picking

I, once again, humbly apologize for my extended leave of absence from the blog-sphere. As a student, my time is not my own, and officer I am sticking to that story.

There has been much going on in the month or so I have been away from my keyboard; I have finished finals (wonderful grades in all), added a few new plants to my growing family of backyard edibles, and have secured the front house for Bobby and I next year. The latter is amazing news, as I was very concerned as to how I was going to manage moving all of my root edibles (garlic, onion, potato) to a new home without them dying. Now I don't have to worry about such things and with the good news went out and bought strawberries. I will post new photos of my little plant community soon, but today I wanted to talk about a few books that have helped me immensely in my new lifestyle and to speculate about a few more I haven't gotten my dirt stained hands on yet.


The book that started it all, of course, was Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver and family.

This book is essentially about a family who decides to forgo the luxury of purchasing imported goods in favor of a local and self-sufficient lifestyle.  This was meant to try to cut down on the vast cost this country spends on fossil fuels, not only in the transportation of such goods but also in the manufacturing of them.  Barbara tells the story of her family's transformation into the locavore lifestyle with colorful accuracy, and my heart was sold to the idea.  I have taken to heart her declaration that vegetables are beautiful, and have taken it upon myself to give my backyard color and variety with plants that I can eat.  I recommend this book to anyone. Even those who have never been interested by the idea of gardening themselves will be swayed to at least put a few herbs in their windows after reading it.

The Backyard Homestead, was my next natural step in becoming self-sufficient.  This book has everything from growing herbs for tea to building and operating your own cider-press to raising and slaughtering your own chickens.  Though I am far from ordering chicks from a catalog and raising them for meat or eggs (not that I don't want to but my landlords would never allow such a thing), this book has aided me in container gardening, making bread, and what herbs to put in teas to calm a sore throat.

This book is great for the burgeoning Homesteader.

Sunset's Western Garden Book of Edibles has been my encyclopedia and, I am convinced, my success to growing such a prolific garden.  This wonderful book holds answers to all of the questions I had about where to plant, how much sun a plant should have, whether it would grow well in containers, how much watering should be done, and so much more.

It even has some beautiful photos of landscaping ideas, how to turn your edible garden into a work of art.  One of the useful tips it gave me was how to get protect my delicate plants from snails: copper foil and some beer in dishes did the trick.

The following books are those that are on my wish list.

Garden Update

As we are moving into spring, I have noticed a major growth in many of the plants in my garden.  The plants that I have seen significant growth in are my onions and garlic. They grow a few centimeters every day which is incredibly encouraging.

German Queen Tomato

Red Beefsteak Tomato

The tomatoes and peppers seem to be taking a little longer to grow, though I have noticed a few buds on them.  I was a little worried because the weather has been so erratic lately, we had a couple of cold snaps with tempuratures below 45 degrees F, and as we all know tomatoes hate the cold!  It seems though, that the tomatoes and peppers have made it through okay, the Red Beefsteak tomato has a little brown on its leaves which is worrisom, but I added a little fertilizer and compost and loosened the soil slightly, so hopefully it pulls through!

Red Bell 

Garlic

My herbs seem to be doing really well with the basil as the exception.  Basil likes warmer weather and those cold snaps have taken their toll on the plant. I have decided to try and propagate the basil in order to try and save it so I will have a basil plant later in the season. I will explore the steps I took for propogation in my next post.
I haven't seen any growth with the carrot seeds I planted a few weeks ago, but carrot seeds are slow to germinate so it is possible they will sprout any week now.

My lettuce is doing great, though some of the leaves are looking a bit holey, I suspect snails are to blame so I am going to have to figure out a snail deterrent.  I don't want to use chemicals for a few reasons, which I will explore in a later post, so I will need to find an organic way to handle those darn critters.
All in all, my garden has seen better days but these problems are all part of the learning process!

Inspiration

If you are a college student like myself, it is possible you live in a thimble sized apartment with no garden to speak of.  And yet, all over the world people are producing their own fruits and vegetables in those tiny-ass apartments.

I am a frequent follower of the blog "Design*Sponge" and have taken much of their advice to heart.  For those of you who do not have space for a garden, please peruse this post from Design*Sponge for advice on how to grow a garden in containers:  Design Sponge Online

Spring has Sprung

Good day bloggers!

I have been wondering how I was going to approach this post for a while, because I seem to become less eloquent when I am really excited, so forgive the botched writing where present:

My birthday was last Friday and true to the Daenitz family tradition, my father got me something practical and as always, I love it!  This year for my birthday, dad set me up with basically an entire garden and I used the rest of my birthday money to fill the gaps (thanks Grandma, Nana, mom, Glynna, and Janalee for the money!).

To be honest, I never fully appreciated the fact that my birthday was so close to the spring equinox and therefore right at the beginning of the growing season for most plants. I most definitely appreciate it now, as from now on all I want for my birthday are plants and pretty things to put them in!

It has been a very exciting few days because I not only found some excellent plants-tomatoes, peppers, herbs, carrots, onions, and garlic-all heirlooms of course, but I also found some amazing containers to put them in!

Dad and I went antiquing on Saturday and as we were driving home we saw a sign on the side of the road that said "Half Wine Barrels FOR SALE." Naturally we stopped to take a gander, though I didn't have high hopes because typically wine barrels sell for a pretty penny, which a college student never has. I was pleasantly surprised, however, when the gentleman running the trading post offered to sell me an a quarter barrel for cheap as well as two half whisky barrels.  Dad and I purchased them and headed off to the home depot to collect some plants as well as some more containers.  Then on Monday, I rounded off my little plant and container family by getting a few shallow bowls for my herbs and some heirloom squash.

Please click the below link to view the photos of my new and improved garden with information about each plant and their genus and species where available:

Garden Clean-Up: After

Howdy everyone!

I apologize for the laps in posting, I have been a very busy bee cleaning the garden whilst making sure I manage to get my homework done! Prepare to be overloaded with posts!

I have FINALLY cleaned up the garden, getting rid of most of the weeds that were plaguing my lovely yard.  Of course, a few stragglers have resolutely remained but I will deal with them, mark my words!  Additionally, the fallen tree has been removed. Here are a few pictures, as promised, of the cleaned up yard! Enjoy :]

Budget Surprise

Up until very recently, Bobby and I had spent the majority of our grocery money on those corporate junk foods meant to save us time and money.  With my new project as well as a desire to do Barbara Kingsolver proud, I set out to purchase primarily locally produced foods at the farmer's markets and do my best to at least avoid the frozen foods aisle. I decided that I would make an honest effort to buy organic where I couldn't buy local, so off to the store I went.
I visited Ralph's, my supermarket of choice, with my grocery list in hand and determination on my sleeve. I did very well until I hit the soup aisle.  Looking at the Ralph's brand price and the organic price for beef and chicken stock, my resolve started to waver.  I thought to myself there is no WAY that this can be a less expensive trip to the grocery store! I began to worry that our $100.00/week food budget would be very difficult to stick to.  Of course I made sure that I had an extra stash of money labelled "just in case!" in my wallet, but I didn't want to resort to that if I could help it.
I need not have worried however, as it turns out, those time/money-saving frozen foods we previously purchased were what cost the most.  Cutting them from our list was liberating in a rebellious sort of way.  I felt like beating my chest, or else biting into a beer can a-la Teen Wolf style just to show how crazy I was getting. I compensated by giving Bobby a high-five.
Not only did we lighten our financial burden, we also made a move in the right direction health-wise.

This week, we gained something more than a few saved dollars, we gained a spiritual sense of freedom as we cooked our way into health and happiness with organic and locally produced foods.

Weekly Meal Planning

Many of the meals listed are from this
book. ISBN: 9781445405681 

It is almost silly how excited I get over lists. The newest addiction, I mean addition, to my list of lists is the weekly meal plan.

Sitting here with Seamus (my spoiled rotten cat), I open my multitude of cookbooks and allow my mouth to water at the pictures of roasted vegetables and roast chicken. Calling on my memory bank, as well as my journal, I begin to jot down ingredients for next week's meals on two separate-you guessed it-lists: one entitled "Farmer's Market!" with a smiley face and the other "Grocery Store" (you can tell which shopping experience I will enjoy more).

Next week's list of dinners goes as follows:

Monday: Homemade Vegetable Soup
Tuesday: Chicken Fried Steak and Scalloped Potatoes
Wednesday: Rotini and homemade garlic bread (I'm actually going to make the bread myself!)
Thursday: Eggs & Potatoes with bacon, roasted veggies, and buttermilk biscuits.
Friday: Beef Stew and Dinner Rolls
Saturday: Grilled Lime Chicken and Roasted Asparagus
Sunday: Garlic Shrimp on a bed of Angel Hair Pasta

I will be making cookies with the dates I bought at last week's Farmer's Market as well, with the recipe to follow if they turn out okay.

I am much better at planning than actually following through on cooking. I enjoy cooking the tried and true meals I know but am very hard-put to try something new. I am also sure that the sight of me in the kitchen will bring a questioning look to Bobby's face. My amazing boyfriend has thus far done the majority of the cooking.  This will be an excellent exercise in breaking bad habits, it only takes a week to do that... right?

At the Farmer's Market

This picture borrowed from:
this website.

I can hardly contain my excitement about last week's farmer's market, though it has been nearly a week since I experienced it. It was undeniably the best time I have ever had at a farmer's market, for one reason: I actually talked to the vendors instead of idly choosing a single vegetable and moving my way closer to the kettle corn.

I will admit to an initial hesitancy towards this particular part of my project. I was that girl when I was younger that needed someone else to ask my questions, most of the time remaining silent even when I was dying to ask a question. I was too shy for my own good.  Well, I either grew out of that or else my burning curiosity cannot be denied any longer.  I learned so much about various fruits and vegetables that I never knew before.

One fruit in particular stood out to me: dates.  Now, I don't claim to be incredibly open minded about food;  I am, without a doubt, the pickiest eater in my family.  Though, one of my own personal goals (one of the many) for this project was to broaden my culinary horizons and try new foods no matter how unfamiliar they may look to me. It was with this mindset that I threw back my shoulders and walked resolutely to the date stand that was placed right next to a stand of raspberries that were calling to me, "Heather! We are safe and familiar!"
The man tending the stand was wearing a fur-lined cap and a smile that immediately put me at ease, he reminded me of my grandfather.

Cleanin' it Up

Howdy there!

I apologize for the brief lapse in posting, I have fallen prey to being human, I am sick. Let me recap for you what I have been up to in my blogging absence: I have been listening *a-lot* to Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver whilst gardening, driving, and (during the last few days of sickness) sitting on the couch, crocheting. Her book is an excellent read regardless, though especially for any person looking to live self-sustainably. But more on that later, today I want to give you an update on my garden.

We are moving swiftly into the spring growing season and I have yet to get my plants in the ground. Mother nature has not been kind to my yard, a lovely wind has knocked over one of my orange trees into a portion of it, preventing me from weeding a large area until the property managers can remove said-tree.

But, being the stubborn Daenitz that I am, I persisted to weed the rest of the yard as best as I could, even with the looming cold that was already beginning to stuff my sinuses.

Below are a few pictures of what my yard looked like before weeding.

A Humble Introduction

Hi there and welcome to my blog! I am The Nearly Virgin Gardener.

I suppose I have a wee bit of explaining to do:
This blog will be a record of my education in gardening, farming, and cooking. I have helped my father garden before, so I have a small basis of knowledge that must be revived from the recesses of my memory (delightful). I started this blog originally as a project for my Botany class but I wanted to be able to stretch it beyond the limits of the class and really learn some life skills in the process.

Something that is becoming increasingly important in today's society is buying local and becoming self-sustainable. Unfortunately for a college student, such as myself, a completely self-sustainable life is very difficult due to the annual (and sometimes semi-annual) relocation with no promise of a yard large enough for chickens, goats, and large gardens. This will be one of the issues I discuss weekly: trying to grow a garden that can be moved from place to place with very little to no damage to the vegetables and fruits; I will be exploring various potting options for both functionality and aesthetic appeal. Additionally, each week I will be visiting the farmers market to purchase in-season veggies and will use my market finds to create a meal the following day.

In keeping with the guidelines of the project I will also be discussing a "Vegetable/Fruit of the Week," in which I will talk about when the plant is in season, the best growing conditions (i.e. sunlight, water, etc), and various other background information.

And, for fun, every once in a while I will throw in some info about related books, magazines, or even music I like to listen to when gardening.

Please enjoy,