Gardener’s Wisdom

“Spring makes its own statement, so loud and clear
that the gardener seems to be only one of the instruments,
not the composer.”
~ Geoffrey B. Charlesworth

Vermicomposter Worm Bin Bag

I have a compost bin outside but have been researching getting a worm composter for inside the house. We have cold weather and snow for many months of the year and I get lazy about going outside in the winter to put the food scraps in the compost bin. I was at a local retail store yesterday and came across a very nice bright green colored plastic worm composter. I was shocked however to find out that it had a $99.99 price tag. I knew there had to be a way to build my own so I did some research this morning on the Instructables website and found a do-it-yourself instructions for building your own vermicomposting system.

Worm composting, vermiculture or vermicomposting all refer to raising worms by feeding them our unwanted vegetable products and then using the worms byproducts (poop) to fertilize and amend our soil. What’s really cool about this process is that if you set it up right, there is no odor so you can have your worm composting system indoors in convenient proximity to the kitchen. I’m really excited about getting this set up at my house this summer.

Instructables.com worm bin bag

“The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month.”
~ Henry Van Dyke

photo credit: frostnova

Grandma always saved egg shells to use in the garden. She told me they helped the plants grow better. Egg shells are made up of calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate and magnesium carbonate. These minerals are needed by plants in our garden to stay healthy.

Egg shells can be crushed up and thrown in the compost pile and I’d like to give you 5 more ways you can use egg shells in the garden.

Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: waferboard

Breakfast is over and you have banana peels sitting on the counter. You could compost them but why not give supplement your soil by burying them in the garden. Banana peels contain potassium and will release it into your soil to feed your plants when buried nearby.

In the past, I have dug a little trough about a 6″ deep and about a foot away from my roses and buried whole banana peels. Read the rest of this entry »

My husband and I moved into our current house in August of 2006.  We were leaving behind a small tract home with a beautiful garden, pond and two greenhouses and relocating less than 2 miles away on a one acre lot.  The move was exciting and sad at the same time.  While the new house was much bigger, the new property had nothing but sagebrush and weeds on it.

I decided the first thing I wanted to have at the new house was a BIG pond.  We hired a company to come in and remove every single sagebrush and weed from our property.  We had to have a septic company come out and mark out our leach field so we didn’t damage it since the pond would be located very close to it. Then I hired a guy with a tractor.  He was in his late 70’s and very kind but we didn’t seem to communicate well.  I told him I wanted a koi pond and he started digging a ten foot deep hole. Read the rest of this entry »

I have two Shar-Peis and for the most part, they are very well behaved. I guess I overlooked the fact that when nobody is looking, instinct takes precedence over being good.

Today I was at home and spent an hour out in the yard with the dogs checking on my new vegetables and flowers. The dogs were wandering around with me sniffing everything and learning what a path is as opposed to a vegetable bed.

I went back in the house to get a website design finished and left the dogs outside in the garden to play. About a half an hour later they came running into my office smelling like death. I grabbed the little guy’s (Yoda) collar and directed them both back outside while I did a sniff test. I realized they both had eaten something horrible but even worse, Yoda’s back was wet and it was apparent he had rolled in something foul.

I ran out into the yard and started looking around when I noticed a hole they had dug. I don’t mind them digging since that is what dogs do but the trouble was that they dug up a dead koi that I buried last week. Evidently, they smelled it, dug it up, rolled on it then ate it. So much for me getting my work done.

I grabbed the doggy toothpaste and proceeded to brush their teeth which didn’t actually help the smell at all. Then I took Yoda into the bathroom and we took a shower. I had to wash him three times before he stopped smelling so bad. The other Shar-Pei Alfie didn’t roll in anything so the only issue now is her breath.

Every time they breath out it smells like rotten fish so the air in the house isn’t so fresh anymore. I’m not going to tell my husband about what happened until he asks. The dogs always greet him when he gets home with kisses and I need a good laugh. Anybody know of a natural doggy breath freshener?

Spring is in full bloom and now is the time to get out and garden.  Whether you grow flowers or vegetables, trees or grass, tending a garden is a wonderful way to improve our world.