Tag Archives: Wormery

Constructing in a Blue Peter style

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Nothing was really done in the garden this morning apart from putting some vegetable peelings in the compost heap (that’s still gardening isn’t it?) but come the late afternoon the sun came out for a short while. In that time some plastic sheeting was tacked onto the other two palettes, making them now a home for spuds and some rows of carrot seeds. This simple construction like the other couple we made this week will give the plants protection from the forthcoming cold days & nights we’re supposed to be having so the weather report on Countryfile tonight reckoned.

A left over stick of celery was stuck under the terrarium to see if it would grow and a wormery was hastily put together using an old butchers bucket that used to be a home for worms a few years ago. A bin bag and a concrete slab was put over it for good measure. On the last two subjects, will anything happen you reckon?

Let it rot

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compost in a 2013 style I opened the compost bin I started just over a year ago this morning and it is looking mighty fine! The kitchen/plant waste has near enough rotted except for a few eggshells and the odd large potato. I’ve made a mental note to cut up the kitchen waste finer and to crush the eggshells even more from now on. If you look closely at the contents you’ll also see a nice blue biro. How the hell did that get in there? How long will that take to rot do you think?

Rereading Jane Perrone’s book this week I could really relate to the section about making compost where she writes “I’ve been known to secrete used tea bags in my pocket to take back for my own ever-hungry compost pile.” Tea bags never get wasted in our house, after a brew they either get chucked on the compost heap or the worms have them.

it's the worm!Talking about worms here’s how the wormery is progressing in the garage. It’s taken a lot longer than I thought (I started it early last summer) but I’ve got a big jar of liquid plant feed out of it and there’s also a good bit of compost underneath the rotting veg, sprouting onions, killer sized slugs and mouldy bread.

Also this week I started off some seeds on the kitchen windowsill, Cabbages (goldenacre) and Foxgloves (pam’s choice) and sometime soon will get those tomatoes seeds out of the packet. That’s good for me as I sowed them just after xmas last year. Patience dear boy!

I’m too cold, I’m too cold, I’m too cold

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The above features versions of Keith Hudson’s Hot Stuff (and boy do we need something hot!)

I couldn’t believe it, the sun came out last Sunday so I moved the wormery (a bucket I found in the street perched upon an old xmas tree container which catches any liquid) into the garage as the forthcoming cold months outside won’t do the worms much good. I’ll pop in on a weekly basis and top up with kitchen peelings, tea bags etc and see if they are still okay. There was a good bit of liquid in the bottom bucket which I’ve drained off and will use as a great plant feed this summer comng. All for nothing by just keeping your kitchen waste!

The pots on the kitchen windowsill with the seeds I sowed just before xmas are coming along, the Corriander is looking a bit leggy but I’ll use the seedlings for cooking so nothings wasted, the Basil seeds did germinate but are very slow off the mark but that’s to be expected at this time of the year. Also I’m holding off a while with starting the Tomatoes indoors as last year I sowed them far too early and they were well lanky when finally put in the garden. A lesson learned, don’t be too keen!

allotment keepers handbookFor the second time now I got this great book from my library, The allotment keeper’s handbook (a down to earth guide to growing your own food) by Jane Perrone (The Guardian 2007). The first time I got it out, I renewed it to the max allowed as it was so informative, trouble is I dropped it into the bath by accident so had to return it with my head down in shame! On getting it out again a year later, it looks like someone has done the same and possibly dropped it out in the garden too! If you’re getting an allotment or thinking of starting to grow vegetables in the garden/patio at home this book is a must. It covers everything including composting, planning and preparation, heritage seeds, the magic of Comfrey and some mad tips too (starting seeds off in empty egg shells, I never thought of that one!) An informative read with some humour throw in to boot. A book not to read in the bath tho!  Have a look a Jane’s blog which is great too.

Emperor Tomato Ketchup

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The garden seems to be going mad of late. The courgettes and the spuds are doing well and we’re seeing a bit of action on the climbing french beans and tomatoes.

I know it’s a bit late, but here’s a couple of tips when it comes to those tomato plants. If you’ve got the cordon type ones (not the bush or tumbling varieties) make sure that the side-shoots are pinched out regularly so all the goodness can go into the plant and the production of the actual fruit. I’ve a couple of plants in the raised bed that I have forgotten to do that are now going wild and a bit uncontrollable. Also when my plants get to about four or five trusses (the sets of flowers that later turn into fruit) I nip the tops out, so again the energy will go back into the plant (but keep an eye on the side shoots a while after you do this as they will tend to go mad). I do give them a regular water but not too much and a feed every ten days. I’ve had to buy some plant feed in, as my home-made attempts are still not ready yet.

The wormery (image above not to be viewed on a full stomach!) is cracking on and there’s a build up of nice looking compost at the bottom and the liquid in the bucket below is starting filling up too. All for recycling kitchen scraps, plant waste etc!

Also I have started to leave a combination of comfrey, nettle and borage leaves to rot in a small amount of water in a bucket at the bottom of the garden. It’s funny as sometimes it’s a bit like groundhog day. I go down there every now and again to have a check, lift up the slab of concrete that is acting as a lid on the stuff and have a sniff as I’m sure it’s supposed to pong a bit. A microsecond later the vile stench hits me… bang! When will I ever learn. If only the image below had a scratch and sniff and then you’ll know what I mean!

Also I heard a good potato tip on a podcast called “Gardening with Tim & Joe” from a show on BBC Radio Leeds. It can be a bit like 1970’s Radio 2 at times (“what’s the recipe today Jim?” etc) but there’s some great tips to be learnt there. The other week they were talking about harvesting potatoes. It was said you should go in once with a fork to pull up what you think are all the spuds, then go in another three times and you’ll get all the spuds you’d have missed previously. Good stuff!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/gwtj

Well cork it Kojak cork it

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Here’s how the wormery is doing that was started back in March. I check up on it a couple of times a week and pop in some chopped kitchen waste. When I lift the top off there’s usually flies a go-go and the stuff inside is not looking too healthy with mouldy old bread and the odd yellow potato shoot but when I stuck my hand in today (urgh!) I noticed there were a good few worms wriggling about. Don’t have nightmares, and do sleep well (and don’t look too closely into the bucket)!