Worm Worked Composting

21/05/2020

My double-bucket self watering systems are prepped and ready for planting. Last season's potting mix has been screened and amended with worm castings and aged compost. This year I've added a ball valve as a way to harvest and re-circulate the nutrient rich liquid that will accumulate in the bottom bucket.

@ Cochrane, Alberta

09/05/2020

The Hotbed Mini Greenhouses have been operational for 3 days now. Because daytime temperatures can go as high as 67C under the canopy, the plastic comes off by 8am and back on around 7pm. Overnight, when the outside temperature was -1C, the internal temperature was 18C. If anyone is interested in how to set one up, PM me and I'll try to walk you through it. (Growing celery, kale, beets, turnips, Swiss chard in these pics)

09/05/2020

Harvesting and screening finished compost. I'm using it to cap off an active compost pile. This will serve as a 'hot bed' that I'll use to help harden off seedlings and later as a raised bed for squash and pumpkins, which don't seem to mind growing in a compost pile.

21/04/2020

One way to get your composter cooking sooner is to take the lid off and put clear plastic on top instead. It will trap the solar energy like a green house and any water that accumulates on the plastic can be poured into the bin to keep it from drying out.

15/04/2020

I was surprised to see how quickly some of these seeds sprouted after only having them in the sprouting chamber for a few days. These are turnip, kale and brussel sprouts they have been potted. The potting mix has been amended with about 15% worm castings.

12/04/2020

You can take some of the guesswork out of seed starting by germinating your seeds in a small container or Ziploc type bag. Just add a bit of paper towel, water and seeds. Put them in a dark place and check on them every few days. Then plant out the seeds that germinate and discard the rest.

26/01/2019

Just finished screening a fresh batch of worm castings. Some of this will go to the house plants and the rest will be sold.

16/01/2019

Cropping 3-4 of the bigger leaves per plant, produced enough lettuce to make a nice salad for 3.

16/01/2019

After overcoming an earlier setback, the indoor garden is back on track. The home made soil mixture is coconut coir, perlite and about 15% worm castings.

27/06/2018

Here we are growing produce (squash, pumpkin and melons) in the over-wintering compost piles we set up last fall. We'll screen the compost after the harvest and start the process again in the fall.

27/06/2018