Gardening

Seed Starting Has Begun!

No, these are definitely not my plants yet haha! Mine still look like flats of dirt. This week I started my onions from seed as well as some flowers and herbs. My ultimate goal was to start my onions outside in my coldframe. But, with the temps reaching -35˚F at times these past few weeks I thought I'd hold off on that. They've been started inside under the grow lights in hopes that when my next round needs to be started we will have normal temperatures outside again. Things are looking up with the forecast predicting 40's and 50's in the next few weeks.
This will be my second year starting onion from seed. Last year they turned out well but would've been better had I started them a little earlier. So we're crossing our fingers for a great crop! Have you started onion from seed? How did it work out for you?

The Worms Are Here!

Thanks to my amazing friend, and master gardener, Heather and her gardening tips I have been introduced to vericomposting! It's perfect for those of you who don't have the space for a compost pile and for those of you who do it's a step above and beyond! I was convinced after seeing this ridiculously large spaghetti squash plant at her house that literally grew over her house! The best part is she didn't even plant it. It was one lonely seed that happened to be in her left over in her worm poo!

We have a gigantic compost pile out back but we primarily use that for our chicken poo, which is also great for the garden, but takes about 6 months to a year to compost down enough for the garden. It will burn up your plants if you add it too soon. The vericomposting system is great for food scraps, junk mail, cardboard and any compostable material around the house.

Vericomposting is a system of stacked trays, with grates on the bottom and a collecting area on the bottom with a spigot. Worms are added to the bottom tray and you feed them your scraps. As that fills, a new tray is added and the worms migrate up to the new food. Once your trays are filled (usually 4 trays), the bottom tray is now composted material and can be emptied and used as your top tray. Your fresh worm poo can be added to your garden and flower beds! The spigot on the bottom will give you leichate, or "worm juice"! this can be diluted with water and used as a liquid fertilizer! These two things are gold for your garden!

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