27 November 2006

After the Turkey

Thanksgiving is past and we spent it traveling across Tennessee to see most of the family on both sides. Whew!
My wife's dad is taking a break from his beekeeping hobby until retirement and was kind enough to send us home with a hive (empty, of course). I'm hoping to get it up and running in time to get a swarm in the spring.
In other news, the mail is starting to bring the winter supply of seed catalogs. I'm busy planning next year's garden.
Two new raised beds have been built and filled with soil and the plan is for two more when I get the time and money.

14 November 2006

Making my bed but not 'cause I slept in it

Over the last couple weeks, I've built two more raised beds and today found the time to fill one with the mix of soil elements. One is located at the end of the garage. I'm planning for that to be the asparagus patch. Asparagus like slightly acid soil so I put in a bit more sphagnum peat moss than I otherwise would. That will also help the thirsty ferns as it soaks up lots of water. The second bed (as yet unfilled) is near the back deck and will be our "kitchen box" for quick runs. It's mostly salad items, although I'm also planning to use the back edge as a trellis for pole beans. I have a plan for two more beds but time and money are two things in short supply right now. Between lumber, hardware, and soil elements, each 4' x 8' bed costs about $100 to complete.

03 November 2006

Worms: Not just for fishing anymore

I'm beginning a new garden experiment today in the great wide world of vermicomposting. Never heard of it? Neither had I until my friend Ellen at Beagle Ridge Herb Farm offered to set me up with a stock of composting worms for free. I refused at first but after doing a bit of reading, I enthusiastically accepted her kind offer. Worms work to break down kitchen waste and can be easily kept in a Rubbermaid-type bin with some moist newspaper strips. Feed them the table scraps every couple of days and their excrement (called castings) will form a magnificent organic fertilizer for the garden. I like the idea of recycling what we're eating from the garden anyway, not paying for fertilizer, and the worms give me something interesting and new to watch during the cold winter months when nothing much is growing outside.