spring ups and downs

Seems as if the past days have been a bit like our weather - from perfectly sunny and warm to cold, blustery and overcast. The ups and downs are wearing on me a bit, as I tend to be a pretty middle-of-the-road kind of gal. We had a lovely farmer's market morning, full of deliciousness:

(we are *so* lucky to live in strawberry-land... yum!)

And from there I did our taxes - a definite down. Seems as if all the planning and pre-payment just never quite works out perfectly... I haven't given up yet - we'll see how next year goes!

After taxes, I needed to do something rewarding and positive... set up the worm bin! I had purchased the Can O Worms vermicomposting bin ages ago, but had never allocated the time to set it up and get the worms. First, we assembled the bin and placed the cardboard packaging in the bottom of the lower level. Then, we soaked the coir brick (included) in water until it had expanded, and then we broke it into bits. We spread the coir fibers into the first feeding level, and as you can imagine, Brynne was a huge help!

Then we gently placed our red wiggler worms (and the material with them) on top of the coir layer.

As instructed, we didn't cover them up immediately because their dislike of the sun makes them immediately work their way into the coir and helps speed up the "settling in" process. We then loosely covered the worms with a layer of damp newspaper strips. All done! We've been feeding them all of the things you would expect (strawberry stems, banana peels, veggie trimmings), plus some (to me) more unexpected items: coffee grounds, tea leaves and bags, peanut husks, starch packing peanuts, soaked egg cartons, etc. We've only had them for a few days, but I'm really excited about it - feels as if we have 1,000 new pets!

Comments

[Nicole]

You've been tagged.... :)

[Gigibird]

My neighbour has a wormery and the best tip I can give you is keep your tap 'open' otherwise the worms can drown:(
And of course there are the flies.....
Good Luck:)