So much to report, so little time...

Oi! Things have been a bit busy around my house, what with tire changes, birthday and easter celebrations, working overtime with my boss being away... I have lots to update on, but it seems I am always short on time!

My seedlings are doing extremely well! I am actually quite surprised at their growth rate - last year at this point (just under 2 weeks after planting) I was happy to see sprouts forming. This year I am amazed at how fast everything has come up! I have already transplanted my zucchini, cucumber and peas to larger pots to continue growing as I finish getting the garden ready. I still need to harden the plants off, but I will do that closer to planting time. (Note: for those unfamiliar with the term "hardening off", it is when you introduce your indoor plants to the outdoors. You want to place your plants in an area outside where they will not receive direct sunlight at first, and over the course of a week or so, begin introducing them more and more to sunlight. This will prevent your plants from dying of shock, which can happen if they go from indoors directly into your garden and the harsh sunlight.)

My beans have already been planted outside. I started them indoors as seedlings this year (I did a direct-plant last year, which worked fine, but I thought I would give them a headstart indoors this year) and they have already shot up so fast that I placed them outside last night. I'll admit that I didn't harden them off as I probably should have, but because we are in for a few days of cloudy, drizzly weather, I figured I would be okay... we shall see!

My flowers have begun to sprout indoors as well. I am seeing almost all of the marigolds up out of the soil, a few zinnia and poppies, and the snapdragons. I am still waiting for sprouts of the asters and petunias. I am hoping in the next few days to sketch out my planting design for the flower beds, but I need to find out from my mom and grandma what plants they are giving me so I know what to plant where.

I am slowly but surely working away at getting the large garden weeded so I can get it ready for the vegetables. It is a large job, as it was absolutely overgrown with weeds when we first moved in here I am still battling with quite a number of weeds that regrow over winter each year (moreso than what I would consider normal). Each year it has gotten better, and less weeds regrow, however since it is such a large garden it is a big task. Nevertheless, it must be done and so it shall!

So today I phoned around to see where I could get worms from for my vermicompost (don't know what I'm talking about? check out my blog on vermicomposting below). Turns out many of the places I thought would sell worms do not. It seems my only real option is Surplus Herby's, so I will be trying to get down there over the next few days so I can put them to work! I have quite a bit of compost material ready to be turned into beautiful soil and I can't wait to see how it turns out!

I really hope to get some photos up soon, but my time is limited so I make no promises on a specific date. I hope your gardens are coming along as well, and I hope you're enjoying your weekend!

What's growing on?

I got all of my seeds started on Wednesday (the 4th) for my vegetables, and some of my flowers; and then got more flower seeds started on Thursday (the 5th) - I am now eagerly awaiting the first sprouts! I know I still have a little while to wait, but the anticpation is part of the fun of gardening! For my vegetables and some of my flowers, I used a "seed starter" kit that I purchased at Walmart. I had great success using it last year but, sadly, didn't think to keep it to get pellet refills for this year, so I had to buy a whole new kit. Lesson learned! It isn't expensive, I would just prefer not to spend money buying a full kit again when I can just buy the pellet refills and restock the tray - it's a little greener that way (less plastic in the landfill), and I would have more money left over for new garden goodies! I kept many of the plastic containers that you buy flower-plugs in, so I used those for my flower seeds. Everything is labeled and sitting in the windows soaking up the beautiful sunlight we have today!

Add water & let the pellets expand

The seed starter kit



Recycled flower containers

Veggies & flowers done!

So you may be wondering: what are you growing? Well, here is the full list, divided into vegetables, herbs and flowers. Note: in brackets is the specific variety of that item.

Vegetables/Fruits/Legumes:

Pumpkins

Beans (Scarlet Runner)

Zucchini

Onion (Sturon)

Tomatoes (Tiny Tim & Big Beef Hybrid)

Cucumber (Spacemaster)

Peppers (Carnival Hybrid mix - a blend of 8 varieties)

Peas (Mr Big & Green Arrow)

Corn (Buttergold)

Beets

Carrots (Red Cored Chantenay)

Radish (Cherry Belle)

Lettuce (Grand Rapids)

Strawberries

Herbs:

Oregano

Sweet Basil

Parsley (Single Hardy Italian)

Rosemary

Mint

Plants:

Marigolds (Canadian Sunset & Bonanza Bolero)

Petunias (Trailing Avalanche Lilac)

Snapdragons

Poppy (Double Shirley)

Asters (Giant Crego)

Zinnia (Tetra Flowered)

Gladiolus

Lillies (Oriental Hybrid)

...and whatever other goodies my mom & Grandma share with me from their gardens!

I am very excited to get everything outside in the ground, but in the meantime I will continue eagerly awaiting my seeds to sprout until the time comes to start hardening them off to get planted! I hope the sun is shining wherever you are, and I hope you are just as eagerly preparing your gardens for the upcoming season!

Happy Easter Weekend!

Vermicomposting!

So your first question is probably: huh? Vermicomposting? It is basically the fancy term for a worm compost. And no, that doesn't mean that I'm composting worms; it means that I'm making worms make compost for me! It is rumored that the soil produced in a worm compost is some of the best organic garden compost you can get your hands on. The best part is, it's really cheap to do! Here's the how-to:

1. You will need to select 2 tote-containers that are NOT see-through (worms do not tolerate light well). You can select any size that you'd like depending on your needs and space available. I selected 2 light-grey 5gallon totes which are fairly deep but not overly large, as I don't have a lot of space for them. (Note: keep in mind that in colder climates you will need to have your worms "winter" inside in a fairly warm room as they don't fair well in the cold and will not survive if you leave the compost bins outside.)

2. You will need to use a 1/8" drill bit to make holes in ONE of your totes. This will be the "upper" compost bin, where your worms and composting materials will go. I drilled: 20 holes in the lid, 10 holes on each wide side of the tote, 2 holes on each narrow side of the tote, and 8 holes on the bottom.

3. Place a brick, or some sort of support, in the "lower" bin (the one without holes). The idea is to provide enough height that the two bins will not sit flush with each other (as you can see demonstrated in the photos that follow).

4. Create a thick layer of "bedding" for the worms, using: shredded newspaper (with only black ink - no colors), torn up egg cartons or toilet paper rolls, or other un-dyed cardboard. Place this in the bottom of the "upper" bin.

5. On top of the layer of bedding materials, place compost materials: coffee grounds, tea bags, vegetable peelings, egg shells, small amounts of fruits or citrus peels, etc. Note: meats, dairy products, eggs, breads, etc are not suggested compost materials. On top of that layer, place another thinner layer of bedding materials, then another layer of compost materials and finally another thin layer of bedding materials. It is also suggested to add a bit of garden soil as it will introduce microbes to help with the decomposing process, and it will provide grit for the worms' gizzards. Using a spray bottle, wet the top layer just to the point of a wrung-out sponge. Leave this for 1-2 weeks to get a head start in decomposing before adding your worms.

Ready for worms in 1-2 weeks!

6. Add your worms!

I haven't added my worms yet, as I just got my compost together yesterday so I'm letting it sit now for the 1-2 weeks suggested. I will, of course, update all of you once I've acquired my worms and let you know how things are progressing!


The best thing about vermicomposting, is that your worms will reproduce in the compost bin which means that you will always have a good supply of "composters" working for you! They will only reproduce enough offspring to fill their space, so you never have to worry about your compost becoming over populated. The point of the bottom bin (the one without holes) is that while the worms are working away in the upper bin, there will be "compost tea" (moisture produced from the compost materials) that will drip down into the bottom bin. This is absolute gold to gardeners! It is supposed to be very rich in nutrients and any plant that gets a "drink" will be very happy indeed!
I hope I have inspired many of you to try this out for yourselves, and I look forward to updating all of you as things go along!