Gardening has taught me what it means to be resilient, and plants have shown me how to heal, grow and thrive. Six years ago I decided I wanted to learn how to grow food but I had no land. I contacted a local urban farm and they told me about an abandoned garden they were trying to revive. In this channel, I share parts of our journey with you. Even if you do not have access to land, you can create a lot of abundance and meet great people at local community gardens. Often times, at the end of the day, it is the people with whom you share your garden who give you the greatest joy.
I use permaculture design to guide my decisions and build ecological systems that supports the main functions in my community garden. For example, pest control is primarily done by beneficial predatory insects and snakes.
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. You
Ах! У меня в саду есть сверчки, но они не доставляют проблем. Главное - привлечь хищников. Узнайте, что их ест там, где вы находитесь, и постарайтесь привлечь их. Я очень люблю держать в своем саду змей и жаб, потому что они являются восточными вредителями. Я тоже люблю пауков! Они едят клещей, которые представляют собой большую проблему для человека.
@@GardensofNewEngland Я стараюсь перехитрить сверчков.После посадки семян в грунт не трогаю сорняки.Всё растёт вместе , потом немного прорываю сорняки.Но сверчки не спят .А травить их жалко , надеюсь что какие нибудь хищники появятся
На моём участке растут томаты вместе с сорняками и томаты не повреждаются.Все грядки покрыты мульчёй.Температура воздуха под мульчёй 35с.днём. Все томаты посадил семенами в грунт в конце апреля.Сейчас растения очень крепкие и не болеют.Завязь только сейчас появляется.Урожай будет меньше,но и затрат меньше.У меня не хватает времени для работы в огороде,поэтому выращиваю растения по мере сил.
Это потрясающе! Общение с природой - это правильный путь. Я люблю выращивать помидоры среди цветов и других многолетних растений. Таким образом, они более устойчивы и имеют меньше вредителей. Спасибо, что поделились!
Huh. I have a 80 gallon composting drum (on its side, rotating). I dump in whatever vegetable/fruit scraps that come out of the kitchen except citrus, spin it every once in a while, and otherwise ignore it. I don't add any brown material, and I don't use any additives. The worms love it. After five years I don't even bother sifting the worms from the casting as I have too many to worry about. In the summer time it gets up to 90 degrees for months on end as well. The worms don't like that but they manage. I also have lots of other life in there. I seem to be breaking a lot of rules with my laissez faire approach, but so far, so good.
I love your videos. They're not only full of wonderful information, but they are also based much more on natural components for worm bins. I wish I had access to enough leaves to use them as you do. I always share as many of your videos as are appropriate to the topic, but in general with people starting out, I also advise that they will not find better video's than on your site. I really like that you do not encourage the use of DE powder. I recently read a post encouraging the use of DE for grit! Yet if I understand correctly the powder - it turns hard when wet. Can you please give your opinion on whether this would even work? Like you I use powdered eggshell. To me DE should only ever be used as a 'last resort' in the bin. I certainly do not believe worms could use it as a grit. But I would very much like your opinion please. I have watched and seen your video on grit, but this is a more specific question. Thanks so much for giving us all your wonderful knowledge ☺️ Sue.
Thank you, Sue!! I do not use DE at all. For grit, I like eggshells, biochar, bone meal, and even a tinny bit of sand once a year. I avoid DE because it is too fine and can form clumps. It is also something you have to buy, and not something worms naturally find in the wild.
I use leaves! You can shred them. I would not use peat or coco coir for cocoon because one can be acidic and the other one high in sodium. I do not separate the cocoons.
Morgan, you are absolutely right! Usually large farms do breeding beds to bring the worms together, but for a small system you do not need a nursery or a breeding bin.
I do not have experience trying to warm a bed with nitrate. Are you referring to nitrogen concentration? Too much nitrogen in the form of fresh food will cause acidity to go high and that will hurt the worms. You could try to surround the bin with something like horse manure to generate heat, but that can get too hot or not hot enough if it is very cold. So you would have to monitor closely. If you live in a climate where water freezes solid in winter, the best thing is to bring the worms indoors.
I planted already and am going to let the main vine go toward the fence so I can then grow vertically and have more room in front to plant something else! Thank you for this video would love to see more!!
Yes, you can put it in water and it will break down. That is a sure way to make sure it does not sprout. However, it likely to smell very bad. But, it is all good!
Think jicama. You don't cook it unless you are trying to make syrup. It does not have starch. It is like an asian pear type of texture. Lots of water. Best to eat raw or juice.
Very interesting my friend. I actually got a good start seriously with worms about 24 years ago. I paid about $20.00 for 200 red wigglers. From there they have accumulated to utterly thousands that I gave to different people. There is only a few rules of do's and don'ts that you have to follow. I live in Southern Ontario and can have some pretty cold weeks down to -28 and lower. I have about 15 citrus trees that I have had from little clones that are near 15-23 years old. I feed my worms food that I have gathered and frozen such as large pumpkins that will last for months. Every 5 years or so i have to trim the roots of my trees or up size them. They love to stick their roots to the bio-char that I always leave them on. The rich soil ends up going into my worm bins and the cycle of life continues. My trees only get vermicompost for fertilizer (that I don't like to use that word), Being 70 years old I have been asked to head up an Environmental Department on a 1st.Nations Reserve. I can't wait to get those youth exposed to a microscope and have it displayed on a larger screen.For the most part the microbes are translucent and it is like Star Wars in there.
I do not think so. The point of worm castings is that they are rich in humic and fulvic acid. It would be like adding fertilizer to your fertilizer. The question to ask is what would you want to accomplish or what are you trying to remedy?
I store them in wood chips and keep a close eye on them. You want to plant asap to prevent rot. I start mine in December if they start to go bad, for late April planting.
Once you see the cardboard is covered in white mycelium you can start adding to the bin as a top layer or mix it with the best of the bedding. The worms will do the rest. I might not be answering your question, so please let me know if you have specific concerns.
g'day mate, with what does one ferment food scraps for the worms?, & for how long must it be fermented before adding all the food scraps to the worm bin?, where does one purchase's it either online or make it myself?, i do make my own bone meal, also can i line the bin's holes with extra fine screen mesh?, that way i can avoid roaches as well as flies getting into my worms bin, thank you kindly this video of yours is an excellent example for everyone
Julian, I ferment with Bokashi brand. It’s something you can buy online. A little bit goes a long way! Here’s my process. Takes 2 weeks but be very careful with adding too much food. Always keep that carbon to nitrogen ratio. The good thing is that once fermented, you can bury the excess food into your garden. It’s already composted. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-omuxBonQUnk.htmlsi=v6GlD-sf2icCYx3e Either make very small holes or use mesh. The key is to keep the bin from smelling bad and have exposed food. That’s what attracts insects. What’s your set up? Indoors or outdoors?
In my area there are a lot of neem trees. Can i use dry neem tree leaves as worms bedding? Can i use the leaves alone as a bedding? They seem to not absorb moisture, not the same like cardboard But in my area, the neem leaves they are the easiest source of carbon
I would decompose first. Neem has oils that are irritating--used for pest control. So, you want to make sure they are broken down and no oils are intact by the time you expose your worms to them.
I grind up oyster shells to add chitin to the bins, also crab and lobster shells. A few things I am no longer adding to my bins are thick skinned fruits, unless I grew them. Pineapples, bananas, melons, citrus, sure I am forgetting a few. The reason being is the load of pesticides these skins may or may not have. I do hot compost, so these materials are delegated to 150F temperatures to hopefully break down any harmful residues. Stay Well!!!!
Thank you!!! Yeah, pineapples specially have a very thick skin. The food supply is become more and more compromised because of pesticides, antibiotics....etc... one more reason to create your own fertilizer. I have used crab sells too. Great stuff!!
I believe the single most important component to high quality worm castings is diversity. I am talking about bedding and the foods they recieve. For the past several years I have gone to all natural carbon sources for bedding. Partially finished compost, leaves, leaf mold, dried plant debris. As for the nitrogen, 75% of the food they get are from my yard and garden. By adding a lot of diverse materials into the vermicomposting system, you are also adding the diverse biology and nutrients specific to those materials. You can raise worms in shredded paper and feed them banana peels, they will survive, but the biology and nutrient levels will not be there. Stay Well!!!
100% agree!!! Diversity of inputs determines the output. I specially like dry leaves because different trees have different minerals and that adds trace minerals. I also add a little bit of sand once a year to get some of the silica that is important for plant structure. Thanks for the comment and insights! Much appreciated.
You can but they are more likely to compact under the weight of the top bin. You can use a mix with shavings and large bark. The key is airflow btw particles and resistance to compaction.
