A SUCCESSFUL Garden DOESN'T Happen Overnight 

That's awesome, congrats! How exciting you're so close :)

Thanks!

3 of my 4 have been very fast too, like two hours or less fast! It's a good thing but also makes me worry a bit since we live far outside of town. We'll see what happens!

Yes, that was my thought too. I had heard of the jumping worms, even did some research and asked around about it it but I couldn't tell if it was or wasn't so that's why the chickens had a very good dinner instead :)

I was thinking the same thing. The Asian jumping worm is invasive and not one you want in your soil.

I believe you are right! Was the first thought that came to my mind when I saw the size and the white clitellum. From Cornell Extension: "One telltale sign of an infestation is a very uniform, granular soil created from worm castings. The texture of this soil is often compared to coffee grounds. When you scratch the top layer of soil you will see the worms thrashing about with an erratic, snakelike movement. These worms, which can reach 6 inches in length, are much more active than European nightcrawlers. The Asian jumping worm can be found on the soil surface and in the leaf litter, making them easy to find. They can live anywhere from urban parks and suburban backyards to rural forests. You are also very likely to find them in compost piles and along roads. The Asian jumping worm has a prominent band around the body of the worm, called the clitellum, where cocoons are produced. The band completely encircles the body, is milky white to light gray, and is flush with the body; the body looks metallic. On European nightcrawlers, the clitellum is raised or saddle-shaped and reddish-brown in color and does not wrap entirely around the body."

That worm was not an earth worm. I’m glad you fed it to your chickens

6b

Personally I had no problems growing in clay with my blueberries. Be careful they are invasive and will start popping shoots up everywhere!! Only plant where you don't want them to take over

San Marzano are our favorite. But they are very prone to blossom end rot, so I usually plant a combination of them and Roma.

@@TheSeasonalHomestead thank you!

It’s linked in the video description 😀

Yes, but the weeds have become less with time.

👋

It’s a combination of winter rye, crimson clover, and hairy vetch.

No we use something called a gridder. It’s linked in the video description🙂

On our small homestead (2/3 acre) prior to moving to our current property- we made back our money the first year we did a garden. But it was a combination of no longer buying processed foods and gardening that made our grocery bill drop. We were saving $700 a month. Prior to that I was buying the highest quality ingredients I could find so our monthly grocery bill was somewhere in the ballpark of $1400 for the six of us…. And this was when my kids were little! When we did our first garden we were able to get a lot of free inputs or very affordable ones. Our biggest cost was fencing, cedar raised beds (which aren’t necessary), and water came from the city so it was expensive. We easily made that all back. But all the little extras like kitchen tools, extra garden tools, came slowly we added a little more each year.

I make my own, I have a video about it. I believe it’s linked in the video description