Brain Seeds

How to Brew Vermicompost Tea

2011-10-18T12:35:00.010-04:00

Worm castings

Vermicompost tea seems to be kind of magical. It is high in microbial activity. We brewed large batches of it last year at the organic farm I interned at and both watered with it and used it as a foliar spray on our seedlings in the greenhouse. It effectively killed an infestation of insects that were attacking our tomatillo seedlings. So now, when I see that plants in my garden are being eaten by insects, or just don't look so well, I look to brewing vermicompost tea as a potential solution.

What you'll need:

1 cup or so of worm castings
5 gallon bucket of water
Cheese cloth or permeable material to make a tea bag with
Elastics or string
Fish pump with tubing

Fill the 5 gallon bucket with water. If not using rain water, let the water sit for 48 hours so the chlorine and other stuff from city water can evaporate before you brew your tea.

Place your worm castings on a doubled over piece of cheese cloth and wrap to make a kind of worm poo tea bag. Use elastics to tie off the ends securely.

I tied my tea bag to the handle of the bucket so it rested half way inside the bucket instead of sitting on the bottom, for optimal steeping.

I used an aquarium bubbler and attached it to the end of the fish pump tube and set it in the bucket of water. Plug in the pump and let it bubble for 24 hours. Some people add a little molasses to increase microbial activity but I have yet to try this.

Use the vermicompost tea within 24 hours after the brewing is complete, as it is an active solution.

Using the vermicompost tea as a foliar spray on basil that was being eaten by insects

U Shaped Log Garden Grows Food

2011-08-11T11:30:00.003-04:00

The garden in mid June

The new garden did/is doing very well.

Peas thrived, although we know to construct a taller trellis next year for them. Sugar Snap peas can grow 6 feet tall!

The greens supplied us with fresh salads regularly. Arugula, Red Deer Tongue and Red Salad Bowl Lettuces looked beautiful around the inside of the U for easy harvesting. To cut salad greens I use a knife, and leave the baby leaves about 3/4 of an inch from the ground to grow back. I do 3 cuttings max because the greens tend to get bitter after that.

The New Zealand spinach is really starting to take off now. Seems to love the heat of summer.

Making a Raised Bed Garden with Logs

2011-05-10T14:40:00.004-04:00

I had the experience of designing and creating a raised bed backyard garden last week. For part of it we removed the sod, and double dug as best as we could (tree roots made it difficult) using a D handled spade and garden fork. Double digging loosens the soil to a good depth without mixing the top layer of soil with the deeper soil. This is important as different soil microorganisms prefer to live in different depths. We decided to put root crops in the section we double dug.

For the other sections we layed down a layer of cardboard over the sod. The neighbor was cutting down a birch tree as we were creating the garden, and these beautiful birch logs made a perfect border for the garden. Once we arranged the logs we soaked the cardboard with water for a good while, then spread an inch or so of sheep manure across the bottom layer of the garden before filling it up with soil. We used about twenty 25L bags of black earth soil.

A recently cut tree on the front lawn was a resource for mulch which we spread in the centre area of the garden and around the edges. Aesthetically I think the garden is quite striking.

The "U" shaped design faces south. Taller crops can be grown on the north edge. Around the centre of the "U" we seeded salad greens, for easy access. We seeded peas, chard, beets, carrots, spinach, arugula, salad greens, and transplanted some kale, new zealand spinach, and leeks I had grown indoors, as well as chives from my backyard garden. I'm excited to see how this garden transforms over the summer!

Rabbit in the Garden

2011-05-10T14:18:00.003-04:00

All winter I saw bunny tracks in the snow. I finally caught a glimpse of the rabbit in my backyard one rainy spring afternoon. Cute, but potentially troublesome to my vegetables. I'm using chicken wire over my transplanted seedlings while they are still small. This also prevents squirrels from digging in freshly seeded beds.

Rainbow chard seedlings safe under chicken wire

Interplanting of strawberries, onion, and spinach

Mossy Stonecrop

2011-04-09T19:19:00.007-04:00

There is a prolific "weed" in my backyard, and it is Mossy Stonecrop. I've read it occurs in sandy soils with low fertility. It's growing in and around the raised wooden garden beds, especially in the strawberry patch. It can reproduce from creeping stems and stem fragments, as well as by seed. That means if I wanted to weed it out, any small fragment left in the soil could grow into a new plant.

What is a weed? An unwanted plant, a nuisance...perhaps. My experience organic farming and reading gardening books has challenged the common conception of weeds I once held. Such plants can have many benefits.

All weeds tell us something about the soil they are growing in. Plants don't grow by luck, certain conditions foster them. Weeds (and all plants) have different capacities to draw specific nutrients up from various levels of the soil. Many "weeds" are edible. If slashed or pulled they can be used as mulch, and can also form a living mulch around plants.

While I won't allow weeds to strangle out plants I'm intentionally growing for food, I do want to learn from them more this growing season. Perhaps I need to add more organic matter to my soil, since Mossy Stonecrop thrives in soils with low fertility. I don't mind it's presence bordering the outside of the bed, and creeping inbetween the patio stones. I like succulents and it produces a yellow flower in the summer. I did pull a lot of it out of the strawberry patch. I will watch to see how it grows over the season.

Mossy Stonecrop (Sedum acre)

Vermicomposting in a Bucket

2011-04-09T19:08:00.007-04:00

This is my third worm bin. When a friend gave me some red worms in a paper bag at the end of the summer, I hastily drilled some holes in a bucket I got from the farm I was working at, shredded some newspaper, dampened it, added the worms and some veggie scraps and suddenly had a new vermicomposter.

I made it for free, and this was ideal. The worms are breaking their bedding and food scraps down and it is filling up with beautiful worm compost I'll add to my garden.

Back in the Backyard Garden: Planning

2011-03-25T17:31:00.009-04:00

I have a backyard again. My old backyard where my Dad built a raised wooden bed around the perimeter of the concrete patio, and assembled a curving continuous brick wall bed around the perimeter of the yard, against the fence. I used to grow some vegetables and flowers here. Mainly tomatoes, and many perennial flowers, which still remain: lupines, brown eyed susans, columbine, a white bleeding heart, some hosta lilies.

He built a large trellis on the west side of the fence, where he grew morning glories. I plan on growing them there again this year. I also plan on building more trellises for my climbing scarlet runner beans and winter squash on the north end of the yard.

I learned lupines are nitrogen fixers and am glad about their presence in the perimeter beds. Not only are they beautiful but they have another function in the garden by fixing atmospheric nitrogen into the soil and turning it into plant available form via bacterial nodules on the roots.

I am going to experiment with interplanting vegetables and herbs among the beds which have held only flowers up until now. Why not yield the benefits of the nitrogen rich soil the lupines have been creating for years now?

I have been planning my vegetable bed since February. I bought seeds at the Guelph Organic Conference and will be getting a few more varieties at Seedy Sunday. The brands of the organic seeds I have bought are Urban Harvest and The Cottage Gardener.

An initial garden plan (draft). Bed drawn to scale to allow spacing of plants according to their mature size. Square feet = 48.
Jeavons' "How to Grow More Vegetables" informs of useful companion plantings included in my design: strawberries with onions and spinach, kale with beets, carrots with peas, carrots with leeks and chives, basil with peppers and tomatoes

I have many projects I want to do and techniques I want to implement in my backyard garden. Among these are:

The hugelkultur bed - a raised bed and vertical garden space
Trellises - to cover the fence in dense foliage of beans
Polyculture vs. Row culture - a comparison in methods of planting
Interplanting & Companion planting - to make best use of space, availability of light and soil nutrients and to create symbiotic relationships between plants to enhance growth and health of plants
Mulching - heavily on all beds, likely using fallen leaves. Retains moisture, reduces weed pressure, provides a great environment for soil organisms to create healthy soil
Composters - actively using and maintaining the 2 in my yard.
Flowers - planting more to attract beneficial insects. Cosmos, nasturtium, echinacea, milkweed, sunflowers
Mapping and identifying all plants in the garden
Seed saving

I have already started some seedlings and will be starting some more in the next couple of weeks. Although I have a fairly good idea of where I want to plant things in my beds, I know my plan will evolve and change as it manifests. I am interested to see what succeeds, what fails, and how techniques I have learned about work in reality. I will document my evolving backyard garden on this blog, so if you enjoy it please read and share your thoughts and experiences!

Broccoli seedlings thrive under florescent light, with New Zealand spinach and chives behind

Hugelkultur

2011-03-24T11:47:00.006-04:00

I learned about hugelkultur, a german word meaning "mound culture", in Toby Hemenway's book "Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-scale Permaculture."

Hugelkultur involves burying dampened logs, branches and twigs underneath layers of compostable materials, leaves, finished compost and topsoil. The resulting mound can be planted directly into.

This method offers several benefits. The wood holds a lot of moisture, accessible to plant roots for long periods of time, thus watering will be required less frequently. The logs, branches and layers of compostable materials offer habitat for soil organisms, and the slow decomposition of the wood will create healthy and fertile soil. It is a version of composting in place (like sheet mulch).

It is important to include nitrogen rich materials in the layers on top of the logs, and shoved inbetween them, since the decomposition of the woody materials will use a lot of nitrogen in the process. A good carbon/nitrogen balance can be maintained by including nitrogen rich kitchen scraps, fresh leaves, etc into the mound's layers. Also planting nitrogen fixing legumes (peas, beans) in the hugelkultur bed will also add nitrogen into the soil.

I decided to try it out in a specific area of my backyard garden. I placed the mound in front of a south facing fence. The hugelkultur bed will serve many purposes here. It will allow me to grow climbing varieties of plants up trellises along the fence, some of which prefer to be grown in mounds (winter squash). It will provide long term fertility to the soil in this area of the garden as the logs and branches decompose. It will improve water retention in the soil in this area. It's physical location allows the mound to act as a physical barrier preventing soil and water runoff into my neighbors backyard, due to the existing slope in that direction.

This is a good example of the permaculture principle of stacking functions - getting many yields from one element of the garden system. The hugelkultur mound provides space to grow climbing and mound varieties of vegetables by providing a niche for them, it enhances the main space in my yard where I can garden vertically, it improves water retention, soil quality, and prevents erosion. It will serve multiple functions in my garden.

Wooden debris at the side of my house becomes a resource for a hugelkultur bed

The finished mound. Approx 4 ft x 2 ft, 1.5 ft high.
Layers used include: logs, branches, twigs, sage plant clippings, kitchen scraps, peat moss, leaves, finished compost, and topsoil.

I plan to plant 1 winter squash (Delicata) and scarlet runner beans closer to the fence side of the mound, and 1 or 2 summer squash closer to the front of the mound. The winter squash and runner beans will climb the trellis and fence, the beans will fix nitrogen into the soil, and the large leaves of the summer squash will work as a living mulch to suppress weeds. I am excited to see how the bed evolves over the season and beyond.

Sprouting Sprouts

2011-02-11T17:41:00.025-05:00

My sprout growing device resembles a tiny greenhouse with a mesh screen at the bottom. I got it from Tony Hornick. You can sprout in mason jars with screen, but I like how sprouts can be grown to have leafy green tops using this system.

I have mung and adzuki beans, and green lentils to sprout.

Below is a photo-documentation of the sprouting of mung beans over the course of about 7 days.

3 tablespoons of mung beans and just enough water so it's touching the seeds.

Water must be replaced and beans rinsed every 12 hours to discard of the 'afterbirth'

Sprouts are delicious on their own, or in stir fries and other dishes. They're super nutritious and a great way to get live green food during winter months!

C.R.A.F.T. internship experience

2011-02-11T14:42:00.011-05:00

It's been over a year since I lasted posted here on my blog. And quite a year it has been.

My interest in learning more about organic agriculture led me to doing an internship through the C.R.A.F.T. (Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training) network of organic farms in Ontario. I lived and worked on two very different farms from May through to November 2010.

If you have an interest in learning more about organic farming I strongly recommend this experience of becoming an intern. Working and living the farm life alongside like-minded folks is a rewarding experience in many ways. Many skills can be learned and honed doing a CRAFT internship. Not all farms are the same, so contact them and ask plenty of questions about what it's like to work there and what you can expect to learn. The organizational structure and goals of each farm, what they have (animals and structures e.g. greenhouses), what they grow, practices used, working conditions and hours expected to work, living arrangements, stipend, and educational component offered will be different on each farm.

Here are the interns from many different farms at our first CRAFT day. Held once monthly, interns from all farms have an opportunity to tour another CRAFT farm, learn about a specific farming related topic through guest speakers or presentations, have a fabulous potluck lunch and pitch in a little work for that farm. With so many hands a lot can be done in little time!

Many of the farms in the C.R.A.F.T. network have CSA (Community Supported/Shared Agriculture) programs. Plan B Organic Farms, a family run farm, is one of the largest CSAs in Canada. Working there gave me insights into the operation of a very large organic farm/CSA operation. Their model is different from some farms, in that they work with many other local organic farms and distributors in order to include a wide array of vegetables and fruits to their share members, not all always grown on their farm. Share boxes were delivered to urban centres (mainly Toronto and Burlington), either to individual houses or at depots (for example one house in a neighborhood of many who purchased shares would receive them all on their porch for that area.)

Fields at this farm were large and required a lot of focused work in planting, weeding, and harvesting. Produce was also sold at a few farmers' markets in Toronto. Running these farmers' market stalls were some of my favourite experiences as talking with people and seeing their joy in the produce we grew fueled my passion for the work I was doing. I learned a lot from direct experience on this farm and asking questions of the more experienced people around me, of which there were many.

Compost tea is shown being brewed here amongst the seedlings.

A different model is used at Ignatius Organic Farm for their CSA and intern program. Members come to the farm and pick up their shares themselves in the farm store. The farm does not do any farmers' markets. This farm is very education focused and makes a concerted effort to know what the learning objectives of interns are and how they can be achieved. It runs a structured intern program where regular field trips and work shops are organized for interns as well. A huge variety of crops are grown on this farm's acreage and I really enjoyed learning how to grow and harvest such a wide variety of vegetables.

We visit Little City Farm in Kitchener, ON for a seed saving workshop.

On both CRAFT farms I interned at I found a communal approach to working, living, and learning was essential; sharing knowledge, sharing ideas, sharing food, sharing the work load. The people I met during my time this growing season are likely the most valuable thing I have taken away from the experience; truly kind and loving people with a passion for growing healthy food and creating sustainable food systems in our communities.

Death + Life: New Year Comes

2009-12-23T14:51:00.005-05:00

I will admit I have been neglecting my worm bin for the past 4 months.
They (most anyway) are still alive down there.
I let the newspaper almost dry out.
I failed to feed them regularly.
I mostly just neglected them completely.
Poor worms. This just attests to their ability to survive and endure poor living conditions.
But this will all change soon.
With the new year comes an opportunity for me to take better care of my worms, since my living situation will be different. For the first time in my life I will be living alone and my worms will keep me company. Things will change. Writing this makes it so.

Other posts/projects to come:
Sprouting!

Yes, I purchased a sprouter at the Vegetarian Food Food Fair in Toronto this summer.
Check out Tony Hornick's website. He's got lots of useful information about sprouting your own seeds and the health benefits of eating them.

I will photo document the process of sprouting my own healthy seeds this January 2010.

Cheap food and Tony says they're chalk full of nutrients so eat 'em up!

Moving On

2009-04-27T11:10:00.006-04:00

I'm moving to a new apartment, one without a balcony, so I decided to "downgrade" my vermicomposter into a smaller sized bin and sell my original big bin including all of its contents on craigslist. It was weird saying goodbye to my bin as I put a lot of work into it, and had a connection to it. I don't really have a use for the vermicompost inside the bin anymore since I will no longer have a balcony garden. I still want to be able to compost year round, so I've opted for a smaller under-the-kitchen-sink size bin.
But my bin went to a good home and you can follow its journey on this lady's blog here. I'm sure the vermicompost will be put to good use in her garden, and the worms will do a wonderful job eating her family's kitchen waste. Oh boy, bin, you sure do get around!
So, before I sold the bin I made a much smaller worm bin and put a few worms in it. This is a photo of it above. Unfortunately all of the smaller sized plastic bins I could find at Canadian Tire were translucent. I want the bin to be able to fit under my kitchen sink nicely so I opted to buy this small clear plastic bin and cover the whole of the exterior with duct tape to make it opaque, since worms do not like light.
I drilled many ventilation holes in the lid, bottom and sides of the worm bin, just as with my original vermicomposter. Duct tape holds screen in place over top of the holes to ensure nothing escapes.
A few days prior to introducing the worms I shredded up some old newspapers, moistened them down in a large recycling bag and let them sit and fester. The worms like materials that have festered as they're easier for them to start breaking down. I added a handful of soil and some crushed eggshells to the bedding mix. Then I added the worms to their new home!
A couple of days after I let the worms settle in to their new home I fed them some vegetable scraps.

Beautiful stripy red worms!

the architecture of tomorrow

2009-03-24T20:56:00.002-04:00

Mold in the Vermicomposting Bin

2009-01-28T20:20:00.004-05:00

I've noticed various molds growing on the bedding of my worm bin since I started it. I've never been too worried about them as I figured they were part of the decomposition process. I have found some interesting (to say the least) mold formations growing out of the ventilation holes in the side of my bin since it's come indoors for the winter. After reading this article I found out that it might be from feeding my bin too much. I was worried my worms were not getting enough to eat so I was a little overzealous the last time I fed. I'm going to stick to the 1 to every 2 weeks I've been feeding them, since that seems to work best for my bin. When I feed it's what I feel is a good sized bowl full of scraps. I keep the scraps in a container in my fridge so they can break down a little prior to being added to my bin (the worms will eat them faster this way). I've been wiping down my bin frequently to prevent the mold from reoccuring, and added more fresh moist newspaper bedding on top. If the mold comes again I will take a picture of it.

http://www.allthingsorganic.com/How_To/12.asp - Read this article for great information on all of the other wonderful creatures living in your bin, how to cope, deal, and just realize that they're your friends too.

Worm Bin: Winter Update

2009-01-04T17:19:00.005-05:00

It is now January and my worm bin has been living indoors for 2-3 months now. The harvest method I tried which relied on the worms migrating from one side of the bin to the other (see previous post) has not been successful. I've checked the old, casting-rich side of the bin several times and it is still quite packed with red worms throughout it. It is disappointing that the worms did not move.
I have decided to try to get the bin through Winter until I can move it back out onto my balcony where I will do another harvest by sorting. I feel bad letting the worms live in their own poo but I'd prefer not to harvest by a pile and sort method inside my small apartment with 2 cats and a dog in poor winter sunlight. I have been topping up the bedding in my bin around every 2 weeks as it shrinks down quickly and I want to make sure they have enough fresh bedding available. The moisture level of the bin's contents is good and is maintaining itself nicely without any spraying from me. I've been feeding weekly.
During the winter I do not compost as much as during the summer, when I compost everything that can be composted. Since I am not using the outdoor community composter during the Winter for larger compostables I don't feel like chopping up or those that I avoid putting in my worm bin, I end up throwing some of it in the garbage. It does still feel good though being able to compost the majority of food waste and scraps from my kitchen in my worm bin.

Vermicomposting Bin Moves Indoors & New Harvest Method Experiment

2008-11-05T20:26:00.010-05:00

I have not posted in a while. The balcony garden slowly died as summer ended. We got many tasty cherry tomatoes. The pomodoros did not ripen in time. The bean plant produced 2 strange beans which I let go to seed. Growing vegetables in containers is challenging so I think I'll go crazy with flowers next year.

The vermicomposting bin has been a success. As the temperatures cooled off (lows below 4 degrees celsius), I brought the bin inside. It has found a place underneath a table my cats eat their food on in the kitchen.
3 months have passed since I first harvested the bin of its castings. I decided to try a different method than last time by moving the bin's contents over to one side, filling the empty half of the bin with new bedding (moistened shredded newspaper and hay that set for a few weeks in a plastic bag), and feeding the worms with fresh veggie scraps on the new bedding side in the hopes the worms will migrate over to the fresh side of the bin allowing me to harvest the castings.
I checked the casting-rich side a few days ago (I put in the new bedding on Oct 23rd) and there were still a lot of worms throughout. Hopefully they will move over eventually, if not I will have to harvest another way.

Ladybug Life Stages

2008-08-10T13:26:00.000-04:00

Below is a short documentation of the lady bugs that came and lived on my balcony.

Lady bug larvae were the first evidence we noticed of this bug's presence:
July 16, 2008

July 18, 2008

After checking under leaves of the plants on my balcony garden for ladybugs in various stages of life to document, I was rewarded with these two found on the Gerbera daisy. As we pulled back the leaf to take a shot, this orange encased pupa flailed and pulsated around.

The second one was just emerging from the pupa state you see the bug above in. I have included times of the shots taken to give you an idea of the pace at which this lady bug emerged and changed colour from yellow to the bright red we know them for.
July 31, 2008 11:17 am

July 31, 2008 11:18 am

July 31, 2008 2:40 pm
August 1, 2008 5:51 pm - last sighting.

I haven't seen many lady bugs lately but I've enjoyed their presence in this urban garden.

Making Vermicompost Tea

2008-07-22T18:48:00.005-04:00

Items used:
Vermicompost
Large bottle
Cheese cloth
Bit of hemp string
Elastics
Water (allowed to sit for at least 24 hrs)
Stick

A piece of cheese cloth, doubled over works well as the tea bag. Scoop in some vermicompost. I didn't follow any ratios, just guessed as to a good amount for the size of the bottle used. This elongated shape fit inside the bottle well.

Roll it up

Tie it off with elastics at each end and some string to ensure the vermicompost doesn't all spill out in the water. Pop that baby into the bottle filled with water that's been sitting for a while to get rid of any chlorine.

Add a stick for easy lifting and jostling of the tea bag. Some sites I read call for aeration, but I'm no professional and think stirring it frequently will be good enough. You can use a fish pump for aeration if you have one. Here is the vermicompost tea after steeping for 24 hours:

I think I'll let it sit for another few days and then water my indoor plants with it.

Vermicompost: Storing & Using on the Balcony Garden

2008-07-22T17:41:00.005-04:00

We used our worm compost on all of the plants on our balcony garden by spreading it around the topsoil. We are making a vermicompost tea solution to water our indoor plants with.
Once I had obtained my vermicompost I had to deal with the issue of how to store it. I did a bit of online research and what I read in this helpful blog post is that if you have vermicompost (a mix of worm castings, partially decomposed bedding material and other stuff from your bin) then it should be stored in a container that is not air tight. The reason is that all of that extra material will continue breaking down and if there's no ventilation it could be really smelly and foul. This article also suggests that you first dry out your vermicompost so it's not too wet before putting it in a container. If you have vermicastings (only worm castings, ie you've taken/sifted out all of the other matter) then it is best to store this in an air tight container.
I know from looking at what I harvested from my bin that I do not have pure castings, although they compose the majority of my harvest's contents. There are still remnants of hay and newspaper that were on their way to being broken down completely. It is not wet, but just damp. I figure I will just use a plastic tupper ware container and punch some holes in the lid to store my vermicompost in.
I think the addition of the worm castings to our potted plants is already helping them and am noticing that they are retaining moisture better, requiring less frequent watering (although it could just be the humid weather we're having).

We tightened in our plants, bringing the marigolds off the rails closer to our tomato and other plants in the hopes that their pest repelling properties will help. There are no longer aphids on anything on the table (below), plus the ladybugs are kicking ass on the morning glory vine on the wall. What remains in terms of edible crops are 5 tomato plants (3 cherry, 2 pomodoro), spinach I planted a few weeks ago (enjoys cooler weather than this), garlic chives, mixed herbs, and the pole beans (haven't produced any beans yet - have been spritzing with water). Here's a few pictures of our garden these days:

The blue variety of Morning Glory I planted this year (above) and an awesome show of flowers this morning (below)

The first flowers on the tomatoes we started from seed! (above)
A wasp (?) on the bean plant (below)

Ladybugs to the Rescue

2008-07-17T23:49:00.006-04:00

Earlier I posted about aphids entering my balcony garden. They affected the lettuce (which we removed), and were spreading to the tomatoes. We then discovered them on the morning glory vines. I had submitted to defeat figuring there was too much vine for them to eat it all, but lo and behold, nature provided its own solution with the sudden appearance of ladybug larvae, which eat aphids! They are crawling all over the morning glory, like guardians of the vine. A little ecosystem in itself, the balcony garden finds its balance. This also gets me thinking about how balcony gardens/rooftop gardens may seem removed from nature below, but they are just as subject to its forces as more traditional ground level gardens.

Ladybug in larval stage on my Morning Glory plant

Harvesting the Vermicomposting Bin

2008-07-15T20:06:00.009-04:00

Yesterday we harvested our vermicomposting bin in order to obtain the useful worm castings they have been producing. As you can see (below) the level of material in the bin decreased dramatically over the 3 months as the worms broke down their bedding and the food scraps I gave them. The original level was near the top piece of duct tape.

There were several steps involved in the harvesting:

1) Preparing new bedding for the worms. - We did this in a large recyclables bag, in which we shredded newspaper just like the first time we made bedding for our worms. It was easy to moisten the newspaper with water and estimate the amount of bedding we needed in the bag.

2) Piling and Sorting the bin's material into 3 basic containers: worms & reusable bedding material, worm eggs (to avoid overpopulation and eggs hatching in plant pots), and the worm castings (what we're doing all of this work for!). We taped two cut open recycling bags together to create a large plastic sheet to line the balcony to do our sorting work on.

We used the pile & sort method where we emptied the bin's contents into several small cone shaped piles. The worms buried down to the bottom of the piles to avoid the light and we, pile by pile, scraped off the tops of the piles to get the vermicompost, working our way to the bottom. This was a very long and tedious process as we did a very thorough job. There were so many baby worms which were at times difficult to pick out and did not move down away from the light as well as the adult worms did.

This is what the bottom of the bin looked like after taking much of the vermicompost out. It's amazing to see what a job the worms did on that newspaper!

Piles for sorting

Pie plates helped with sorting
The Results

Two containers full of worms (below)

Collected worm eggs. Not sure what I'll do with these yet. I've read they can last many years. I am kind of playing god when it comes to the population of my worm bin (removed a little less than half of the population, and most of the eggs - they'll just produce more anyway), but I kind of have to because overpopulation would be a bad thing.
Total amount of Vermicompost collected! Several pounds (about 3/4 of that ikea garbage can is full)

Poo poo la poo poo la poo poo la pooGardener's Gold!! Harvesting all of this natural fertilizer I helped produce with my own food waste was really satisfying! Harvesting was hard work, and since the next harvest will be in late summer/early fall, I'm going to try a different method whereby I just push all of the bin's contents over to one side, fill the empty side with new bedding and food to draw the worms over, then harvest the empty side. The way we did it produces a much purer end product which I was only really concerned for when used on my indoor plants (i.e. I don't want any missed worms trying to live in my indoor plants). I have decided I will make some vermicompost tea for use on my indoor plants, thus alleviating any of these concerns.

3) Returning the worms to their new bed, while removing some of the worm population to avoid overpopulating the bin.

We added the larger container's worth of worms back into our worm bin, with freshly prepared bedding material (moistened shredded newspaper, hay, soil, some egg shells, undecomposed bedding from before). We contributed the remaining worms to the community composter in the park by our apartment building, which from what I have heard, has run out of red worms.

To come: Using the vermicompost in my balcony garden & making vermicompost tea!

Good Things

2008-07-15T19:58:00.003-04:00

insects visit
flowers bloom
tomatoes ripen

Balcony Garden: Vines & Flowers thrive

2008-07-08T15:58:00.008-04:00

On a more positive note, there are plants that are doing really well on my balcony garden, mainly the morning glories and beans growing up the 2 trellises and the marigolds I started from seed have finally blossomed! The vines are my favourites because they add so much green to the grey balcony.

Aphids & Death in the Garden

2008-07-08T15:09:00.006-04:00

Things change so fast in the garden, even on a balcony garden. I didn't think I'd have many problems with insects since I'm up in a high rise, but I've discovered Aphids on my lettuce, and they have crept onto my tomato plants too... Here's a look at them:

Here's what one of the aphids on my lettuce looks like up close:

They appeared and reproduced so quickly! As a solution, I had some Safer's Trounce (an organic insecticide) around so I sprayed the lettuce with it a few days ago when they first appeared in droves. It's killed a lot of the aphids, but now the lettuce doesn't look anywhere near as healthy (check out photo below). I will likely have to cut down this crop and start over if I want more lettuce. This is disappointing but just another part of having a garden - another challenge to overcome and learn from.
I am not sure where the aphids come from; is it the soil (are they in it all along waiting for ideal conditions and temperatures?)? do they fly up to my balcony? did I bring them back to my balcony after a bike ride? -- it's just very strange to me that they suddenly appear with such a vengeance.
My peas have also fallen subject to the wrath of an insect infestation. Some kind of fruitish fly has taken over its pot and the peas have pretty much died. It may not have been getting enough sun, leaving the soil too damp leading to the fly problem. If I have them in direct sun though, they just fry. I struggled with peas last year too, so perhaps they're just not suited for the balcony.

Vermicomposting Bin: Current Status > Almost Harvest Time

2008-07-01T19:39:00.005-04:00

In 10 days I will have been vermicomposting for 3 months. At that point I think I'm going to harvest the vermicompost from my bin to use on my balcony garden and houseplants. The overall level of the materials in the bin have reduced by about half, indicating the worms have done a good job breaking down their newspaper/hay/soil bedding mixture into castings. There's a plethera of baby worms in the bin, which will be more adapted to the conditions of my bin. I will keep these when I harvest and will likely have to take some adults out of the bin to make sure it isn't overpopulated.
I have yet to decide what method of harvesting I am going to use. I will probably end up doing the method where I will divvy out the bin's contents into several small cone shaped piles on a large plastic sheet, the worms will escape the light by burying to the bottom of their piles and I'll scoop off the tops of the piles (will document harvesting process to come). I was originally hoping I could do the method whereby you feed the worms on one side of the bin for a week or two, and then harvest the castings from the vacated side, putting in new bedding and repeating for the other side, but I have been doing the rotating pocket feeding method, and I always seem to find worms wherever I pull back the bedding - they don't seem to stay just around the food source for me.

Pinecone & Clover

2008-07-01T17:16:00.002-04:00

Balcony Garden: June's Growth

2008-06-30T20:30:00.002-04:00

Taken June 28th:
Balcony garden blossoming

Scarlet Runner Pole Beans - flowering and climbing

Marigolds are making heads and bushing up

Tomatoes are growing strong, becoming more hardy. We bought a Tiny Tim cherry tomato plant from a Farmer's Market in the town near my cottage. It already has many green tomatoes on it.

Romaine and Buttercrunch Lettuces are florishing. They've been great to eat fresh from the garden. I no longer buy lettuce when I do groceries because I'm growing enough to supply us, plus there's no waste from any going bad - I cut only what I need.

The first pea is fattening up!

I love being able to see the vines of the Morning Glory growing across the window from inside the apartment.

Vermicomposting Bin: Pepper Seeds

2008-06-23T15:10:00.002-04:00

These yellow sprouts are from putting some red pepper seeds into my bin. I was uncertain of whether I should put them in or not, but did anyway. I'll avoid doing so again, even though I'm sure they'll decompose eventually.

Spinach

2008-06-19T20:49:00.005-04:00

The spinach has been great this year. It's so nice being able to cut and eat fresh spinach and lettuce right from my balcony garden and it's so easy to grow.

Below are taken June 6th:

Below: taken today, June 19th. The spinach is getting taller and going to seed. The leaves are not as green and luscious as the younger ones. I think I will cut it back and do a second sewing of seeds.

Balcony Garden: Spring's Growth

2008-06-19T19:51:00.007-04:00

I haven't updated in a while. Here are some shots of my balcony garden plants, showing their difference in growth from photos taken on June 6th and on June 19th.

Marigolds June 6th (above), June 19th (below)

Morning Glories

Garlic Chives

Mixed Herbs

Tomato

Peas (First flower is becoming a pod below)

Pole Beans: they're growing quickly!

I put up some strings for the beans to grow across. This will hopefully turn into a green wall.

Lettuce: lush and ready for picking!

Vermicomposting Bin: Eggs & Baby Worms

2008-06-02T19:58:00.005-04:00

Yesterday I was digging around in my worm bin checking things out and discovered small yellow balls that looked like worm eggs. After doing some reading, that's sure enough what they are. Here is a photo of some of the eggs I found in my bin.

This article has some good information about red worm cocoons. My first thought was that if the worms are reproducing, they must like their conditions, but after reading this article I became aware that if certain conditions deteriorate (temperature, supply of food, moisture level) then they may reproduce faster in order to ensure the survival of generations in the future. Not having vermicomposted before, it's hard to say whether my worm population is reproducing at an average or above average rate. I'll just have to continue on and see what happens. I can always donate some worms to the park composter if I feel there's too many in my bin.

Here's a photo of a tiny baby worm on a leaf I am holding. Click photo to enlarge.

Apartment Recycling: Action Update

2008-06-01T10:31:00.002-04:00

It's been about 2 weeks now since I posted the sign addressing tenants on my floor about dealing with their recyclables properly. Amazingly, the sign is still up and intact. A few days after I initially posted it in the disposal chute room, I saw the maintenance worker on our floor while I was waiting for an elevator. He is the one who takes away any recyclables tenants leave in the garbage chute rooms, so he must've seen the sign and left it up (and why wouldn't he since it does benefit him). I have also noticed less recyclables being left in the garbage chute room as well. These are all good signs!

Balcony Garden: Growth While I'm Gone

2008-05-27T19:56:00.005-04:00

This bean hadn't even sprouted before we left to go to the cottage! It and 5 others came up.

The Romaine and Buttercrunch lettuces are coming up great, especially that second sewing.

We're having some of the Mesclun mix (above) in a salad for dinner tonight.

The Spinach is fattening up.

I was worried that the plants wouldn't get enough water over the 4 days we were gone and watered them well before we left. They looked great, however, when we returned. What a relief!

Cottage: Plants & Composting

2008-05-27T19:26:00.009-04:00

Forget-Me-Nots, Trilliums, and Lily of the Valley

Composting at the cottage - Green Cone and Leaf Pile

Our Cottage: Candid & Green:

This composter is well used, almost year round. Although the compost from this composter never really gets used in the gardens and beds around the cottage, I still feel good that our family has always diverted a lot of material from the landfill this way.
Water is a resource we conserve more at the cottage than in the city. It has a septic tank system and water is pumped directly from the river. We bring water jugs of Toronto tap water up to use for drinking and cooking (sounds backwards). There are plastic bins lining the kitchen sink basins to divert water from the septic tank. The water they catch is then thrown on the grass by the road. The shower head has an on/off switch to allow for maximum water conservation. We shower less up there. We do not flush for number one.

Compostable Materials

2008-05-15T16:37:00.007-04:00

Here is a basic list of what you can add to your composter or vermicomposter. When you compost, you are decomposing organic biodegradable matter - keep this in mind when deciding whether something should go in your compost bin or not. You want a good balance between adding materials that are considered 'green' (break down quickly, high in nitrogen) and 'brown' (dryer, tougher, high in carbon).

Green:
-any vegetable & fruit material you can think of - maybe produced from preparing your meals or might have gone bad prior to you being able to eat it. If vermicomposting, beware of adding too much matter from the onion and citrus families, as many worms don't like these items as much as others.
-egg shells
-tea bags
-coffee grounds
-plant and grass clippings/trimmings

-soil

Brown:
-dried/dead plants stems and flowers
-leaves
-dry straw and hay
-paper towels (depends on what they soaked up, see below)

Things to avoid putting in a small scale composter:
-meat
-dairy
-fats & oils
-prepared foods
-pet waste
Not only do these items not break down as easily, they can also attract unwanted rodents and animals to your composter.

Composting really gets you thinking about your diet and what you're eating daily. It motivates me to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables as anything not used from them can be composted. Natural packaging, for a example a banana peel, orange peels and melon rinds can be converted into useful compost for the garden instead of entering a landfill via a tightly closed plastic garbage bag. It's really an empowering process. If you have a backyard it's easy to get a composter for your home. If you don't and your community doesn't, talk to neighbors and organizations to try to start one up. What a great way for a neighborhood to reduce its waste, come together, and produce useful compost for gardens in the community.

I am continuing to use my community composter in the nearby park as well as my worm composter on my balcony. I am using the container in the photo above to store food scraps in until I empty them into the composter. I keep it next to the kitchen garbage under the sink and access it easily when preparing meals. It serves as a good visual reminder of the amount of matter I am diverting from the waste stream. The lid can screw on so there are no fruit flies or odours.

Repotting Peas

2008-05-15T16:26:00.003-04:00

Today I repotted the two pea plants I have growing into a larger pot. I built a structure for them to climb on out of sticks I found in a forest trail near by. Growing peas and beans puts nitrogen back into the soil and enriches it for future crops.

Apartment Recycling: Taking Action

2008-05-11T18:06:00.004-04:00

I'm tired of tenants (at least on my floor of the building) leaving their recyclables in the disposal chute room for building management to take care of. Earlier in the week the room was absolutely filled with recyclables to the point where I could not even enter the room (granted, it is a small room). My sister and I were talking about it and she gave me the idea to create a sign to post in the disposal chute room to see what, if any, effect it has on tenant's recycling habits. I may, if successful, post it on all floors of the building, but will start with my own for now. It reads as follows:

To: All Tenants

Re: Recyclables in Disposal Chute Rooms

Please refrain from leaving your recyclables in the disposable chute room. All recyclables must be taken down and disposed of in the Recycling Bins available at the rear of the building. If more bins are needed, please inform building management. Thank you for your recycling efforts.

I will be checking to see if the sign is taken down, if recyclables are still being left, or if they're not being left. One concern is that if it's laziness that prevents them from recycling properly, they might just put everything down the garbage chute. I guess that's the risk I take. They're half way there, so they may as well go the full mile.

Balcony Garden Growth Above City Below

2008-05-11T17:08:00.005-04:00

Peas are growing strong and will need to be re-potted soon.
I love those curly shoots they send off.

Mesclun mix is starting to look really delicious!

The true spinach leaves are really starting to come up now.

The tomatoes are hardening up, especially now that I have everything out on the balcony.

Garlic chives are funny little growths.

Here's a shot of a city square block taken from my balcony. It's nice to see all of the trees in bloom as it takes the edge off of the city's rigid appearance.

Click to enlarge

City Park Comes to Life

2008-05-07T16:31:00.005-04:00

Over the weekend I noticed that the small shed structure by the composter in the park by my apartment building was open and a person was inside trying to organize its contents. Sheets were also posted on the outside wall of the shed, detailing a project list for the park and a need for volunteers to fill positions, such as compost master and label master. Another poster had a sketched map of the park and said that special watering was needed. The park has a butterfly garden with a path going through it, and a corn, bean and squash circular garden, as well as a bed at street side that the city plants annuals in every year. Other than the annual bed, all of the other gardens as well as the composter, over the past two years I've lived here, have been neglected and litter strewn. The composting bin lid fell of at one point, and wooden slats are missing along the front. It never seemed to get tended to. I've been wondering how to get involved in rejuvenating the park so this sudden activity, both with this woman in the shed I've seen used for the first time since I've lived here and with a couple of people raking the park and picking up litter the week before, really excited me. I think it's important that this park is well maintained, especially considering the neighborhood it is in. The street running behind can be a bit scary at night, and I've witnessed violence. Cops cruise by regularly.
The next day I bumped into the same lady who was in the shed by the composter while I was adding my food scraps and I let her know my interest in rejuvenating and maintaining the park. She seemed excited to have someone interested in helping so I hope she calls. The park and its gardens are a project by Evergreen.
Their site has excellent resources, including a comprehensive native plant database and information about starting community garden projects. Check it out.

Balcony Garden Grows

2008-05-05T23:53:00.004-04:00

My balcony garden with the city looming in the background.

It was a beautiful day today and we accomplished some tasks in our balcony garden: separated the 4 tomato seedlings (cherry & pomodoro) and repotted into slightly bigger pots, erected 2nd trellis on opposite side of balcony door and planted Scarlett Runner Pole Beans in planter for this location, planted some more Morning Glory (to replace what our cats ate), Marigold (some died off), and lettuce seeds (the Romaine never came up and the mixed salad greens made a weak appearance - I think due to being older seeds), sowed new Romaine lettuce seeds and Buttercrunch lettuce seeds, planted some native Columbine in large pot (brown eyed susans & sweet william were in this pot last year but died off - we mistakenly left them out during Winter - we'll take it in this year).

Mesclun mix (above) and Spinach (below) are growing well.

Morning Glories are striving to climb.

Worm Bin Update: Castings & Red Spider Mites

2008-05-05T23:17:00.004-04:00

I've been vermicomposting for about 3 weeks now. The worms are doing well and are producing many castings which is exciting. I am feeding them about twice a week and am feeding more organic matter than when I first got them, working them up to their full composting potential.
I have been adding more layers of hay after feeding to help cover it up, and to make sure there is enough "brown" matter to balance all of the fresh "green" matter I add to the bin. I also make sure to keep the bin moist. So far no liquid has drained out of the bottom of the bin, so I hope the bin is moist enough and that the drainage holes are not blocked. Sometime soon I am thinking of giving the bin a good mix to help aerate and to check the drainage holes to make sure they're not blocked up. The bin is not smelly at all, as all food matter added is buried under the layers of newspaper, hay, and soil. It has a pleasant earthy smell. There's some beauty to the bin:

Rich worm castings are being produced!

I have noticed some tiny red spiders crawling all over my worm bin, both inside and out, walking all over the lid. They appeared about 1-2 weeks after I started the bin. My initial thoughts were that they must be involved in the decomposition process in some way, just like the worms are. Even when I had to have my worm bin indoors due to cool weather, these mites did not leave vicinity of the bin indicating to me they were attracted to the contents of it.

This is a photo of one of the Tetranychus urticae inhabiting my wormery.

Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

2008-05-04T22:13:00.003-04:00

Batter can also be used to make a cake. Makes 12 cupcakes.

Preheat oven to 350 F

1½ cup all-purpose Gluten Free flour
1 cup sugar
½ cup cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
3/4 teaspoon Xanthan Gum
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. white vinegar
1 cup room-temperature water
1 cup chocolate chips (optional; mix into batter last)

Grease a muffin tin or line with baking cups.
Beat all ingredients in a large bowl until well-combined. Makes a thick batter.
Spoon into muffin liners, filling to 3/4 full, and bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Let cool.

Basic Icing Recipe

½ cup butter (or margarine), softened
2 cups icing sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Cream the butter and vanilla.
Gradually mix in icing sugar.
For chocolate icing add 1/4 to ½ cup cocoa powder.
Store in fridge.

Apartment Waste: Thoughts & Challenges

2008-04-29T22:53:00.005-04:00

I can't, in good conscience, throw "everything I don't want anymore" into the garbage. . . There's a language of trash; what is it, this stuff I no longer need?:
Garbage
Trash
Refuse
Waste
Junk
break it down....
food scraps
packaging
plastic
tissues
sewage
hair
q tips
fabric softener
lint
odds & ends
paper
cardboard
cans
jugs
jars
bottles
boxes
mail
plastic bags
ash
old/broken furniture
and more and more and more
-----------
Unneeded. Superfluous. Extra. Objects we need to make disappear and vanish. A diversion of responsibility. An easy answer: the garbage chute. We don't really have much of a choice. I use re-using, recycling and composting as ways to reduce my garbage output. If I want to compost as an apartment dweller I face certain challenges. Most apartments (mine was built in the 70's) provide ways to dispose of trash, via garbage chutes conveniently located on each floor, but that's where it ends in terms of services/facilities provided for disposing the waste we produce by living. Even recycling is a challenge. There is no separate chute for recycling in my building (it would be fantastic if there was!). Residents who wish to recycle must bring down their recycling from their units in the elevator to the back of the building where recycling bins are located. Many residents opt to leave their recyclables in the garbage chute room, expecting maintenance staff to do the actual recycling. I'm sure many residents don't recycle at all. Perhaps expanded recycling services in apartment buildings would change this. Our building does not encourage residents to recycle or compost. Twice a year a "Waste Watch" newsletter is distributed in apartment resident's mailboxes. The most recent issue encourages apartment residents in the city to recycle and to talk to building staff about adding more bins if the current ones are consistently full. Our building doesn't have that problem, but maybe that points to a lack of recycling.
Composting presents similar challenges to apartment dwellers. I am grateful that our building has a 3 compartment wooden composter located outside of it. I have not seen many around other apartment buildings. Like for recycling, residents must bring down any food waste they wish to compost. I don't mind, as in my mind recycling and composting takes effort that is well worth it in the end. I just wish recycling and composting weren't initiatives individual residents take on themselves, but responsibilities citizens must meet. Improved recycling and composting programs for apartments would help facilitate this movement. Vast structural changes in how our city manages, thinks about, talks about and deals with its waste are required to get citizens (especially apartment dwellers) to actively participate in the management of their own waste by providing accessible and easy to use facilities necessary to make such participation prevalent. At least most residential neighborhoods consisting of houses in Toronto have the Green Bin Program for food and other organic waste. A Green Bin Pilot Program for Multi-Unit Residents is occurring, and I hope it results in the spread of such programs to all apartment buildings in the city. Apartments can be green too. It's up to both the city and building managements to provide the equipment and facilities, and up to the residents to take the initiative to divert as much waste as possible from the garbage by both recycling and composting through provided facilities. Both go hand in and and require each other for success. I keep a certain amount of faith that people do honestly care about this stuff, that it's not just a hassle. When you think about your waste it forces you to think about your lifestyle, and the unusable by-products of it, and we need to do that more.
Although I am vermicomposting, I am finding that I am producing more food waste than I can feasibly feed to and keep around for the worms (at least for now since I'm building the worms up to eating more food). Thus, I continue to use the composter outside my building. I don't see many other residents using it, in fact the only other person I saw using it was a homeless man picking out food scraps I had placed in it. I also wonder if any one uses the compost produced from the bin. Who tends to it? Is it the city's bin or the apartment's? These are questions I need to look into further.

Seedlings Growing

2008-04-27T18:24:00.007-04:00

Morning Glories

Marigolds

Spinach

Chives

Peas

Mesclun Mix

Herb Mix

Cherry Tomato

Pomodoro Tomato

These photos were taken today while the plants were sunning on the balcony. So far everything seems to be growing pretty well. The cats got to the morning glories and chewed off the tops of a row. We sprinkled blood meal in the soil of the pots staying indoors to both fertilize them and to help prevent the cats from digging in the pots. It worked for a while, but then I guess it faded away. I will have to add a bit more, as well as plant some more morning glory seeds.

I also moved the vermicomposter out onto my balcony about 1 week ago since the weather has been quite mild, even at night. They appear to be thriving when I check them. I fed them a bunch of lettuce yesterday (3rd feeding now altogether). I also added a layer of hay to the bin and sprayed water to moisten the bin. I think it dries out faster when it's outside due to its ventilation holes.

Seedlings Sprouting

2008-04-19T17:46:00.004-04:00

We planted the seeds on April 14th. On the 16th, the first sprout to come up was that of a Marigold:

The next day, it looked a little bigger

and gained some friends

On the 18th, the Morning Glories started to appear:

and many more followed the next day

The first cherry tomato sprouted on the 19th:

as the Marigolds grew

Herbs and the Mesclun mix are also starting to sprout. We bought these pansies to add some immediate colour. They're beautiful:

Gerbera Daisy

2008-04-16T09:21:00.003-04:00

Vermicomposting: Feeding Process

2008-04-16T08:59:00.005-04:00

This morning I fed the worms for the second time. I found the quadrants I divided my bin into were too big so I am using them only as a guideline. I fed the worms just next to the first spot I buried their food. This way I won't be digging into the last feeding's food scraps. If I feed about 2 or 3 times per week, it should be about a month before I have to bury in the same spot again. Below is a better documentation of the process of feeding the worms:

Dig a gully in the bedding about 3 inches deep.

Pour in some food scraps (not too much).

Cover the food scraps with the bedding and leave the worms to do their magic.

Vermicomposting Update: They're eating!

2008-04-15T09:54:00.007-04:00

This morning I checked in on the worms to see if they were eating the first pile of food scraps I gave them. I gently lifted the top layer of bedding in the quadrant I placed the food and was extremely happy to see the worms were concentrated in that area! So it's definitely working. The worms are eating so they must be happy. The moistness of the bedding remains good. I will likely add some more food scraps either tonight or tomorrow, small amounts at a time as I don't want to overfeed. If I am under feeding with food scraps, they can always eat their bedding.

Lift Off: Balcony Garden

2008-04-14T16:03:00.008-04:00

Today we planted many of the seeds for this summer's balcony garden. Our focus is mostly on leafy greens and other vegetables. Grow your own food!
Here's what we planted:

--2 planters of Marigolds that will hang on balcony rail (those are marigold seeds in my hand ^)
Drought & heat tolerant plant, which is good.
--1 planter of mixed Morning Glories (blues, purples, & pinks). Will climb up trellis.
--1 planter of mixed Salad Greens & Romaine lettuce (already outside since like cool weather)
--1 pot of Spinach
--1 pot of Mesclun mix
--1 pot of Garlic Chives
--1 pot of mixed herbs
--1 pot of Spring peas (already outside)
--1 Pomodoro tomato plant
--1 Sweet Cherry tomato plant

Everything but the leafy greens and peas will remain indoors to sprout and grow. They will move outside onto the balcony in May, past the risk of frost. The peas, and tomato plants will need to be transplanted once they're hardy seedlings, as they were planted in small pots. All others are in containers they can remain in.
We will also be planting Scarlet Runner pole beans outside in May. Another trellis will go up for them. I'd like to cover as much of the walls and ceiling of the balcony as possible with climbing plants. Pictures of sprouts and seedlings to come!

Vermicomposting Bin Part 3: Feeding for the 1st Time

2008-04-14T15:47:00.006-04:00

24 hours after we first introduced the worms into their new home I gave them some of our saved food scraps. I read it is best to feed smaller amounts during the first few weeks so that is what I am doing. I divided the bin into quadrants and will feed in a different one each time I feed. This will make sure the worms move through the entire bin. I buried the food scraps under several inches of the bedding, and also decided to add some more soil to the bin. So far, it does not smell bad and I am hoping the worms are happy in their environment but it's hard to tell. I need to do some more research on if moldy things are okay to put in the bin, as much of the food scraps I'm saving has mold growing on it. Hopefully this is just a natural part of the decomposition process in general.
Right now the bin is indoors as I am waiting for the temperature lows to be no less than 4 degrees Celsius outside, at which point I will move the bin onto my balcony. It was sitting under my desk by the window but I noticed when I opened it up to check if the worms had moved towards the food scraps I placed, that the bin was quite hot from the sun shining in, and although the bin is opaque, it was still shining through the plastic. I moved the bin to a cooler and more shady spot beside the couch to avoid the hot afternoon sun.
More of my vermicomposting process to come!

Vermicomposting Part 2: Preparing the Bedding & Introducing the Worms

2008-04-11T19:57:00.011-04:00

The worms arrived today! I fetched them on my bicycle from the Grassroots store on Danforth Ave. Here's what they came in:

Several days before the worms arrived, we started to prepare their bedding by shredding newspaper into strips to nearly fill the bin.

We mixed in some hay with the newspaper and then moistened the whole bedding mixture.

After sitting for a few days while we waited for the worms to arrive, this mixture already began to decompose. We found the bedding material had shrank down and dried out a bit, so we wet it down, added more strips of newspaper and wrung it out well, allowing the excess water to drain out the bottom. The moistness of the bedding should be that of a well wrung-out sponge.

Once the worms came in we crushed up egg shells we had saved and mixed them in with some soil which we added to the bedding mix.

I then mixed the bedding material well with my hands.

Finally, it was time to add the key component, the red wriggler worms! We emptied them into the bin and watched and listened to them slowly penetrate down into the bedding.

Click to enlarge

I will let the worms settle into their new home for at least 24 hrs and then begin feeding them with my food waste. We have already been saving food scraps for our worms.

Larger food scraps such as banana peels and melon rinds should be chopped up into smaller bits, to help the worms break them down faster. I purchased a cheap knife and cutting board designated for this purpose.

This is an exciting venture and I look forward to observing the vermicomposting process unfold.

Breakdown of my Costs & Materials:

-plastic storage bin: around $5.99
-aluminum catch tray: $1.49
-screen: $2.99 (still have lots left on the roll for other projects)
-wooden legs and slats: free
-newspaper: free (subscription I had for free)
-timothy hay: $9.99 (still have loads left, can be used as bedding if needed in future)
-soil: free (remnants from bag from last year)
-eggshells: free
-worms: $61.02
Total cost with tax: $84.14

To me, this is worth it. Not only is this a neat hobby for me but it makes me feel great knowing I am keeping food waste out of the garbage while producing my own rich plant fertilizer. Also, it was fun designing and building the bin.

To come: Feeding the worms for the first time and documenting the vermicomposting process!

Broccoli & Cheese Soup

2008-04-09T09:01:00.004-04:00

Asked to make broccoli & cheese soup on the weekend, here's what I came up with:

2 cups of vegetable broth
1 cup of soy milk (or cow's milk)
1 1/2 cups grated old cheddar cheese
1/3 cup of feta cheese (optional but makes soup really good!)
salt & pepper to taste
garlic powder, onion salt, celery salt, and paprika to taste
1 medium sized broccoli, chopped into bite size pieces
1 tsp cornstarch (optional, used to thicken broth)

Heat the broth and soy milk, then add the cheese. Stir and let it melt in. Season with spices. Taste as you go. Add the cornstarch. Once cheese is melted in and broth appears smooth, add in the broccoli. Heat just until broccoli is tender, then serve.

City Shadows & Signs

2008-04-08T00:17:00.003-04:00

Vermicomposting Bin: Part 1 - The Making Of

2008-04-03T11:55:00.014-04:00

Vermicomposting is the use of red worms to produce usable natural fertilizer from organic food waste. It's an excellent way of diverting food scraps from the garbage, while simultaneously producing nutrient rich worm castings which can be used to fertilize plants. Throwing out food waste really bugs me! I try to throw out as little as possible into the actual garbage by recycling and composting. So, that's why I decided to take on this project of building my own vermicomposter for my apartment - you can too!
Below is a step-by-step documentation of the building of my vermicomposter. You can buy pre-made vermicomposting bins/kits but I think it's fun and more challenging to build your own. Everyone's will be unique to the materials you can find.
To come soon: Preparing the bedding for the worms, introducing the worms to their bin and letting the vermicomposting commence. I will be documenting the entire process on my blog. This is the first time I've ever done this so I'm bound to make some mistakes and learn along the way. Hopefully I can inspire others to try vermicomposting!

Check out the Vermicomposting Links on the Side Bar for more detailed information on vermicomposting and building and maintaining your own bin

The Making of The Bin
I purchased a plastic storage bin for use as my vermicomposter. I began by drilling holes for ventilation in the lid and sides of the bin, and for drainage in the bottom.

I covered the holes by taping screen over them to prevent worms and bedding from escaping.

I found 4 wooden legs from a dresser left as garbage behind my apartment building and decided they would work well as legs to elevate the bin to provide proper ventilation and drainage. We also found some scrap wood pieces to use to screw the legs into place.

The bin sits in a tray to catch any fluids that may drain out. These fluids can be used as fertilizer for my house plants.

I ordered the worms for the bin today from Earthly Goods on Danforth Ave (416-466-2841). I ordered 1 lb of red wigglers. 1/2 lb cost $27. My total came to $61.02 - well worth it to divert valuable food waste from the garbage while producing rich fertile compost as a result! They should be in by the end of the week.
Their preferred temperature is 4 degrees Celsius - 27 degrees Celsius, so I may have to keep the bin indoors at the start, until the lows don't go below 4 degrees outside, as I would like to keep the bin on my balcony throughout the summer. The worms consume the most waste at 15 - 26 degrees Celsius.
The next step is preparing the bedding for my vermicomposting bin so it is ready when the worms arrive.

Balcony Garden Plans

2008-04-01T13:00:00.005-04:00

Some photos of last year's balcony garden.

Plan for this year:
-mostly salad greens/lettuce
-some herbs
-perhaps just 1 or 2 tomato plants (cherry). Tomatoes did not do well last year.
-I'd like to try planting a potato that's sprouted!
-Morning Glories for trellis. purple/pink & blue (bought new this year). I'd like to erect another trellis on the other side of the balcony door, also for morning glories.
-Marigolds for boxes on balcony rail
-perennial Brown Eyed Susans and Sweet William should come back up in large pot

Now the weather just needs to get warmer so we can plant our seeds.

Candles reflect in a dark TV

2008-03-30T10:28:00.003-04:00

Other photos from my earth hour. Please click to enlarge.

Earth Hour's Effect on Toronto's Skyline

2008-03-29T14:43:00.010-04:00

Toronto's skyline on March 26, 2008 - Lights on

Toronto's skyline during Earth Hour: March 29, 2008

1 hour after Earth Hour: Lights back on

Click to enlarge

The most noticeable lights to go out from my view, those of the Rogers Centre Headquarters, the Manulife building's clock and temperature reader, the CN Tower, and the lights illuminating Nathan Phillips Square, came back on shortly after 9 pm, the end of Earth Hour.

"Recycling Grows" Video Clip

2008-03-27T12:25:00.005-04:00

3 weeks worth of recycling grows before your eyes.

2008-03-24T21:22:00.003-04:00

Shot at the beach.

2005-08-30T17:10:00.000-04:00

Once

2005-04-19T10:54:00.007-04:00

This is a zine I created for an art project in university made namely from old National Geographic magazines. The text reads:

Once
when I was a cell
I had a dream
it transported me
where I spread like electric cobwebs
and smokey pipelines
scratching surfaces across the world
fluxing through time
that was much slower
Once

self experiments

2005-04-08T23:55:00.000-04:00