With the bottom section about 90% full, I stopped adding food for about one week (as previously discussed). Pictured here, I have now attached the top section and have begun adding food to it so that the worms will now start migrating upward to this section. By digging into the bottom section a bit, I assured the the worm population was pretty maxed out and that most of the food was eaten. (more…)
If you are looking for a super health food, you most certainly want to consider broccoli sprouts. You have probably heard of the wonderful health benefits of mature broccoli heads, but did you know that three-day-old broccoli sprouts contain 20-50 times the concentration of compounds like sulforaphane glucosinolate and glucoraphanin? (more…)
Here are a couple of the heirloom tomatoes that I grew from seed a couple of months ago. The two shown here are black krim and I have pictured them here to illustrate the genetic variability in open pollinated varieties like the heirlooms. Notice the difference in leaf structure and plant shape. Because of this variability, (more…)
Hmm, we will see about that(?) I tried to grow some globe artichokes a few years ago and some nasty fungus or other pathogen set into them when they had gotten about 2′ high. However, I am a sucker for challenges and especially like to try somewhat unconventional stuff that nobody else is growing in the area - that and the fact we love artichokes and they are now getting too expensive. Therefore, I am giving it another try. (more…)
This is the first time I have planted Arugula and I sure am glad that I did! It grows very fast from seed and is exceptional tasting in salads and other dishes. It is also fairly expensive in stores, and so this is another incentive to plant your own.
Pictured is a small section of plot in which I transplanted various “greens” seedlings one week ago (along with some seeds which I directly sowed which have just come up). Seen here are arugula, curly cress, and mustard greens - I featured the seed starting of these recently in the seed trials post using worm compost. (more…)
Well I saw a guy cutting down a lot of beautiful hardwoods on his property, and this sort of thing always “raises my ire” a bit when there is not a good reason for it. When I asked him why he was doing it, he said, “for firewood.” Anyhow, I just sucked it up and proceeded to ask him if I could have a few pieces, and he let me have about 10 logs that were between 2.5′ and 4′. (more…)
I happen to live where there are plenty of squirrels, opossums, and raccoons, such that trying to grow fruit or nut trees becomes quite a challenge! For example, I tried to grow persimmons but before they could even begin to ripen the raccoons climbed the young trees and literally many of the limbs in search for food. (more…)
Having previously built the base of the wooden worm bin, as can now be seen in the pictures (click to enlarge), I have constructed the top section. I purchased a roll of 2′ wide 1/4″ hardware cloth for less than $6, cut to length with tin snips, and stapled firmly to the bottom of the new top. Referring to the pics, I also attached little legs to further reinforce the square and provide stabilization for the top section, and also added a block into each internal corner. (more…)
About a year ago when I inoculated my last group of shiitake logs, I also did an experiment by inoculating a couple of logs with the elm oyster mushroom hypsizygus ulmarius. I don’t remember where I read it, but it was someone’s opinion that it had a superior taste and texture over the conventional ‘pleurotus ostreatus’ oyster mushroom. (more…)
