I was talking to my sister-in-law the other day about worms of all things. ;) She and I have been trying to use worms for our buckets of compost for the benefit ofour dear Mother Earth and our own families' health by gardening organically.
Her problem was that her worms had crawled out and my problem was that they had died in my compost buckets. We also have a common problem with worms crawling into our garages when it rains and shriveling up and dying. So, not only can we not keep them in our buckets, but we can't keep them out of the garage!
Well, I had a great idea to set up a bucket of dirt in the garage, so whenever it rained I could save those worms and either use them in my garden or for when we go fishing. :) I seemed like a great idea at the time...until it turned hot, REALLY hot. The garage was scorching by the time the afternoon sun got to it and the worms were suffering. Not to mention, they really didn't have much in the way of food and water...so I didn't know until later.
Brett and I did a little research...Brett found the links and I read up on how to care for my worms. (hehe...that sounds funny) I was pretty surprised about how much I learned (that I wasn't doing) about my worms!
Here's what I learned...
Worms LOVE cool, moist dirt. If kept in a bucket, they need to be placed in a cool, dry, shady area with a holey lid on top. On hot days, put ice chips on top of the dirt. This will keep the dirt (and worms) cool as well as provide much needed water for them.
Also, worms need to be fed. (I thought worms just ate dirt! Nope! They need nutrition just as much as we do. How bout that?) Food worms love: pumpkins, watermelon and canteloupe rinds, fruit (except for citrusy fruits like lemons, limes, and oranges), crushed egg shells, banana peels, and veggies (except for onions and garlic). But feed in moderation. Unfortunately worms are not like us on the food side of things. More food does not equal fat worms. Neither does fatty food either...so don't try it. You'll only get dead worms. ;)
A little extra something you can add for your worms is shredded newspaper or damp paper towels. But don't use too much. Its best to layer it dirt/worms/paper/dirt/worms/paper. The worms will eat right through the paper and the paper will help keep the dirt cool and moist.
You could probably have a seperate bucket for compost than for your worms and feed your worms out of the compost bucket. This could actually be something you set up in stages for your garden! I'm thinking I'm gonna try this for my own garden.
Stage 1: Compost Bucket - put left over food (minus bones, meats & proteins) in a bucket mixed in with top soil to let the food decay.
Stage 2: Worm Bucket - put some of the decaying food into the worm bucket to feed the worms and creat super nutritious gardening soil.
Stage 3: Garden Soil - transfer much of the soil and worms into your garden to create healthy, hearty, tastey veggies and fruits!
And the best part of all...if your worms are healthy and happy, they should quadruple every 27 days! Worms will produce a small cocoon every 27 days out of which 3 baby worms will emerge. Isn't that great!?!
I'm really diggin my new pets...now that I know what I'm doing. ;)
Friday, June 4, 2010
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Austin Swims!
My little baby is starting to swim all by himself...well, with the help of a life jacket. But he's the most adventurous little tike I've ever seen!
Go watch this video on his video blog...
Did you see him!?! Isn't he awesome!?! Well, the video doesn't quite do it justice. Just as Austin asked, I got in...after I turned off the camera and put it in a safe place. ;) So, when I did he clung to me for a little while, but then started letting go little by little. Eventually he was pushing off of me with his feet and swimming towards the dock all by himself!!! This little guy is taking to swimming like a fish to water! I gotta say, I am one proud mama. :D
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