It's almost that time. The winter is getting long. That means it's time to start thinking about starting seeds. Tim helped me bring up my grow stand last weekend (thanks, dear!) and we took one shelf out of it to give the seedlings some head room. Last year, they got too tall. I couldn't raise the light any higher, and the seedlings needed more head room. So, even though I have one less shelf (which means I'll have four fewer flats started) I think that my seedlings will be healthier.
Getting ready for planting means that I also wanted to get my vermicomposting established again. My worms had all died a couple of years ago because they got too hot. I still had the two bins that I had started with, so I decided that I'd buy some red wigglers again when I had a little extra cash. Like, $40 extra. Didn't know that red wigglers were so pricey, did you?
As luck would have it, I found a booth at the Garden Expo in Madison that was for Growing Power. I love the entire idea behind
www.growingpower.org and I have for some time. Will Allen is a pretty inspiring man, and his mission is one that I feel strongly about. I was so excited to see that Growing Power is expanding to Madison, and there was a booth at the Garden Expo. At the booth, there was a display about vermicomposting, and I asked where they got their worms. Imagine my surprise when they told me that they had a bucket of worms (5 GALLONS!) for sale for only $25.... I snatched those babies up!
Now my worms are living in my dining room, and eating quite well. I thought they might go on a little hunger strike since their environment has changed, but I don't see any sign of that. Some of them have already had their babies, so I have some tiny little worms all ready to grow up big and strong. Now, they had just better stay in their bins and not escape into my dining room.
Your family is so very patient with you! Worms in the dining room? Not in my house! But, make sure you plant me some tomatoes & pepper plants, K???
ReplyDeleteDo you think I could get a small batch of babies from you sometime? If they're prolific enough and stuff.
ReplyDeleteCarol; what kind of peppers are you wanting this year? I took special orders for the types of HOT peppers that I'm starting for a friend... so if you'd like a specific type of pepper, please let me know. I get my seeds from Seed Savers Exchange at www.seedsavers.org if you'd like to look. I already got all my heirloom tomato seeds through them when we visited at the end of the summer. Most excited to try Brandywine tomatoes again!
ReplyDeleteany type of hot pepper is fine (jalapeno, habanero, the ones I got from you last year were delightful!)- I loved the Roma and also the San Marzano for tomatoes (both worked well for sauce & salsa). When I was feeding the worms at River Crossing, they told me always add a layer of semi-wet shredded newspaper to avoid smell.
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