Planting and Fencing and Raining...Oh My!

This weekend was a productivity high! I completed the half in the Pittsburgh Marathon and planted my very first official garden.

Using Smart Gardener, I planned the layout and knew just when to do what (grow seeds inside/outside,plant, replant, etc)- and kept adding and mixing in the vermicompost little by little each week as my organic fertilizer.

I asked around for guidance on what vegetables should be planted near each other, but didn't get any clear advice. I went with my gut:

Lower level- Strawberries, spinach, red peppers, and onions.
Upper level- Cucumbers, tomatoes, and spinach.

We started creative fencing around the lower box, using some flexible PVC pipe cut into 6 foot long pieces and bent like arches to the inside of the box.  Then, we ran some wire fencing over the pipe and attached it with little pieces of wire. Here's what it looks like so far (in the rain):

Next steps this week are to add two arched sides that flip open. Hopefully, this will protect the berries from bunnies and a certain cockapoo that ate all the strawberries at our last house.  He looks something like this:

We did a little tree-hugging last night and bought a rain barrel so I can water my new garden the earth-friendly way.  Pics of installation coming right up when the deluge finally passes.

Garden Newbie

Guess who's starting a garden this year?

THIS GIRL.

I have so much fluffy, deliciously rich vermicompost from all these wormies squirming around in the wigwam that I figure this can't go wrong.

So far I've started tomatoes, strawberries, and red peppers inside the house- each in their own little earth-friendly biodegradable container lined up in a large plastic tray.

The garden outside is two raised 4 foot x 4 foot beds made of trex decking.  I turned over the crappy clay with some peat moss and tons of worm castings- and every weekend, I've been pulling out the grass and weeds that keep growing back.

A great free tool for novice gardeners out there is Smart Gardener.  This snappy site helps you plan your garden visually using custom dimensions and builds a reminder/to do list based on your region/climate. The site saves all your info, and even let's you print out your plan and lists for reference.

Any Garden Experts want to share their knowledge with a Newbie- especially tips for the initial planting and maintenance? 

2 Great Articles from Treehugger

Recent worm news from Treehugger:

International Airport Building Huge Worm Composting Facility

and
Worm Composting Becomes Big Business

I'm thrilled worm composting is catching on with larger corporations/organizations.
Inspiring news!

Old Habits Die Hard!

I can't help it! 

I tried to start another blog at Lilliworld, but deleted it because I thought the topic range was too broad and I couldn't focus.

Then I started FindingUpDog in an effort to chronicle my yoga training and got bored with that (not yoga- just writing about my training!).

And all this time...I'm still feeding the worms and using the compost on our plants! I tried the castings on two tropical plants that are ENORMOUS now.

I'm still using the worm wigwam and feeding them about three large full Tupperware containers every other week.

I have a huge bin of castings drying out a little and ready to be sifted.

So maybe my adventures with worms aren't over.  MAYBE.  Maybe I still <3 maybe.="maybe." nbsp="nbsp" p="p" worms.="worms.">

Updates So Good, You Could Eat Them

Here's an update on some of the vermicompost projects from this past season at my house:

• Despite a freeze out in February, one of my tropical plants that was planted in 1/4 of worm casting lived through the catastrophe and is now residing happily on my deck during these tropical-like conditions in Pittsburgh- I haven't read any studies about castings providing additional protection during frosts, but you never know!
• My cherry tomato and regular tomato plants planted in 1/3 worm castings had a great showing- probably about 20 little cherry tomatoes and so far about 10 regular tomatoes (4 more still green)- research shows that castings cause plants to have higher yields.
• The other shrubs around my house got a dose of castings and have almost made it through their hottest summer yet...don't forget, the castings are able to retain more water than regular soil!

Delicious delicacies I've included the harvest in:

• Spanish rice (DO NOT confuse green chilies with jalapenos! BIG MISTAKE!)
• Chicken fajitas
• Breakfast wraps (scrambled egg, cheese, and tomatoes)
• Tomato sauce and marinara sauce
• Grilled chicken and steak salads
• Tomato and cucumber salad

Also, side note- a friend of mine's parents had a huge crop of cucumbers, and they introduced me to the easiest cucumber salad EVER: slice up the cucumbers in a big bowl, add some finely chopped onions, sea salt, and drizzle with raspberry vinaigrette.  Let it refrigerate over night, and get ready for the taste explosion!

Happy harvesting!

Paddle at the Point Timelapse

You say TOMATO, I say DOWNPOUR!

I had to throw in one last wormy post about the tomato plants I have growing on my deck in...you guessed it...worm castings!


A great neighbor gave me three tomato and four cherry tomato plants, and I re-potted them in castings and (clay-like) dirt from under my steps.

They are doing magnificently with a million little tomatoes everywhere, and any day now I will be mixing up some delish tomato & mozzarella salad.

Worms are doing well and have been getting fed like crazy with the scraps from the great selection of fresh produce around this time of year. I have stepped up my culinary endeavors by making fruit salad, pasta salad, wraps, dips, and even some souped up sauces.

How did I know the tomatoes would flourish in the worm poo? Remember this pic from the past:
Here's the corresponding post in case you forgot or are a new reader.

Oh, and one more update from the Paddle at the Point- here is a great time lapse of the record breaking attempt that shows the whole event in a minute or so. Pay special attention when the monsoon arrives, about :35 seconds in...