I really wanted to stop using chemical fertilizers on our gardens. I haven't used any on the vegetable gardens, ever - but also wanted to stop using them on the lawn and flowers. I use the grass clippings in the compost - which I then use to fertilize the vegetable garden, plus I just didn't want to add to the mass chemicals going into the water table.
We REALLY love our garden and work hard to make it lovely, so what to do?
The solution - worms! Worms are the means by which organic farmers fertilize. They lay "eggs" every 30 days, and travel very slowly. They are the very best thing for soil. This info is from the Uncle Jim's worm farm website -
So, back in May we ordered 5,000 worms and spread them throughout our flower beds, vegetable garden and lawn. I didn't ever get around to posting these (it was around the time of the computer crash.) We've been working in the garden a lot lately, so I thought I'd post them now.
So here are the little gardeners, they arrived in this box in the mail.
Inside the box they were in a nice mulch mix in a muslin bag.
We REALLY love our garden and work hard to make it lovely, so what to do?
The solution - worms! Worms are the means by which organic farmers fertilize. They lay "eggs" every 30 days, and travel very slowly. They are the very best thing for soil. This info is from the Uncle Jim's worm farm website -
Here's How The Worms Do It
- They make burrows and tunnels that let water and nutrients reach plants root systems. Red Wrigglers are best at this for lawns and gardens because they work close to the surface. Whereas, night crawlers may go down five feet or more to find a home. This burrowing loosens the soil and aerates it.
- Worms eat and digest their body weight every day, producing a 100% natural fertilizer know as castings.
- Worms castings are:
- 5 Times Richer In Nitrogen
- 7 Times Richer In Phosphates
- 11 Times Richer In Potash than the average top soil
So, back in May we ordered 5,000 worms and spread them throughout our flower beds, vegetable garden and lawn. I didn't ever get around to posting these (it was around the time of the computer crash.) We've been working in the garden a lot lately, so I thought I'd post them now.
So here are the little gardeners, they arrived in this box in the mail.
Inside the box they were in a nice mulch mix in a muslin bag.
The kids thought they'd make great pets.
Emily only held them when they were still in the bag.
I took a few at a time, and placed them randomly in the newly turned soil. Right before they arrived we emptied the compost bin and Rick rotor-tilled it into the vegetable garden.
Jacob had the time of his life helping me let them free.
Once they were lightly covered with soil, we left them alone and hoped for the best. I was worried about them dying but every time I work in the garden now, I find lots of worms! The soil quality in our veggie patch is the worst but the sun there is the best - so we don't want to move it. We're constantly working on improving the soil quality, and I think I might order a few hundred more for that area. This is where we let a bunch go in the shade garden in the front.
I'm really pleased with how everything is working out. Here are the chemical free results!
6 comments:
tania this is awesome. i'm saving this for a feature over at the tip spot for sure. hope your veggies keep growing!
Flowers are absolutely gorgeous. We haven't bothered buying any so far this "summer" as it's going to be another wet and miserable one here by the look of it. Our compost bin is full of those thin red worms, though, and we need to get some of that into our soil.
Seriously, you are amazing. I even dreamed about it last night after I read this post! And since the people have been by my mom's house twice to fertilize since I've been here, I really cringed this morning when they came by. Good for you.
I'd be with Emily, only holding them in the bag.
That's really cool. I'm going to have to remember to do that if I ever get a garden.
We had a gardening segment at our Enrichment night and had a lady come and speak to us. It has motivated me to get going with our compost. We are also fortunate enough to have our neighbours horse wandering around our garden at the moment (and for the last 2 days). Sometimes it escapes through the fence. I figure they will come and get it eventually, meanwhile it is keeping our grass down and building up a good supply of manure for our garden!
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