worms, composting, awesome

On Saturday we spent some time in the yard and set up our Worm Factory 360 with 250 red wigglers; a bedding full of coconut fiber, shred newspaper, crumbled pumice, and garden soil; and the first of many food scraps which will become the first of our monthly super rich garden compost harvests - starting in about 90 days. I'm so excited to finally have our worms and the "fancy" system all set up and on our back porch. At first, I had placed it behind the house, but as I read the (unexpectedly long and also unexpectedly interesting) "how-to" book that came with the composter, I realized the back of the house gets too much sun and the shady porch is the place for our worms to get their grub on. 

Adventures in worm keeping has been thrilling so far. Even though I know they probably don't love it, I can't stop checking on them every day, raking back the top layers of food scraps and bedding to make sure they're happily wiggling away below the surface. This is how I found out that they love melon rinds more than carrots or edamame shells. The system will eventually get stacked pretty tall, you add a box at a time as the feeding boxes fill with scraps. Eventually the box on the bottom is compost, ready to harvest, then that box gets emptied and moved to the top and the cycle continues indefinitely.  

As the composting continues I'm excited to see if it's as easy as it sounds to maintain. Keeping the moisture and temperature levels in the right range and making sure the worms have a steady food supply seem to be all there is to it. In a temperate climate like Oregon, I think that's going to be super manageable. 

Last night after dinner Rob threw away the leftover avocado and I like yelled at him, "Rob! Worms!" I looked at him all exasperated and he looked at me like the woman I have become, ha... An awesome lady with cool interests, obviously.

I'm looking forward to getting more serious about gardening and really putting some time and muscle into the back yard. We started 3 types of heirloom tomato from seed and will transplant the first set of starts into the garden probably this weekend. The kids are happy as clams outside and able to help out a bit, run around a bit, and just be dirty and sweaty the way kids should be. It's therapeutic to spend time out there, doing physical work and getting a little Vitamin D, wearing yourself out physically and calming your mind while you get hands on with the earth. 

yard kids

Last weekend, with Nana and Papa's help, we turned a sandbox into a garden for the kids. This weekend the kiddos went to work planting pansies and mums (I think) in their little garden box along with other yard activities that have all warmed my cold, dead Oregon wintered heart. Otto peed in the grass. THAT IS WHAT LIFE IS ALL ABOUT. Loretta got angry at dirt she threw in her own face. That's my girl. The grownups had a beer and mowed and I turned up a 5' x 4' patch of yard for future gardening. I'll be starting my seeds this week and so cleared out a shelf in the laundry room to get those guys going. Can't wait to see the little sprouts start coming up. Beets and tomatoes and all kinds of veggie goodness. Also? I am hard-core dreaming about a worm composter. But who isn't?

ready for spring and things

image via Made4uByMagic Etsy shop

How ready are we for Spring (plus loads of sunshine and minus the ever-present rain) around this house? We are all stir crazy with the inside but a few choice days lately have already allowed us to take an after-dinner walk around the block or spend some minutes in the front yard chalk drawing or kicking the soccer ball. Those outside moments are like a huge breath of fresh air. A restart! Being outside is so amazing. It's so funny how much it can improve your outlook and mood.

So... I am waiting a few more weeks and then we'll start our first real garden this Spring. The first one that has any hopes of turning out edibles, anyways. In Tucson our gardens withered and died again and again. I am looking forward to gardening in a place where it isn't an uphill battle. So we'll see how that goes. Because blueberries! I love the idea of my kids running around their backyard, perfectly at home being muddy and dirty, playing in the sprinkler, and picking fruits and veggies right from the garden (then me efficiently rinsing them off because squirrels have rabies) and gobbling berries and rhubarb and snap peas and carrots and whatever it is, fresh as you please, farm kids-style. Love it. If that is my fantasy then I think I deserve to get my wish, don't you?

ps. Look at this adorable collage Otto's Nana put together. Bask in the radness!