Worms, Worms, Worms
Back in Ohio, the earthworm population in our garden was just starting to grow thanks to our organic gardening methods and our use of leaf mulch each fall. Each year, I would still purchase Encapsulated Earthworm Cocoons to increase the worm populations. Last year I had a container that never got planted, they made the trip with us in a box with the rest of our fridge contents.
I planted them on Tuesday. This is a great way to jump start the worm population in your garden if you’re bringing it back from the dead and increasing soil fertility.
Other things you can do to help increase the worm populations:
- mulch with leaf litter each fall
- don’t till or work the soil
- avoid chemical fertilizers and herbicides at all costs
- trench compost your kitchen scraps
We seem to have a decent worm population here, though the chickens eat their share of them. No doubt the more we start mulching with chopped leaves and the longer the soil goes without too much tilling/working, the more robust the earthworm population will be. They are such valuable assets in the garden, well worth the effort to encourage them!
Do you notice lots of worms in your garden?
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Soaking up the Sun
Last week, we had a straight week of rainy, cool weather. The total rain amount for the week was 6 inches. It was OK for the first few days, then it started to get a little miserable. Everyone was miserable, the chickens, the pigs, the chicks, the dog and the cats. The ducks however, were in seventh heaven!
Thankfully, yesterday the sun came out. Everyone was happy: the chicks frolicked in the front yard, the pigs enjoyed their new garden space, I mowed and weeded all day, Mr Chiots mowed and built a few things in the garage, the chiots basked in the sunny spot on the lawn and Dexter spent all day hunting tiny rodents.
A day of sunshine after so much rain is appreciated more deeply than other sunny days. It’s kind of like taking a hot shower at home after you’ve been backpacking for a week!
What’s the weather like in your garden?
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Hello Johnny
As I’ve been working in the potager behind the house, I’ve been finding Johnny Jump Ups everywhere. I started digging them and using them edge the beds in the potager, figuring them bring some much needed color. Not only that, they’re edible beauties, I can pick the blossoms and add them to salads.
Lucky me, I ended up with enough of these beauties to line the inside and outside of the main circle in my potager. I can’t wait for them to fill in and start blooming more profusely.
I love flowers that self sow readily, at least for the most part. Things like nicotiana, forget-me-nots and anise hyssop. I don’t know if I have found any self sowing flowers that I don’t like yet.
Do you have any flowers self-sow in the garden? Do you love them or hate them?
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Plowing with Pigs
Last week, two new members joined the Chiot’s Run family. They will be put to good use eating up the extra veggies from the garden and scraps from the kitchen. They’ll also be utilized to work up new garden areas and to clear some of our wooded areas of it’s underbrush.
So far, we’re really enjoying having them around. They’ve already come in very handy at clearing out the freezer of any food that was a little past prime for human consumption. This week, we’ll be putting up an electric fence for them and setting them free into the areas they’ll be in charge of clearing.
Have you ever kept a hog?
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The Outhouse Coop
We had this little outhouse in the new triangle garden area. Since we decided to get Dailon his own flock of laying hens, we needed a coop for them. We also wanted to use the chickens to work up the soil in that area.
Dailon got to work turning the outhouse into a little coop. He gutted the building, rebuilt the back wall with salvaged lumber and built exterior nesting boxes with outside access.
The inside was whitewashed to freshen it up and roosts were made from trees and a new coop was born, for only a few dollars. It’s not posh and polished like many coops you see, but for the money we spent it’s a bargain – and it certainly has it’s own charm and history!
At the moment, we’ve putting our main flock of chickens in the fenced in area to keep them out of the edible gardens until my new fence arrives. They’re doing a great job of working up the soil already. No doubt, Dailon’s flock of Golden Comets will be happy hens in this new rustic coop.
Have you repurposed anything in the garden recently?
