MooPoo, seed, Seedling, vegetable garden
Composting and the Use of Worms.
For composting just set aside a small area in your yard, maybe with a three sided bin of lumber and wire fencing.
Just add your left over fruit peeling, fruit, coffee grounds, including the paper filters, ground up egg
shells, green leafy vegetables, shredded card board and paper, etc.. Then turn it once a week and keep
it moist.Compost is a finely divided, loose material of decomposed organic matter. It is used mostly as
a plant nutrient and soil conditioner to stimulate the growth of crops. Many people associate compost
production with small garden compost piles that are worked with a shovel, most compost is produced
in large municipal, industrial, or agricultural facilities with the use of mechanized equipment.
What about Worms?
Now, something about Worms.. They are natures perfect gardeners. They dig dirt, leaving spaces in
your soil for the moisture and air circulation, they also leave droppings that is rich in nutrients and
makes the best organic compost on the planet. Think about investing in worms. The process of using
worms to make compost is called vermicomposting. This compost is considered the best for growing
your fruits and vegetables. There are over 6,000 species of worms worldwide and they range in size
from one inch to six feet long.
The two types of worms most people are familiar with are: red wigglers and earthworms. All worms
are not created equal. The earthworms are good for fishing, but not for composting. The red wigglers
are the ones that do the composting. Worm bins can be used to produce compost and what is called
worm tea for fertilizing your garden soil. You can even have a worm bin inside your home or
apartment. You can purchase a good size supply of worms online, I will be using the services of a great
company simply called Organic Worm Farm.. They specialize in many different types of worms, some
for composting and others for fishing, also books on the subject, and supplies. Take a look if you want
to start a composting bin or need some for fishing.
Instead of the expense of a commercial composting barrel, you can simply purchase two or three 18 in.
by 24 in. plastic trays, 8 inches deep. Drill a few holes in the bottom of two of them and 5 or 6 around
the trays near the top, add a bit of starter soil such as peat moss or some bagged compost, place the soil
in two of the trays as bedding for the worms, stack the two with holes on top of the bottom one, add
your worms to the ones with soil, water them a bit, don’t drown them. Mix in table scraps of fruit
peelings and fruit, leafy greens, egg shells that you have put through a blender or food processor, and
coffee grounds, go ahead and throw in the paper filters as paper makes good compost. Moisten the
compost about once a week and insure the soil stays moist. The drainage from the two top bins will
drip into the bottom tray and is called compost/worm tea.
The tea is a highly concentrated mixture of organic liquid fertilizer that you use to fertialize your
plants. Until you purchase your trays and worms you can use plastic bags in the house to collect your
composting scraps. Simple and easy. Why throw all that away when it is so useful.
You can use
shredded newspaper and shredded cardboard. As for the coffee grounds, throw in the grounds along
with the thin paper filters, as for egg shells it is best to put them in a blender or food processor and
grind them up. If you wish you can grind up the banana peels, apple cores, leafy lettuce and so forth.
It will speed up the composting time. Naturally when you dig into your compost that you want to use
you will be pulling out some worms. Don’t worry, those worms are constantly reproducing and you
should always have an ample supply of worms to continue the composting. So compost is essential to
any garden.
The Greenhouse Effect.
I don’t know a lot about growing in a greenhouse, but found that, sunlight and moisture play a big part and the temperature is the major concern. People living in areas of this great nation that are extremely cold need to know that you are going to have to go out the expense of heating your greenhouse in the winter if you are going to grow all year around.
You can grow almost anything from flowers, vegetables, fruits, and herbs in a greenhouse, you just have to have the conditions right. If you need more information on it all I suggest you Google, How to grow plants in a greenhouse.
The greenhouse effect is simply the effect of greenhouses in growing your favorite plants. Of course, I suggest any gardening you do would include only Organic, Non GMOproducts because of the effect it has what we eat and the effect on the environment.
Here are some links for greenhouses and fairly inexpensive heaters from my Amazon account. I would hope that if you are in the market for greenhouses and supplies you would go to my links and take a look at what is offered.
Here is a page of some greenhouses to grow your favorite plants all year long.
Affordable Greenhouses at Amazon
And some affordable heating products for your greenhouse.
Affordable Heating for your Greenhouse
Thank you for coming to The Greenhouse Effect..
You can find my new Gardening Products Review site… HERE Take a look when you are searching for garden products or just want to drop in and say hi..
COMPOSTING and Your Soil.
You can start a compost pile or bin in a small space. Add layers of leaves, shredded newspaper,
shredded card board, table scraps like banana peels, apple cores, left over leafy vegetables, used coffee
grounds and filters, tea bags, and ground up egg shells. As with the trays, turn or mix the mixture and
spraying on some water a couple times per week and keep it moist, not dripping wet. You can invest in
bags of ready made compost, but don’t neglect the treasure house of using household scraps to build up
your supply of compost.
Your Soil
The first thing when planning a garden is to consider what type of soil your ground consists of. There
are 6 types of soil, they are clay, sandy, silty, peaty, chalky and loamy.
The best soil is the loamy. It is filled with nutrients, retains moisture well and is easy to cultivate. Do
not worry if your soil is not loamy, there are ways to introduce nutrients, organic materials, and
basically alter any soil to enhance the properties essential to the growth of your plants. So with the use
of compost, humus, manures, etc.. you can have soil that is rich in nutrients. drains well and has air
circulation, all essential elements for the growing of flowers, vegetables, fruits, and herbs.
You can tell if your soil is composed mostly of clay. It will be sticky and lumpy to the touch when wet
and rock hard when dry. Sandy soil is gritty and usually lacks nutrients as they are washed out in the
watering and the sand dries out quickly.
If your soil is silty it is sort of soapy and smooth to the touch. It can retain nutrients well and easy to
cultivate making it a good soil for the growing of plants. Peaty soils are darker in color, retain
moisture well and are high in nutrients especially if you add organic fertilizers making it a good
growing medium for your plants.
Chalky soil is usually full of stones and are alkaline with a PH level of 7.5 or more, it lacks iron and
manganese which can cause your leaves on your plants to turn yellow. This situation can be remedied
with the use of some good organic fertilizers.
So all soils can be used in the growth of plants as long as they have the right additives to sustain plant
growth, moisture retention, drainage, and air circulation.
If you have bad soil in your area: rocky, sandy, or clay? Don’t worry.
Good gardening starts with good garden soil. You may not have the perfect soil for gardening,
However, there is good news. With a little time and patience you can improve your soil. If you have
grass and or weeds in your soil you will need to remove them to prepare your soil for gardening.
If you are planning a small garden you can use a shovel and hoe and get to work removing the grass
and weeds. If you are planning a fairly large garden you might want to consider renting a gas powered
sod remover. At any rate, it will require a little effort to prepare your soil.
After the grass and weeds are removed you will want to till the soil. For small areas you may only
need a hoe. For larger areas you will want to purchase or rent a soil tiller.
In most cases, after the soil is tilled you will probably be faced with one or two problems. Your soil
will be either to sandy or full of clay. Sandy soil will not retain the moisture and nutrients needed. If
your soil is full of clay it will retain too much water and your plants roots will rot.
There is good news. If your soil is to sandy, you simply add some clay. If it is full of clay, you add
some sand. It’s better in the long run to till in some organic compost or peat moss to solve the problem.
It is a good idea to add some fertilizer to your soil as the organic matter will add essential nutrients but
not the basic nutrients of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (also know as potash). If you want to be
exactly sure of what nutrients you soil contains you may want to send a sample to your county
extension office and for a small fee they will test it and send you the results. You can purchase an
inexpensive soil tester and do about the same thing yourself.
With the addition of some compost and fertilizer containing nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium you
will have a nutritionally rich soil to grow excellent plants.
Ideas about growing in small spaces.
If you are short of space, do not despair. With an 18 inch diameter, 2 foot deep planting container you
can grow one tomato plant with a few lettuce, onion and radishes around the outside edge. Makes for
several nice salads.
AQUAPONICS
Here are some ideas for you..
Aquaponics, growing without soil.
Let’s talk a little bit about aquaponic systems. Aquaponics, whether you build them from scratch or buy ready made system are a great way to increase your yields of fresh fruit, vegetables, herbs and fish.
There is no soil in the system, it runs off of water, which is nourished by the fish and besides the
eatable fruits and veggies you can also eat or sell fresh fish.
The fish are constantly reproducing so as you eat fish and sell fish, fruits, vegetables, and herbs you
have a constant supply of fish. I will be building a green house this fall and will build an aquaponic
system in it to increase my yields and profit all year long.
I will be adding more useful information through the week on soil, compost, raising worms, planting in small spaces, containers, and aspects of marketing your harvest.
For information on building an aquaponics system go Here.
Hope You Enjoyed This Publication.
Have A Nice Day, And Enjoy Your Spring Gardening!
Roy L. Morris
