Collector

My Labrador Maxie is a pooping machine.  Twice, sometimes three times a day, the world truly is her dumping ground.  Funny thing is, she sees us picking up the poop everyday and I know what she's thinking:  "Look, they must really like my poop since they collect it all the time.  I love them so much, I'll just keeping making more!"   Lucky for her she's such a great dog.   Why am I writing about poop? 
You guessed it:  worms.   That's what I'm after with those things, so I figured I'd give you a quick update.

The worms seem to be doing nicely and I'm learning what they prefer (cantaloupe) and what they're not too crazy about (potato peels).   I've been real careful not to overfeed them - an all-too-common mistake for the newbie.   I am having an issue with some of the worms who like to wander off into the bottom collection tray. It's just a few of them  (maybe the same ones) and since the hundreds of others stay in the top tray I'm not too concerned.  I don't know why these rogue wanderers like to slither off into the abyss since there really isn't anything there for them to eat except a few small patches of castings.  Maybe they're just tired of the obnoxious giant who roots around  the top tray with the plastic rake checking on their status.  I can almost hear a collective moan every time I take the lid off,  "Uggh,   he's back again."   I can't help it!

Worm castings - garden caviar

Top tray progress.  The black things are banana peels.

I did manage to collect a small amount of the fresh castings and scratched them into the dirt around an eggplant and one of my zucchini plants.  I'm interested to see how this "soil inoculation" experiment  works with those plants as opposed to the non-inoculated.

Lots goin' on in the garden - too much for one post, so I'll put up some pictures.  Busy time of the year  with my oldest graduating, baseball playoffs with another, and band performances with the third.  Good times!

Black Beauty eggplant

Tomatoes

 

Garlic

 

Tomatoes on the left, bush beans in the middle and carrots on the right

I used all of the compost from the pile I started last year and now have a new one cooking on the side of the house.  Last week, I threw one of the tomato starts which was still in a red cup and looked nearly dead into the pile.  Apparently, it still had some fight left and has come back strong in the compost pile.  Maybe I'll let it be and see what happens.

Mojito

It was sunny and 90 degrees today, perfect weather to do a little work in the garden and sip cocktails on the patio with the wife on her birthday.  With a pot full of fresh mint nearby, the mojito was a no-brainer.

Here's what I made:

MOJITO

1/2 ounce fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon  superfine sugar
5 mint leaves, plus 1 sprig for garnish
crushed ice
2 ounces white rum
1 ounce club soda

Put lime juice and sugar in a highball glass and stir until the sugar is dissolved.  Add the mint leaves and muddle them with a stick.  Fill the glass with ice, add the rum and soda, and stir gently.  Garnish  with the mint sprig.

 

 Happy Birthday,  Babe!

Garlic eviction

I planted some garlic bulbs back in early November and they have done well.  However,  I need the space in which they're living for the tomatoes and peppers.  I hate to give them the heave-ho, but everyone changes work locations at some point in their career, right?  We've had something of a mini heat wave  (in the 90's) and the beds are nice and warm.  Looks like I'll be planting everything in two weeks.

I thought about transplanting the garlic into some pots, but wasn't sure how that would work out.   In the end, I decided to replant them along the fence figuring they will be tall enough by the time the tomatoes grow big enough to overtake them.   I really should think these things out in advance, but never do.

I got as much as the root ball as I could,  and gave them a good heap of homemade compost, so here's hoping they do well!

The seedlings have been successfully hardened off and now reside outside.  They're really starting to put on some nice growth.

Worms

The county has a local SmartGardening series they put on throughout the region highlighting the benefits of composting.  They sell traditional compost bins along with worm bins to anyone interested.  I've always been somewhat interested in this endeavor,  I have read that worm castings and tea are some of the most beneficial fertilizers one can provide for their plants.  Plus, I've always liked worms, especially on the end of a hook.

So for $65 I got a Wriggly Wranch stackable worm bin, which included a coconut coir brick (bedding) and a 1/2 pound of "red wiggler" composting worms to get started.  Apparently the traditional garden worm or nightcrawler is not the best "variety" for composting.  I was handed a small sack containing the worms, but when I got everything set up and dumped the worms in, I found that the 1/2 pound of worms was really 1/2 pound of castings/dirt and just a handful of worms.  I was expecting a spaghetti-ball of slimy goodness, but what I got was maybe 50 or so.

I needed a worm fix, and fast.

After a bit of online searching, I found this "dealer," Steve, located in Northridge.  I came across a blog post by a woman who went to Steve's house to buy worm castings ($1 a pound,)  but then wrote about how unkempt and dirty the guy's house was.  She talked about how nice the old man was and how he allowed her in to his backyard to show her his setup (at her request), but then talks shit (and not from the worm) about him in her post. Not cool.

I send the guy an email inquiring about his prices and he promptly gets back to me with his price:  $25 a pound - cash.   He explains that he works out of his house (like most dealers I've arrested)  and that he is available at all hours (also like most dealers I've arrested) - provided I give him a couple hours notice to get everything ready, oh and don't forget - bring cash!

Please don't tell anyone I spent $25 for worms, but his price was actually very reasonable compared to what I found online.  One place was selling them for $40, plus shipping! However, you get approximately one thousand worms per pound, that's alot of hungry garbage chewers.

So after a visit to the mall and dinner at Claim Jumper, I called Steve and told him that we were 5 minutes out.  "I have them ready for you," he told me, "remember to bring cash."   We swung by his house and he met me at the door.  He hands me a damp pizza box containing some of the bedding the worms were living in, and I hand over my cash.  He then produced a coffee can full of worms and spread them out into the pizza box.  A spaghetti-ball of slimy goodness. He tells me, put the pizza box in the wormery, they love to eat corrugated  cardboard.

I told Steve my wife probably wouldn't appreciate the worms slithering out of the unsecured box and into our brand-new car during the ride home, so he generously offered a couple of plastic bags to contain the mess.  In all, Steve was very nice and answered a few of my questions before I left.

We got home and I dumped 'em into their new home.  They've got plenty to eat and lots of work to do. I will keep you posted on their progress.

Seedlings and more

I've enjoyed everyone's photos of their seedling progress, so I figured I'd put mine up as well.  I'm growing some new tomato varieties this year including Mortgage Lifter, Caspian Pink, as well as Brandy Boy - a hybrid variety of my favorite Brandywine which promises better yields and disease-resistance compared to the heirloom.  I'm a bit skeptical, but have read rave reviews. We'll have to see how it turns out.

I started my seeds in the Bio Dome again as I was very pleased with how it worked out last year.  It's time to break out the red cups for the tomatoes!

The compost pile I started at the end of last summer is nice and dark now, and will be ready for the spring planting.  I added some to the pot of lettuce still growing and it made quite the difference.   I really enjoy the convenience of snipping fresh, homegrown lettuce from the pots on the patio. 

Sweet Mint

Romaine and Spinach

The Swiss Chard is ready and the colors are phenomenal. They say Swiss Chard is good for the brain, but why do these leaves have to look like little green brain hemispheres?

Swiss Chard

Garlic

I planted some garlic last fall among the lettuce and chard and while it seems to be doing okay, I'm concerned it won't be ready before I have to make way for the peppers/tomatoes for the summer.  Let's see if we can get it done before the end of April!

How to dry herbs

I've got tons of fresh parsley growing in the garden that I just can't keep up with.  The kids are getting pretty fed up as well, after all, who wouldn't want their peanut butter and jelly sandwich garnished with a little sprig of parsley?   I listened to a Gardenfork podcast episode in which they demonstrated how to dry your own herbs.

As I was making Sunday Sauce today while watching the Daytona 500, I brought in some of the parsley to add to the meatballs.  Having a bunch left over, I decide to give the drying process a try.   This works well with basil and oregano as well.

After washing the leaves, cut or rip them from the stems and spread out on a piece of wax paper.  Put them into the microwave and cook on high for 50 seconds.  Open the door and give them a little stir and then microwave a second time for 40 seconds.   You might have to experiment with the times depending on your microwave.  You may hear some popping or crackling while they cook, but that's normal.  At this point, all of the moisture in the leaves should be gone and the leaves will be nice and brittle. You can crush them in a mortar and pestle, or just rub them in your hand to get the desired texture. 

As you can see in the pictures, the herbs maintain their original color.

Fresh parsley after drying and crushing

Quite a contrast from the store-bought

This process also works well with fresh bay leaves.   Since I cook alot of Italian food, I go through  a bit of bay.  I came across a bay laurel plant at the local nursery last fall and snatched it up. 

Bay leaves.  The fresh ones are on top

  The whole process took 10 minutes at best.  Easy stuff.

Raptors

Given the rodent problems I experience each year, I've decided to switch to the big guns.

Sager Hawk

Goshawk

Eagle owl

Vulture

Actually, a friend's neighbor is an exotic birds handler/trainer and is in the movie business.  He has numerous trained raptors at his home and he was kind enough to show us his beautiful birds.  The vulture, Dexter, is the third largest flying bird in the world, and has an 8 foot wingspan!  He's been in several movies including the last Indiana Jones release.

Now if I can only get them to swing by the house,,,