Creating change one tomato at a time

I am so excited! My yard guy just dropped off this tomato at my house. He had grown it from seed that he had gotten from my tomatoes and fertilized his plants with worm castings! He was so excited about his huge tomatoes and brought this one over just for me! He even asked if I might share my vermicomposting worms with him cuz he wants to start a bin as well! It's so exciting to make a change in this world, one person at a time.

Got worms?

Hey, does anyone on the Big Island (Hawaii) need Indian Blue worms for their vermicomposting bins? I need to separate the worms and castings this weekend and would like to share the wealth, depending on how much extra I have. I'll probably have at least half a pound of worms to share. Only request I make is that when yours reproduce that you share your extras with others so they can start their own bin. If you want the worms, I'll be happy to help you start your own bin!

Plumpness!

Vermicomposting has a lot of benefits! Some tomato plants came up in my worm bin and I transplanted them in a little 12 in planter with 6 inches of soil ... and these are what I got! I've been fertilizing the plant with worm castings and O-M-G (!), the plants has burgeoned into a luscious bush dripping with large, plump tomatoes! At last count, there are over 50 tomatoes and I've already picked a dozen! It is still growing in the little pot and despite what I thought, it hasn't rooted below the pot. All its roots are getting the nutrients from the soil and castings and I've been watering it everyday since we haven't had a good rain for weeks. I love eating my fish tacos with tomatoes still warm from the sun!

Raised garden bed, step 1

I have filled my raised garden bed halfway with hay and chicken manure (from Lily and Daisy) and soil so it is taking it's sweet time to decompose. I think it should be ready soon. I am slowly filling the bed with more soil but it is slow going as soil is practically non-existent in the area. I have some starts ready to go, including some parsley, dill, green onions, oregano, chives, and both tomatoes and bell peppers that came up in my vermicomposting bin (yay!). And, I see some acorn squash coming up as well! Maybe I won't need to go to the grocery store as much. 

Is this going to make much of a difference to the world? I know it won't be obvious ... but I used recycled lumber that would have been decomposing at the dump, fertilizer from my chickens and worms (free!), and starts the would have gone to the dump as garbage instead. Maybe I'll make a teeny tiny dent in my own sphere of influence ... and maybe a little more on my purse. :)

Worm ball!

I cleaned out my worm bin today and removed all of the castings, which amounted to about 3.5 -4 gallons worth of material. This is what was left, a hefty ball o' worms that ranged in size from teeny tiny (whatever age that is!) to adult-sized. I've only seen this kind of images on YouTube so it was cool to actually carry a ball like this. Pretty nifty if you ask me!

I should add that I LOVE my vermicomposting bin. It cost me about $3.50 to start! I get rid of all my kitchen scraps and junk mail, have little or no fruit flies, no smelly garbage, I got lots of beautiful fertilizer, and I get to play with worms! 

Perionyx excavatus, anyone?

In Hawaii, these Indian Blue earthworms (Perionyx excavatus) are pretty common vermicomposting worms and are much more active than the *ordinary* red wrigglers (Eisenia foetida). I don't think you'd ever find red wrigglers hanging out on the insides of your worm bin. They grow faster, they reproduce faster, and zip around and are so much more fun to watch! My friend Jennifer gave me a bunch of red wrigglers and they are pretty sluggish compared to these that have, I dare say, personality! And yes, that is castings on the side. Poop all over the place!

: (

This is why they say not to put undiluted worm leachate on your plants! Sheesh, I know what I read but MY plants are tough and hearty and can withstand just about anything because I love em so much! Right? LOL Yeah, reality hurts sometimes.

I've only lost 3 plants. The others are fine. So, let this be a lesson, dilute your worm leachate before watering your plants. I tried to leach the stuff out of the soil by watering it a lot so we'll see if that works.

I LOVE Worm Poop!

Worm poop. Yeah, you know that stuff that goes in one end of an earthworm and then out the other? If you take issue with "worm poop" you could call it "worm castings". Worm castings are high in nitrogen and in a form that is readily taken up by plants so they make a great fertilizer. I read online that you could also use "worm leachate" for fertilizer (or what I call worm poop sludge). It is that liquid that drips out the bottom of your worm bin. Admittedly, it doesn't smell at all but it looks like crap! So I tried it and well, the results are obvious. All of the plants are the same age. I treated the ones on the left side of the pic with leachate a couple weeks ago and the ones on the right only this weekend. If your plants looked anything like this, I bet you'd love worm poop too!

These marigolds were grown from seeds from my wonderful friend Kate Rietz.

* Note that this worm bin leachate can actually be harmful to your plants if it has material that is still decomposing, which produces alcohols that are toxic to plants. You take your chances tho'. You can guarantee your results by making your own "worm tea" by putting mature worm castings in cheesecloth and soaking the ball in water that is aerated with an air pump and air stone for awhile.