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It’s the middle of March — the perfect time to begin the gardening season. Unseasonable warmth is bringing everything quickly back to life. The Garlic is up, and last fall’s Kale and a few Spinach seedlings have survived the winter. The Perennial Herbs are greening up as well. The soil is still a chilly 42° F, but it digs nicely. Next Saturday we’ll officially open the garden and begin planting!

 

It’s the latter half of February and most of our seed orders have arrived — right on schedule.

The largest order was from Johnny’s Selected Seeds (Albion, ME). We ordered onion sets, sweet potato slips and other seed from Burpee (Warminster, PA) and a few special items from Thompson & Morgan (Lawrenceburg, IN).

Well before we start planting, our 2012 crops list is already looking presentable.

The seed companies continue to expand their organic selections, so we were able to get an even higher percentage of organics for the garden this year. Another reason to be cheerful.

We’re also experimenting with a more complete botanical reorganization of our seed box.

Visit us at EcoFest 2012. We’ll have information about Robbins Farm Garden and how to join. It’s likely that there will still be open slots left for a few local gardeners.

Today I turned our two compost piles.  Unfortunately, the piles were cold.  I had hoped to show the visitors — we had about eight, mostly adults — steam from the center.  But evidently I waited too long; next year, I’ll try a December turning.  Cold piles means that the decomposing bacteria have run out of fuel (carbon matter) near them, and have depleted the oxygen.  Composting is like a slow fire, and needs oxygen to breathe.  Turning both mixes up stuff, so that bacteria are relocated next to fuel, and refreshes the supply of air.

Both piles had reduced since November, when they were overflowing, showing that some decomposition had happened.  The top halves of each pile had the least decomposition, so I set those aside.  I then combined the bottom portions of the two piles into a new pile.  There was significant dirt in those bottom portions, so I’m hoping we can get some garden-usable compost out of them by late April.  I then combined the set-aside halves into a new pile, which is really going to need summer heat to decompose.  And the thick sunflower stalk pieces may just take too long for us.

Very little was frozen, except at the bottom on the north side of the wire mesh bin.  Comparing the two bins, I’d say the black bin had somewhat more decomposed matter than the wire bin.  This may be due to the black plastic keeping the pile somewhat warmer, by absorbing more sunlight.  Or due to less exposure to the cold winter air and winds.  Or maybe I just preferentially put the better stuff (less stalks) in that bin in November.

Next turning sometime in March!

Vermicomposting, (the “official” name for using worms to do your composting), is a great alternative to outdoor composting, especially during the colder, winter months.  Using red worms in an indoor compost bin, you simply layer any plant-based scraps with some shredded paper (e.g., newspaper, but avoiding glossy paper and colored inks), wet with some water that has been allowed to sit uncovered over night (to off-gas any chlorine), and then cover the bin and let the little red wigglers do their thing.  I’ve been composting all of our kitchen scraps and indoor plant trimmings this way for over three years now, and it’s very easy & low maintenance, especially with one of the commercially available bins.

Vermicomposting produces “castings” (aka, worm manure) which is great for both outdoor AND indoor plants.  Vermicompost has NO smell, offers great organic matter to improve soil texture, contains excellent, readily-available plant nutrients, and contains beneficial microbes that should be a part of any healthy soil.  There are some great web sites that explain how to get started.  (Google “worm composting”)

This is the worm composting bin that I highly recommend.  It’s called “Can-O-Worms“. This bin even has a tap which allows you to drain off any excess water, which itself makes a great liquid fertilizer!

You should also consider getting a book or two on vermicomposting.  Worms Eat My Garbage was extremely informative and helpful when I got started.  For the best price I could find, go to www.discountbooksale.com and search on the book’s title.

Have fun with your worms!
– Mike

On January 28th at 10 AM, the Robbins Farm Gardeners will gather at the Community Safety Building (112 Mystic Street) to begin the gardening season by selecting seeds and crops. From artichokes to zucchini, all are invited to share in our excitement about what we’ll be growing (and eating) this year!