sb country n news-towers for worms

SB COUNTRY N NEWS-TOWERS FOR WORMS

recently i started researching the internet on how to
do worm composting

at the school garden i had taken a storage bin
drilled holes in it
then
made a composter out of it
adding all the greens and browns you need to make a
composter work
we added some worms to the mix
however
the bin was so heavy it was hard to handle
so
i decided to convert it to a worm composter
thus
the worm composter internet search

man
i love youtube videos

as i was searching i hit this link
about worm towers using 5 gallon buckets
and
putting them in your garden

i was intrigued i must say

bascially
you dig a hole in the garden the depth of the bucket
take the bucket and drill holes in it on the sides
and the bottom
i did 3/8 in holes

then
in the hole i dug in the ground
i added shredded newspapers
thats worms candy they love it
plus
i added some compost
then
i dropped the bucket into the hole
then
in the bottom of the bucket
i added more compost and shredded newspapers
then
i wet this down good
worms like it moist like a sponge after you wring it out
then
i added shredded food scraps
like veggies fruit bread rice pasta egg shells preferably crushed
no meat no bones no sauces no oils
then
on the top of the pile
i keep moist shredded newspapers
covered with a thick moist newspaper or cardboard
then
i put a lid on the bucket
in my case
i added a square concrete paver over the bucket
to keep in moisture
to shut out light
to keep out varmints
then
all i do is add clippings from the garden
removed plants as long as they arent diseased
as i go along
then
when the worms get this all composted up
it will take several weeks
the worm compost that is left is used to fertilize the garden
plus
the worms go out into the garden to dig around
loosening up the soil
fertilizing it as they go
then return back into the worm tower
the buried 5 gallon bucket
for more food

so i added 4 of these spaced 4 ft apart down the middle
of my garden which is about 20 ft x 10 ft

so now
we recycle all our food scraps in the buckets
or
donate them to the schools worm composter

is this the ultimate food recycling idea or what

thank you mother nature

the organicgreen doctor

sb country n news-squirrels 9 togd 15

SB COUNTRY N NEWS-SQUIRRELS 9 TOGD 15

at the school garden where i help the kids garden
the varmints were winning
big time
they ate all the peas not once but 3 times
they ate all the nice tender carrots as they emerged from the ground
they ate all the lettuce and spinach plants
they left the strawberry plants alone
they ate all the broccoli the kales the cilantro the swiss chard
the parsley
no they didnt eat the rosemary mint lemon balm sage garlic
the herbs seem to be winning the war
so
they ate all the veggies more than once

they were winning the war
so
i went all out to try to keep them out of the garden
so
i dug up every bed
replaced any missing wire barrier to the gophers
you can see their little tunnels through the wire
i guess if any roots pops through
they snag it
ill give them all those they want

as i wrote before
i made cages from pvc that fit each bed
covered it with 1/2 inch hardware cloth
attaching it with zip ties
latches were placed on each side to hold it in place
those dang squirrels actually lift up or dig under the frames
the latches worked

the hardware cloth kept out the little birds and the rest
of the varmint crew

those little birds they would crawl right through the chicken wire
using it as a perch to eat the veggies

the cages
are real light
are easily moved around
wont ever rot

so i replanted everything again
using plants and seedings to try to get it back to where the kids
planted theirs
which the varmints all consumed
but
not this time

so after over 3 weeks nothing has happened to the veggies
that were replanted

the kids all approved

squirrels 9 togd 15

a fellow alzheimers committee member gave us two
rainwater tanks and a large composter
i used my rainwater tank skills to convert the tanks to
usable collectors of water
adding three coats of paint
adding faucets
adding screening to the top holes to keep trash out
and water in

our next project is put in a 200+ gallon rainwater system
to water the school garden
the garden received a $300 grant to pay for it
we have 3 more tanks coming
i will put all them in a series to collect the rain off the
schools roof

then the composter
we had a compost party
adding sticks and branches
leaves lots of torn up fall leaves
lots of torn up newspapers and cardboard
lots of stuff removed from the garden area
like vines old plants weeds
you name it we chunked it in there
we added some pine cones
some plastic to show how it dont break down

then
i brought a couple of bags of compost from the community garden
we spread it out over the cardboard
they dug through it looking for things
like
worms
roly  polys
beetles
caterpillars
insects
they found them all
they was no squeamishness at all
there were a lot of dirty little hands
but with a lot of smiles on their faces

it makes it worthwhile

hopefully all this stimulates some of them to develop a love
for gardening
i hope so

it makes it all worth it

the organicgreen doctor

sb country n news-squirrels 9 togd 7

SB COUNTRY N NEWS-SQUIRRELS 9 TOGD 7

my wife she laughed real hard when i sent her the score
she texted me
this is like that caddyshack movie
isnt it

i didnt think that was real funny
ok
so i chuckled some

i texted her back
i guess im going to have to rewatch that movie
now what did he use against those gophers
i dont golf

so for about a week the new structures i wrote about
in this blog titled
sb country n news-squirrels 6 togd 2
seemed to work
then
zip
the veggies were all weedeated down to the ground
at least thats what it looked like

my goal
i decided to be persistant
until i get a good crop of veggies
for these kindergartners to eat
now
they have replanted the stuff themselves more than once
plus i replanted stuff when they werent looking

they just take it in stride
look at it
say
humpf
and
just move on to playing in the dirt making things
out of rocks and sticks and leaves etc
and
having a good time

my goal is
to light a little fire of interest in gardening
and
to get them eating healthy food ie veggies

i seem to be fighting these varmints in the garden
the general feeling among garden folks ive talked to
is its the drought here
there isnt much fresh stuff to eat right now
around the school
except for whats in our garden

varmints are
squirrels
gophers
mice
voles which are mice like varmints that also dig tunnels

i thought my cages i made would stop all them
well
something ate everything we planted

as i was working i just happened to look back at the bed
with the lettuce
there was this little bird sitting ie perched on the wire
opening in the chicken wire
with a piece of lettuce in its mouth
that explains a lot i thought to myself

thats not a snake its a gourd called a snake gourd

so
i decided to do what i should have done in the first place
use 1/2 inch hardware cloth instead of chicken wire

so i used this bed as a test bed
i dug all the dirt out of the bed to insure that the hardware cloth
was all intact underneath the frame
this keeps the voles and gophers from digging from
underneath
it was intact
in fact i could see where they were digging around
under the bed but couldnt break through the wire
so
then
i took off the chicken wire around the pvc frame
replaced it with hardware cloth
then
replanted a test plant
a sweet pea vine

my theory is
now none of these varmints can get inside this thing
no gophers no voles no mice or rats no squirrels
and
no little birds

so at 48 hours the little pea vine is reaching up towards
the sky looking for sunshine

heres hoping the score goes to
9-8

if this works
i will redo all the frames
and
replant

so when the kids return in january
everything will be growing real good
they wont believe the story when i tell them
oh
yes they will

fire update


this is the thomas fire
that reddest western edge is the one that we are worried about
it sits above montecito where ellen and oprah live
and
is moving ever so slowly
westward across the mountains and foothills
that stretches just above santa barbara

as it moves
if the winds change to blow from the north
the fire will move downward on top of santa barbara
which it is expected to do over the next two days

where we rented when we first moved here is in the
voluntary evacuation zone just above the foothill road
which is the dividing line for the evacuation zones

its expected they will have to evacuate the area soon
then
where we live will be changed to a voluntary evacuation zone
which for us is going to be the
we are out of here zone

the organicgreen doctor

dear ms b-im practicing

DEAR MS B-IM PRACTICING

ms b
when you look at those pictures
dont be jealous
im just practicing
for when you get in elementary school
and
i can volunteer at your school garden

several weeks ago when it was found that we
were moving here
the teacher messaged me
to see if i could help in her school garden

now this person knows a lot about gardening
doing a lot more at her home
than she can do at school
but
she cant do it by herself
so
she needed some help
someone who could help her get her school garden
back in shape

now
i try to be a helper helper
not taking over the whole program
but providing my advice based on my experiences
as an organic gardener
and
my exposure to helping with school gardens

i never try to take over the whole thing
i just try to help them in areas they need help
whether its supplies or advice
advice you know is cheap

so
i started volunteering once a week for an hour and a half
at the school where my two nephews attended
where my daughter in law attended
helping the teacher out

she is the teacher that years ago
inspired my wife to go into teaching
my wife she would come visit
and
would volunteer in the school
she fell in love with teaching
after being there
her inspiration coming from the teacher

so my initial job was to clear the weeds out of these
beds
oh my oh my
thats all i could say
theyll never get all that grass out of those beds
they might as well just start mowing it like the lawn

however
i was given a few kids who raised their hands
who wanted to help in the garden
i made them give me an imaginary quarter to help
they seemed to enjoy that

now ms b i could just visualize you
digging around in that bed
getting dirty and pulling weeds

so these kids
i let them climb into the bed
with diggers in hand
they talked and picked and dug
i thought theyll never get all this stuff pulled up

well i was wrong
their method worked

at the end of the day
this is what the beds looked like
all grass free
for now at least
ready to plant whatever seeds or plants that fit
into their program

ive noticed in my experience in planting gardens with kids
they tend to eat whatever they plant
if they get involved

so at the end of the day
i must say
a job well done

think ill practice again next week

the organicgreen doctor

dear ms b-i start school today

DEAR MS B-I START SCHOOL TODAY

ms b
over the years i have helped several schools with their gardens
usually offering advice and well acting as a consultant
letting the kids and the teachers do all the planning and work
i sort of provide my garden knowledge
and
when i can
provide donations like plants compost soil
rainwater tanks etc


once my cowgirl get it done sister in law principal
asked if i would be interested in helping her do a garden
so
of course i said yes
she got larger watering tanks
filled them with good soil

i got plants picking those that would grow well
and that kids might eat
like lettuce spinach swiss chard carrots broccoli etc
they loved it
so did i


then my wife shes school wanted to do a garden
i donated and set up a 5 ft raised bed for her classroom
some of her kids did the manual work
i just sort of supervised
ok so i did get my hands dirty

i made sure they
had good soil
used the right products
planted things at the right time
planted things that would grow and they would eat
i left the planting and planning the planting to them
it was one of her classes favorite places to go to
for outside classroom time


a former patient contacted me once
to help her design and put together the garden
at her kids school
she was the brains behind it all
i just again provided consultation and some hands on help
setting it all up

she and the kids made their own soil
i actually learned a lot from them and her
i even incorporated some of what she taught me
into my country n garden
and
am using it now in my sb country n garden
thanks mc


a fellow meals on wheels volunteer asked me
well i volunteered to help when she was talking about it
for her kids school
many of my former patients went to school there
many of the teachers were my former patients

again
they did all the planning and work
i provided consultation and advice
and
i also was able to get donated to them
compost mulch organic garden supplies left over from
my habitat for humanity landscape projects

i usually try to stay on the periphery and let the kids and teachers
do everything
its not always like i would do it
i did keep them from making some bad mistakes at times

my two nephews here went to the same elementary school
had the same teacher
you know one of those remember them forever teachers
one of those that when asked
whose your favorite
its always her
i had mine
i do think that if i was in school with them she would be mine also

she follows my blog especially when i write about school gardens
when she read i was moving here
she sent me a message
will you volunteer to help with our school garden
you betcha i said
that was one of 4 volunteer things i wanted to do
along with the alzheimers groups the community garden
habitat for humanity meals on wheels
you gotta give back
for me
i realize there are things up in my brain that i know that
others dont
that i can share with them that may improve their lives in some way
isnt that what volunteering is about


so
ms b
today
i start school
returning to help all those little kiddos like you
develop an interest in gardening
that like their love for their teacher
will last a lifetime

i hope i get an a

the organicgreen doctor