Composting
Who gives a muck?
Thursday 18 December, 2014
There’s a saying “Where there’s muck, there’s money” – not so sure about that but muck management is certainly taking up a good bit of time at the moment.
Summer is relatively simple – we have about a wheelbarrow full of horse droppings every day; in winter this is supplemented by the daily mucking out from the bull and the weekly mucking out of the feeding area of the cows. Mid March will see the mucking out of the laying area for the cows then the stuff from the lambing shed in late April / early May.
Leaf mould
Tuesday 12 April, 2011
There are a lot of trees round Dalmore and, consequently, a lot of leaves. Our predecessors had wire bays in the wood but they were pretty run down so Dan and John have built new bays in the vegetable garden - we had the choice of having them where the leaves are or where the leaf mould will be used and went for the latter. Dan and I dismantled the old bays - they were lined with plastic bags, which disintegrated when we moved them. What a mess. The old leaf mould still has to be moved, but it looks a lot better than it did. Dan's also bought a new toy - a petrol-driven leaf blower / sooker, so no excuses next year.
Compost
Sunday 2 July, 2006
We bought multipurpose compost from Homebase. Nothing grows in it. The plants don't die, they just stay exactily the same size. Dan planted four wee lettuces in a pot of the compost and, I swear, three weeks later, they were exactly the same size. Also French Marigolds and a wee climber that Dan'd mum grew from seed - last year the plants were rampant. This year, they have three leaves.
Bizarre.
The Earth Moved
Sunday 7 March, 2004
I've just finished reading Amy Stewart's excellent 'The Earth Moved: On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms'. It's not as specialist a read as it might sound from the title - it's wonderfully readable and the worms themselves so fascinating that everyone should enjoy it.
Read my review at Blether for more, or see Amazon UK or Amazon US to buy. Also be sure to visit the author's site - Worms of Endearment.
1,000 new charges
Tuesday 3 February, 2004
Today we became responsible for another 1,000 or so lives. Yes, our worms arrived from Worms Direct, in a big white bucket with 'Live Worms' pasted on the side. The bucket contains worms and some established bedding - mostly made up of worm casings - which should ensure a quick and stress-free move into their new home. I checked over our home-made worm bins, and made a few preparations for tomorrow's relocation - drilled some ventilation holes in the side of what will be the started bin; made a carpet cover for the top bin; soaked some newspapers to act as a barrier over the mesh on the bottom of the starter bin.
Worms Direct
Friday 30 January, 2004
Earlier this week a customer settled up with us for the balance of the half pig we sold him in October. He's been very happy with the meat, the only thing he'd change next time would be the size of the joints. Being novices we didn't really know what best to ask our butcher what to do with the carcases, and some of the gigots turned out to be rather large. Had the pork been supplied unfrozen this wouldn't have been such a problem, but it was very deep frozen. We'll know better next year.
Anyway, the wee bit of money coming in has now gone straight out again - on worms. As mentioned previously my dad has built a budget wormery for us. The only ingredients needed now are the worms, some bedding and plenty of tasty waste for them to chomp through. Well, the first two ingredients have now been accounted for thanks to Worms Direct - I've ordered a Worm & Bedding Kit which should be with us next week some time. It was a painless e-commerce experience, and judging by the reviews on the site we won't be disappointed with the product. I'm excited by the prospect of a worm colony of my very own, I will strive to be a responsible and caring guardian.
Wormery on a budget
Saturday 10 January, 2004
We compost extensively, with everything which can be composted ending up in one of our 5 bins. Even at that though there are times of the year when we struggle to find room for everything, so we decided to explore the wonderful world of wormeries.
The commercial offerings are very impressive, but tend to have a price tag to match. Being thrifty, and having a very handy dad, I decided there was no need to shell out over 50 quid on what is really just a stack of boxes. Lo and behold a search on usenet revealed a gem of a site with plans for a cheap, homemade wormery.
