WORMS!

It was time to refresh the worm bin for this year's vermiculture. Alex is adding fresh red wigglers to a bunch of organic kitchen waste and a half bin of partial compost from our large 3 part system in the back yard.

Here's close up of the worm bin, based on a design through Seattle Tilth. Note the double bin construction to allow for drainage and the air vent around the sides. (It also has a vented lid to keep critters out) Our bin lives in a corner on the deck.

Here you can see Wiggle, Jiggle, Squiggle, and gosh, I can't remember the rest of their names. Sorry guy/girls. Did you know worms are hermaphrodites? The vermicompost produced by these critters is awesome for the garden veggies!

Plants and Wigglers

The peas are climbing.
The dogwood is finally blooming.

This morning we went to the first farmer's market of the season.

We found garlic, fresh bread, two kinds of specialty cheese, hazelnuts,

asparagus, apples, and even a artsy switchplate cover for the downstairs

family room. We had a chance to chat with our favorite farmers

and then grab coffee at our favorite organic coffee shop.

After putting the goodies away, we traveled into soggy Seattle

to visit the Tilth's annual edible plant sale where avid home gardeners

can find unusual and heirloom varieties of herbs and veggies.

We found zebra-striped green tomotoes, grape tomatoes,

three kinds of squash, pineapple sage, sweet basil, summer savory,

curly parsley, chocolate peppers, sweet-hot peppers, and spearmint.

Our final journey of the day took us to Seattle for worm bin and chick supplies.

I'm drilling.
David is cutting.
And the worms are wiggling in their new permanent worm bin,

complete with drainage spigot and louvered air vents.

The chicken coop, unfortunately, did not get built

as David and I are having (ahem) creative differences as to the design.

Apparently, I favor a penthouse model,

and I think he favors the tarp-wide-open-to-predation model.

I'm guessing the final design will lie somewhere between the two.

We'll have to decide soon as the chicks are arriving next week!

(Uncle Mel, what does your design look like?)

Good news! Mom and Sharon are making a brief cruise ship stop in Seattle in a

couple of weeks. We're going to meet up at Pike Place Market for lunch and browsing.

Busy days on the funny farm.

We had a veggie fiesta for dinner tonight.

The menu included skillet chili rellanos with salsa, sour cream, avocado, green onion, and cilantro. We also had fresh corn with chili salt, mango sprinkled with chipotle pepper,

Spanish rice, and fruity ice tea.

Muy delicioso!

The recipe for these is under the recipe label.

The last few days have been busy ones down on our funny farm.

Yesterday we planted our remaining berry bushes, two blackberries.

We also set up a temporary worm bin for vermiculture.

Did you know that worm castings (poop) and the garden 'tea'

made from them are some of the best organic fertilizers out there?

We added 2 pints of red wigglers to our bin.

Last night, we downloaded the plans for our chicken coop.

They were 40 pages long!

Today, we built a string trellis for our berry bush line.

We also repotted all the tomato, pepper, and basil plants.

We transplanted the cilantro, 4 bean plants &12 pea plants that we started from seed,

4 chard, and 6 sunflowers to the garden beds.

Finally, we planted some of the bulbs we purchased at the Skagit festival,

2 Asiatic lilies and 2 gladiolas.

Tomorrow, we start that coop.

Wish us luck!

(And some skill with power tools!)

(And adequate emergency room coverage!)