RAISING WORMS

Raising Worms is An Amazing Experience. All you need is a small container or tote box on your back deck. My experiment is turning out well and all I did was fill the tub full of soil and some shredded paper, spade in a handful of red wiggler worms given to me by a friend, and enough water to keep the soil lightly moist. Feeding the soil with finely chopped left over vegetable and fruits , the worms receive a steady supply of food which they convert into nutrient-rich castings. Two or three pounds of green kitchen refuse including tea bags and coffee grinds a week is enough to keep them happy. To create the perfect environment I drilled air holes on the sides and added a cover. It would be a plus to find a tote with a spigot to drain off excess water. That way there is no danger of those little wrigglers becoming water-logged. The compost they create is considered “black gold” as the castings are far more beneficial to plants than any man-made fertilizer, according to a website called WormWatcher. It will provide you with step-by-step guidelines and pictures to assure you get the right start.

Thanks to an alert Quadra Island reader I was reminded that mashing “regular” potatoes with the skins on isn’t a great idea due to the possibility of chemical sprays and fertilizers that penetrate the spud. In past years I have spent long periods in Ireland helping to care for an elderly sister and that’s where I became enamoured with eating mashed potatoes with the skins on…the diff being that they were raised organically. In the past purchasing foods grown organically wasn’t possible on the average budget but the gap is closing. Consumer preference for uncontaminated food is changing the marketplace. There’s a very telling guideline on the web called “The Dirty Dozen Foods” and there you can find the list of chemically raised fruits and vegetables that should be avoided, if possible. There are varied lists available but generally bell peppers, celery and potatoes take the top spots.