Redworms thrive on the microbes of deteriorating kitchen garbage.  Coffee grounds, filters, tea bags, loose tea, peelings of all types, scrapings and paper provide organic nutrition that the worms turn into wonderful black dirt.

Because vermicomposting is a cold process, the seeds aren’t killed.  Every spring when I add some of this rich, freshly made dirt to my container gardens, I am rewarded with more little volunteer plants than I can use.  Often they don’t produce well in the containers shared with flowers.  The water and space needs are just different, so they are pulled and returned to the soil.  This year a jalapeno pepper plant grew quietly till it was large enough to let it go and see what would happen.  I’ve picked peppers from it a couple times and there are  a few more red and green peppers ready.

I began working with worms for composting several years ago.  I really like having a resource that I can turn the garbage into something beneficial.  The worms are quiet ‘pets’ and also do a great job of eliminating my junk mail.  They don’t care for light.  When I pour paper shreds over the beds, that creates a simple ‘lid’ on the tub and the worms glads stay ‘under covers’.  Meanwhile, the paper begins to get worked into the bed along with the garbage and before I know it, they need more paper.  Paper is organic and decomposes like any other garbage, hosting the microbes that feed the worms.

We just kept dumping stuff in; it kept settling and we kept dumping.  We added wet paper, weeds, leaves, scraps, hay and let it settle.  I think there may be some real dirt at the bottom of the bin by now.  The second bin is full of leaves, chipped branches, hay, weeds and more.  One year some fabulous pumpkin vines grew all over the bin.  No pumpkins, but some great photo-ops.

This year, when the potatoes came up from some throw-aways, I really expected that there would be none.  The vines were huge and lush — the sort of thing that hints at all tops and no ‘taters.

They bloomed and this week, they ‘went down’.  I thought maybe before they completed degraded and disappeared, I would check to see if there are any little potatoes.  You can see from the picture, the plant had me fooled.

Simple white potatoes.  I think I will stick a couple back to put into the bin when the weather turns so they can freeze over the winter and maybe do this again.

They are marvelously CLEAN!!

Several years ago, I read about this formula. Gather enough eggshells to fill (without crushing) at quart jar or a gallon jar. Add water to the eggshell contents of the jar and leave for 24 hours. Then, drain the water and pour it onto plants.

This gave the plants an interesting little kick, but I had only used it on containers such as houseplants.

This summer, the neighborhood conversation about the locally sad condition of our watermelon growing efforts told us that our melon plants were crying out for calcium. Without more calcium than they were getting, the baby melons rotted and died a few days after setting on.

There are ways of adding calcium, but the eggshells immediately came to my mind. I had some saved up, so I put about two quarts of eggshell water on the base of the plant. That last, lonely little melon grew to be a fine treat.

Was my eggshell nectar partially responsible. We have no scientific way of knowing, but the melon plant and product improved remarkably after receiving the little calcium draught.

We’ve shared the melon with the grandchild who found it first. With the work of summer done, the vine still flourishes across the grassy area. A volunteer without nearby friends or ability to attract other vermin, the melon vine has grown beautifully, holding out for frost.

I have found that if a drenching with eggshell water is good once for a house plant, it does not follow that the plant will benefit from treatment more than once or twice a year. Too often can set a little mold fungus growing on the top of the plant ‘dirt’.

The majority of the egg shells are crushed and scattered about the garden and flowerbeds. Eventually, they will be worked into the soil to share their calcium content and act as air spacers in the dense, clay soil. A small amount is pulverized and scattered over the nightcrawler beds. There is opinion that the calcium of the eggshells, in crumbs or whole, benefits the nightcrawler fertility. The fine dust makes a good resource for grit in the gullets of the diligent little composters.

Egg shells are indeed at the front of mylist for gardening bits and wisdom.

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