CANADIAN REGION: What are you doing in March 2016?

Keep your eyes and mind firmly in the future. Tomorrow is another day, my mom used to say! True....lol

Hi KJ, Hope today is better! Sounds like you had too full of a day.

Scorpio and sanderson: I am back to my usual self after a good night's sleep, thank you. I woke up feeling so good.

I still took it easy today with a nice walk in the sunshine with Jazz, and I hope to get some gardening done tomorrow if the rains hold off. If it rains I have the ability to do some work under the car porch; no car so lots of room.  I can mix some potting soil and fill the two 72 hole trays I have, ready to put in some seeds. Whatever gets done means there is less to do and I will be ready to get out in the dirt. Sorry, Soil Web.

Although our weather forecast has lots of cloud and some spots of rain, I find there is often windows of sunshine to make us of.

That is the beauty of being a retiree, one can take advantage of these openings.

KJ ... Just wondering if you are OK. Did you get the high winds that other parts of British Columbia and Alberta received?

Thanks for asking. TD.  Still feeling a bit tired and the rainy weather does get me a bit down, but today the sun is shining  and I have already sorted out a pound of worms from my worm bin as I am going with a friend to Seedy Saturday at the next town to us.  She is only borrowing the worms for her display and promised to give every one back as she know that they are dear to me and all have a name. Meanwhile I will remake their home and give them a welcome back late Saturday or Sunday.

I missed all the windstorms that happened on Vancouver Island and the Mainland.
All that is about 350 miles away from me on the coast and we just had a rainy couple of days with a few breaks of sun.

We are lucky here in the Interior as we are sheltered by the mountains.  We have had a few windstorms over the years but not like they have on the coast. 

I am looking forward to tomorrow and being able to talk to people on the same wavelength.

I had a great day the the Seedy Saturday with my friend.  We left at 8am then traveled to the next town in good time and set up all our stuff.  A bit hard going as it was pouring with rain and we had several heavy worm bins and notice board plus containers of different worm bedding materials. All these had to be carried down a flight of stair as the hall was halfway sunk in the ground.

Anyway we managed to get set up in time with about ten minutes to spare so we were able to relax with a cup of tea.

The hall was soon filled with people.  Trail is a larger community than ours so it was a little overwhelming for me.  The noise was a trial as I like peace and quiet  but if we had that then it would mean there would not be many people around.

I don't think I have talked to so many people for a long time  the four hours we were there. In front of me was a worm bin with castings into which I had put my pound of worms, plus a package of latex gloves on the side, the idea being that interested people and children could dig around the bin and find the worms. Until I stood there with my latex glove on and offered to dig for them, then they were happy to watch and talk about it. It was great interacting with the kids, especially the ones who had got a sample of seedling soil from the Trail Queen and Princesses.  So I gave each child two worms and told them that when they got home, to put the soil and worms in a larger container and add a little food, cue Betty to tell what food to put in etc.  She is the expert and has done it for 25 years so she knows how to handle kids, though I thought I did quite well especially as I was enjoying myself.

I was surprised how many questions I was able to answer on my own, and only occasionally passing someone on to Betty. We also talked compost and asked questions of people themselves and I do believe that our way of gardening is catching on with the people.

We had nothing to sell so I put a little notice on the table saying that we had nothing to sell but would love to chat and have them ask questions. I have several emails on my list, inquiries for worms and castings; Betty had lots more as she is well-known. I was even asked to give a presentation at the library until I told them that I wasn't the one that was wanted.  As I said, Betty is well known and loves presentations.  Me, I would freeze. 

We packed up after four hours and we were both exhausted as it was an intensive session. Luckily there were some helpful men around who helped carry out stuff up the stairs and we were soon packed and on the way home.

Still pouring with rain as we drove home.  I was thinking of asking Betty if I could join her on the next time she went, and she beat me to it by asking if I would join her the next time. So we have two happy people.

The only downside is that my poor worms were traumatized by being taken from their home, driven half an hours drive away, put into a load of some other worms' poop, driven back to be sorted out tomorrow and returned to their refurbished quarters.  In between, being dragged around their temporary home to be displayed, as you all know, worms burrow down out of the light, and some of them were given away to little kids who were carrying samples of seedling soil. I cannot but think that I am condemning my little worms to a life of poverty.  

As this was the first time I had ever done anything like this that are a few things I will carry with me next. Cards with my name and email etc. like cheap business card.
I noticed that when Betty gave out her cards she actually her home business card; just another way to advertised something else she does, and she had a notebook into which she put down lots of information. 

I think that is enough for now; seems like I have written book. I have put my clocks forward an hour, now off to bed.  'night all.

It sounds like you had a wonderful day! Sleep tight.

Yes, sanderson, I had a wonderful day and last night I slept very well and feel good and not as tired as I thought I would be.  I am now ready to harvest my worms from the castings and put them back in their proper home.

Wow, Kelegan , sounds like a great time was had by all, except your pampered worms! Lol!

KJ ... Thanks for sharing with us your adventure into Seedy Saturday. Sounds like you had a great time. I am sure everyone who talked to you came away excited and full of new ideas. Well done.

Well, so it starts I guess.  As I said in a previous post, I think I am going to throw my original plans into the compost pile and make this a learning year. 

Here I have put my pipes in place to cover the plants.  Nothing is in yet, so I am just keeping the plastic on the ground to help keep the soil warm.  Although the temps are now starting to (after Monday night supposedly) stay at or just above freezing without any big minus temps I am going to attempt some direct sowing and at the same time start the seeds indoors.  I will learn what I can do in this climate and when.  Probably next weekend, I will try to move those little spinach I showed to the garden.  I was going  to plant all the peas at the same time, but I think I will just stagger them to learn.  That may mean I do not get all the beans I want this summer, but that is the price of progress. 

This is my 3rd year for doing this type of gardening as I said, but my first with the actual knowledge of the book.  I have not used a grid before, but I just put I temporary one in place as I am informed that I am not SFGing without one so I gotta keep within the rules. I would hate to be ousted in my first year.



yes in the background is my other 4x4.  It is in a bad way.  I have to replace it this year. And the plastic is just what I had laying around.  I will make it better and neater.  I hope.

And this is my lonely cabbage, just waiting to find a new home.  Ignore the container.  It is what I had on hand when I was excited to start it. 



Aaaaand, 20/24 of my garlic is up.  Waiting for the others to come along.  I would dig around to find them, but those were not done in a SFG kinda way . Next  year.  I promise.

KJ, SO glad you had a good time!! Sounds wonderful!

P14Shooter - You're fine! And that cabbage looks a lot bigger/better than mine...! Mine are very leggy...

P14, nice little cabbage there.  It takes a good picture.

P14, you are gonna be fine! I don't have a grid, and they have tolerated me thus far.... And your plants are adorable!

I see in our local paper that the city are now fining people $50 if they feed the wild turkeys.  I did put out some corn in the very cold weather but stopped it when the snow retreated.  I try not to feed wild animals but it is a little hard to ignore them.

I wonder how many they will catch?  Perhaps it is just the threat that they are hoping will be effective?  Quite sure that carrying it out will not be very profitable.

Re: my Seedy Saturday venture with the worms.  My worms have now been sorted from the castings and returned to their Wiggler Hilton, with apologies  from me for disrupting their lives.  They have new bedding, food and moisture and I will leave them in peace for a while. They've earned it.

After that first session I have written to my friend with some suggestions to make things easier. I hope she will not be offended, as she has been doing this for years and years.  I also noted that she did things that I noted and will do the next time we are together.

Meanwhile the rain is still pelting down and have not been able to get out in the garden.  Maybe tomorrow?

P.S, I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow at 1pm so I am going early to the library to get my reserved copy of "Teaming with Nutrients" to read while I am waiting.  For once, I will not mind waiting but what are the odds that I will be shown straight in?

I've been looking into vermicomposting. There are many plans available in the web for DIY worm bins.

What is giving me some hesitation is the cost of the worms. They seem to be selling in my area for around $45 per pound. Since I am a cheapskate that sounds expensive to me. I've read that the worms multiply rapidly. If that is the case, why do they cost so much?

Someone located a few kilometres from me is selling a starter bag for $15 or 2 for $25 approximately 100 worms, bedding, cocoons and vermicompost.  Would that be good to get things going?

We have a sugar bush (sugar shack, maple syrup) located just 6 kilometres from our house. The sap from the maple trees is running. Mrs TD and I may try to get there this week to enjoy their Sugar Bush Breakfast Buffet.  Seeing as this is the school March break, I expect there will be lots of kids enjoying the sugar bush and the animals. BTW, Canada produces about 80% of the world's maple syrup.

Or go buy 25 little red wigglers at Kmart or where ever fishing bait is sold. About $3 here.

sanderson wrote:Or go buy 25 little red wigglers at Kmart or where ever fishing bait is sold.  About $3 here.  

sanderson ... Good idea but what I have seen being sold for bait worms here are usually earthworms and in particular dew worms (night crawlers).

Went to the library and then shopping. Thought I would "take advantage" of not having Mrs TD with me and so I indulged in the purchase of more seeds. It's becoming an addiction. Picked up the following seeds today:

- Bean - Royal Bugandy (Bush)
- Kohlrabi - Early White Vienna
- Pakchoi - Cantong White
- Pepper - Early California Wonder 
- Pepper - Jalapeno Mild
- Pepper - Long Red Cayenne Slim
- Tomato - Roma VF
- Tomato - Super Sweet 100
- Tomato - Big Beef

And for Mrs TD - Pink Pampas Grass! How kind of me.

I see the need for a much bigger vegetable garden in my future.

I also took a look for cedar lumber at Home Depot Canada. I wanted to price it out for my table top SFG bed that I would like to build. They still do not have any in stock.

trolleydriver wrote:I've been looking into vermicomposting. There are many plans available in the web for DIY worm bins.

What is giving me some hesitation is the cost of the worms. They seem to be selling in my area for around $45 per pound. Since I am a cheapskate that sounds expensive to me. I've read that the worms multiply rapidly. If that is the case, why do they cost so much?

Someone located a few kilometres from me is selling a starter bag for $15 or 2 for $25 approximately 100 worms, bedding, cocoons and vermicompost.  Would that be good to get things going?

The starter bag is the best way to go as you will already have the bedding and the worms will not be  too upset. With the 100 worms you  also get some cocoons and tiny worms that would be in the bedding, and with the large worms reaching maturity you will have a continual building of your worm population.

$45 per pound of worms is expensive as it takes quite a bit of effort to harvest them from a small container.  The big guys have sorters that can do the job in minutes.
Until you try harvesting a pound of worms like I did last week, then you realize it is quite hard work separating them  from their home.  TD, I would be happy to send you 100 worms and bedding for nothing, if you would accept them.

KJ ... Many thanks for your kind offer to send me some worms at no cost. The problem would be our wonderful Canada Post and their exorbitant rates. It would depend a lot on the weight and size of the package. I just put in the rate calculator for a 4"x4"x4" - 1/2 lb package and the cost came to around $14.33 for 7 business day delivery (2 day delivery is over $18 and 1 day is over $46). What a rip off. I think logistically it's better for me to go with the local supplier. But many many thanks for the offer.

Thanks for looking up the cost of sending even small stuff via mail.  I keep forgetting the horrendous rates charged.

I thought it would be reasonable seeing as we are both in Canada. :-(

Kelejan wrote:

Until you try harvesting a pound of worms like I did last week, then you realize it is quite hard work separating them  from their home.  TD, I would be happy to send you 100 worms and bedding for nothing, if you would accept them.

KJ ... I understand that the worms are sensitive to light. I wonder if this would work. Take a container with holes in the bottom and put that container on top of another container which has bedding in it. Put a layer of the stuff you want to separate from the worms in the top container. Shine a light on top of the whole thing and maybe the worms will migrate into the bottom container leaving you with the material you want to harvest in the top container. Repeat as necessary.