Monster Worms now has a Master Gardener in the family. On Saturday, May 15th, Dave and 29 of his classmates received their Master Gardener Certificates. He had been taking classes and studying since January. 
We are very proud of him. While in class, he was also able to pass on his knowledge of vermiculture and of our red worms. Specifically the red wigglers, European nightcrawlers and African nightcrawlers. All great composting and fishing worms.
Posts Tagged ‘compost’
Master Gardeners, Red Wiggler Worms and Monster Worms
Tuesday, May 18th, 2010Happy Mother’s Day from Monster Worms!
Sunday, May 9th, 2010
We enjoyed Mother’s Day one day early because I had to be out of town on May 9th. I woke up to find two cute, excited girls, a wonderful breakfast and presents. My favorite present was a T-shirt that they drew on for the occasion. Each girl drew on one side and put on things that were special to them. In the evening, we went to a Mother, Daughter dance and I wore that shirt. I received a lot of compliments about it.
After breakfast, we went outside and did one of my favorite things…..worked in the garden. We normally start our garden earlier, but we were a little behind this year. In the past, I used to rototill the garden, but I feel that this is not good for the soil. What I do now is I dig out a trench where I want to plant. I then put in compost from our Dual Drum compost tumbler or from our homemade compost bin. This not only provides nutrients for the roots but needed 
air too because the soil is not compacted. We then put some of the soil that we dug out on top of the compost and plant our seeds or plants. Everything in our garden is from seed except for the tomato plants.
The girls helped me with all of this. They love to put seeds in the ground and watch them grow. We all enjoy eating the vegetables that come out of our garden. I had a wonderful day with my girls. What did you do for Mother’s Day?
Having Fun With Compost
Saturday, April 17th, 2010At Monster Worms, not only do we enjoy vermiculture, but we enjoy hot composting too. Ever since our daughters could walk, they have been involved with all of our projects. They know that spent flowers and leaves can turn into “dirt” because they have seen it happen first hand. I remember one time when my oldest daughter, who was about four at the time, talked to a wilting flower in a vase and said, “It’s okay, you’ll go into the compost and make more flowers.”
The other day the girls and I put some of our compost, that I got out of our dual drum compost tumbler, into our brick planter boxes and half wine barrels. We then planted flowers that we bought at a local nursery. Every year we do this. It’s like a tradition. The girls get to pick out which flowers that they want to plant. When they were younger, I had to dig the holes and help them plant. Now, they can do it on their own. They love it and they enjoy seeing the fruits of their labor.
Red Worms in the White House?
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010I recently read an article about First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign which was designed to help parents deal with and eliminate childhood obesity. In this article she talked about the organic garden she set up on the White House lawn and how important fresh fruits and vegetables are in our diets.
Back in August, actually on President Obama’s birthday, I happened to be in Washington, DC and I had the opportunity to visit the White House. (I didn’t get past the black wrought iron fence though. 
) I walked all the way around the grounds and I got a glimpse of this organic garden.
All of this got me to thinkin’ though, do they do any composting? If the garden is organic, what do they use for fertilizer? And what about all of their food scraps? Do you think that they throw them out?
I have a couple of great ideas for them…..they could buy a bunch of our Dual Drum or Original Compost tumblers and compost all of the garden waste, shrub prunings, grass clippings and fallen leaves. Then inside they could put a whole row of our Gusanito worm farm bins next to the bowling alley. All of their food scraps could be put in them for the red worms to eat.
If they did this, they would have all the organic compost and worms castings that they would need for their garden. They would also be diverting a bunch of “garbage” from going into a landfill.
So what do you think First Lady Obama? Red worms in the White House?
Please Recycle Your Christmas Tree
Saturday, January 16th, 2010If you still have your Christmas tree, are you wondering what to do with it? Recycle it!
Every year we buy a live Christmas tree to put into our house. We all love to decorate and look at it. It also smells so nice. But what do you do with it when the holidays are over?
Unfortunately, many people put their used trees in the trash or burn them. This just adds to the stuff piling up at our landfills or adds to the air pollution. Many communities now offer tree recycling and provide drop off locations. They take these trees, grind them up and then compost them. Perfect! Also, the Boy Scouts of America offer to pick up trees right at your curb in many communities. All they ask for is a small donation. Most of these options are now not available due to the time of year, but there is always next year.
So, if you still have your tree, what do you do? Compost it. We cut up our tree and put it into either our homemade compost bin or our dual drum compost tumbler. The branches take a little while to break down, but they eventually do. It will all one day turn into nutrient-rich compost that you can put back into the earth.
The Adventures of the Monster Worms Family…..Part 2
Monday, November 9th, 2009
Our next stop was Sea World in San Diego, CA. Even though it was windy and a little cold, we had a blast! We saw a few shows, one of which featured sea lions. We learned that seals, sea lions and walruses are called pinnipeds (from Latin pinna, wing or fin, and ped-, foot) or fin-footed mammals.
The next show that we saw featured the great Killer Whale, Shamu! We enjoyed watching the whales leap out of the water and make huge splashes. The people sitting in the splash zone got really wet, especially when the whales used their flippers and tails to splash them!
Throughout the park they have many exhibits. We saw seals, sea lions, walruses, beluga whales, Commerson’s dolphins, manatees, killer whales, polar bears, sharks, flamingos and fresh and salt water aquariums. 
While we were looking at the dolphins we noticed a sign that read “Access to Child Swap Area”. We told the kids that that was the area where parents swap their children when they are misbehaving. 
….Just kidding! (The color of the photo looks blue/green because of the reflection from the dolphin tank)
We also went into their “Garden of Discovery”. Guess what we saw???
We saw an earthworm viewing window and a vermicomposting setup. They also had an active and passive composting exhibit. We were very disappointed though because the vermicomposting and composting exhibits were not maintained. I plan to make a phone call to see if they need our help.
Turning and Restarting a Compost Pile
Monday, October 5th, 2009
A few weeks ago I decided to harvest some of our “black gold” from our homemade compost bin. This bin is made out of wire fencing material and two pieces of 2 x 4. For instructions on how to make it go to: How to Make a Compost Bin.
I have this sitting in our garden area and I just move the bin to a spot right next to where it was. That way I don’t have far to go to put back in the unfinished compost. Once I have relocated the bin, I start to restock it with materials that I want to turn into compost. These materials consist of brown leaves and dead plants, yard trimmings and spent garden crops and soil from the garden.
The first thing that I do is remove the layer of uncomposted material from the top of the old pile and put it in the empty bin. Then I start layering my brown and green materials. I put in a few inches of each and top it off with a few shovelfuls of dirt. Then I add enough water so that it is damp even at the bottom of the pile. I continue this layering until I reach the top of the bin or I run out of materials to put in.
With this type of compost bin, there will always be a 3-4 inch layer of “wall” and “ceiling” that will remain uncomposted. Just remove this layer from the old pile and put it into the new bin. Underneath this layer is where all of the beautiful, nutrient rich compost will be. You’ll be amazed…..what was once leaves and old flowers is now black compost! You can apply this to your garden, plants, or lawn. Free organic fertilizer!
“Black Gold” means Green Grass update
Thursday, August 13th, 2009
Look at what the Monster Worms family saw when they arrived home from their vacation!! Look at that beautiful green lawn! It looks so much healthier than the grass next to it that did not have the compost put on it. The fertilized lawn is lush and green and about 2″ taller than the unfertilized lawn.
Black gold really does make the grass green. You can clearly see the dividing line between the two areas. Putting compost on your lawn is the best thing for it. It slowly feeds the grass and helps to retain moisture.
We also use a human powered push lawn mower. This leaves the blades of grass on the lawn to slowly decompose and feed the lawn. Contrary to popular belief, this does not contribute to thatch build up.
Green Business Certificate update
Wednesday, July 29th, 2009Robin Bedell-Waite, Program Manager for the Contra Costa County – Green Business Program, brought our framed 
Green Business Certificate to us today so that we can proudly display it. She enjoyed seeing our red wiggler composting worms working away at transforming food wastes into nutrient rich castings.
She also saw first hand the difference in the lawn where we applied our 
compost a few weeks ago. Already, the lawn is noticeably greener and healthier looking.
Dave took her into the garden and she felt the same way that I do each time I walk in there. She said, “It’s like you are in your own little world.” The feeling comes from the big green leaves of our plants and the height of everything. Cucumbers, 
pole beans, tomatoes, corn, sunflowers and morning glories tower over you and you get to walk right in the middle of it all. The sunflowers are about 13’ tall!
She seemed impressed with our efforts to conserve, recycle and to use our resources wisely and with our efforts to educate other people about these techniques. For more information about becoming a Green Business or to find one near you, please go to www.greenbiz.ca.gov.
“Black Gold” means Green Grass
Wednesday, July 15th, 2009
At the end of May, I dumped both sides of our Dual Drum compost tumbler. Normally I dump one side at a time, but we’ve been sooooo busy that both sides were nearly finished and needed to be restarted. Once most of materials are composted, it won’t heat up anymore and it takes a lot longer for the new 
materials to decompose. When it reaches this point, I dump it and start all over again.
We use this nutrient rich, “black gold” compost as fertilizer for our garden and lawn. The other day, we felt that our lawn needed a little “umph” so we decided to top 
dress it with the compost. Prior to having children, I would sift this compost until I had nice, fine “dirt”. I don’t have time for that anymore, besides… it was backbreaking. Now we take this compost and dump it directly onto the lawn or garden.
After we dump it, we spread it out with a rake and pick out any of the larger pieces that still need to be composted. These uncomposted pieces are put back into either our homemade bin or our dual drum compost tumbler
We continue to rake this compost until it works its way down to the soil surface. We like to leave about 1/4” of this compost on the surface of the soil. It helps to cut down on weeds, it helps to retain moisture, and it slowly feeds the lawn…..naturally! We prefer to fertilize and garden organically. There is not a better fertilizer to use than
compost from a hot compost system or vermicompost.
