Castings make a valuable and rich soil enhancement
These red wigglers work round the clock to create rich castings from kitchen scraps. Kathy Morrison
This is another installment in our Food in My Back Yard series, focused on edible gardening.
Want some untiring help in the garden? Get some worms -- red wigglers, to be specific.
Without training and with just a little bit of assistance, they create the richest soil amendment a gardener could hope for. And it's all made from kitchen scraps, fallen fruit, veggies too far gone to eat. It's upcycling at its finest -- and cheapest.
My worm bin just passed its fifth anniversary. That means many generations of worms have contributed to my garden. I wouldn't garden without them now, in fact. But if you need convincing, here are some reasons to tend your own working worms.
1. Great pets. No worm sitter needed. Be sure to feed them before you leave town, and they'll be fine for a few weeks.
2. Don’t have to think of names for them all. “Slimy” works for everyone.
3. They're not that slimy, really, and easy to retrieve if dropped. This sometimes happens during food delivery or the harvest of castings.
4. No-guilt disposal of fallen fruit (though worms won't eat peach pits) and soggy lettuce. Watermelon rind is a huge favorite. (They don't like citrus, onions or cranberries, however.)
5. Cheap compost creation, once you have the bin and the bedding. The latter can be pine shavings from the feed store, dried leaves, or shredded newspaper. (Enough of the last one might be hard to find these days.)
6. Harvesting the castings can be done without dumping out the whole bin. I don't have the room to do that. Instead I don a pair of latex gloves, and feel around in the worm bin for the smoothest contents. I harvest several handfuls of that, then deposit the next collection of food in that area. Add some fresh bedding, some water if needed, and the worms are good to go for another week.
7. As I said, the best soil amendment ever! This time of year I give those handfuls of castings to plants that may be looking wan after a stressful bout of weather. Just spread them on the soil surface and water them in -- magical.
Below is a link to the Sacramento County master gardeners' guide to worm composting. Start a bin now and you'll have plenty of castings for next spring.
https://ucanr.edu/sites/default/files/2015-12/153018.pdf
If you can wait that long, the master gardeners have a worm composting class scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 4, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Cost is $40 and includes worm bin, bedding, education materials and the worms themselves. A deal, really. Sign up or check out the details here; deadline to register is Sept. 22
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Flowers in My Back Yard Series
July 21: Thank Luther Burbank for these long-lasting beauties (Shasta daisies)
July 14: How to keep hydrangeas happy
July 7: Grow these bright cosmos for bees and butterflies
June 30: Agapanthus adds blue fireworks to the garden
June 23: Easy-care gazanias fill those hot corners
June 16: Daylilies are perfect for water-wise gardens (and a lot more)
June 9: Grow coneflowers for pollinators -- and yourself
June 2: Sunflowers capture Sacramento's summer attitude
May 29: Are your roses going 'blind'?
May 26: Zinnias are the summer flowers every garden needs
May 19: Plant dahlias now for late-summer flower power
May 12: Know your coreopsis from your bidens
May 5: Mums the word on Mother's Day weekend
April 28: Majestic Matilija poppy is worth a look
April 21: Celebrate roses, America's favorite flower
April 14: Small flowers with outsized impact
April 7: Calendulas do double duty
April 3: Make Easter lilies last for years to come
March 31: In praise of a pollinator magnet (small-leaf salvias)
March 24: Azaleas brighten shady spots
March 17: The perfect flower for beginners? Try zonal geraniums
March 10: Keep camellias happy for years to come
March 3: Fruit tree blossoms are a fleeting joy
Feb. 27: Are your roses looking rusty?
Feb. 24: Treasure spring daffodils now and for years to come
Feb. 17: How and why to grow wildflowers
Feb. 10: Let's talk Valentine's Day roses
Feb. 3: Why grow flowers?
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Garden checklist for week of July 19
Remember to water early and deeply; your garden depends on you.
* It’s not too late to add a splash of color. Plant petunias, snapdragons, zinnias and marigolds.
* From seed, plant corn, pumpkins, radishes, winter squash and sunflowers.
* Keep your vegetable garden watered, mulched and weeded. Water before 8 a.m. to reduce the chance of fungal infection and to conserve moisture.
* Water, then fertilize vegetables and blooming annuals, perennials and shrubs to give them a boost.
*Fertilizing flowering plants every other week will extend their bloom. Give vegetable plants bone meal or other fertilizers high in phosphate to stimulate more blooms and fruiting.
* Don’t let tomatoes wilt or dry out completely. Give tomatoes a deep watering two to three times a week. Harvest vegetables promptly to encourage plants to produce more. Squash especially tends to grow rapidly in hot weather. Keep an eye on zucchini.
* If your melons and squash aren’t setting fruit, give the bees a hand. With a small, soft paintbrush, gather some pollen from male flowers, then brush it inside the female flowers, which have a tiny swelling at the base of their petals. (That's the embryo melon or squash.) Within days, that little swelling should start growing.
* Pinch back chrysanthemums for bushy plants and more flowers in September.
* Remove spent flowers from roses, daylilies and other bloomers as they finish flowering.
* Pinch off blooms from basil so the plant will grow more leaves. New leaves have the best flavor.
* Cut back lavender after flowering to promote a second bloom.
Contact Us
Send us a gardening question, a post suggestion or information about an upcoming event. sacdigsgardening@gmail.com
Food in My Back Yard (FIMBY) Series
Lessons learned during a year of edible gardening
WINTER
Is edible gardening possible indoors?
Hints for choosing tomato seeds
Why winter is the perfect time to plant fruit trees
When to plant? Consider staggering your transplants
How to squeeze more food into less space
Plant a fruit tree now -- for later
Win the weed war by tackling them in winter
Tips for planting bare-root trees, shrubs and vegetables
Time to give vegetable seedlings some more space
Ways to win the fight against weeds
FALL
Dec. 16: Add asparagus to your edible garden
Dec. 9: Soggy soil and what to do about it
Dec. 2: Plant artichokes now; enjoy for years to come
Nov. 25: It's late November, and your peach tree needs spraying
Nov. 18: What to do with all those fallen leaves?
Nov. 11: Prepare now for colder weather in the edible garden
Nov. 4: Plant a pea patch for you and your garden
Oct. 27: As citrus season begins, advice for backyard growers
Oct. 20: Change is in the autumn air
Oct. 13: We don't talk (enough) about beets
Oct. 6: Fava beans do double duty
Sept. 30: Seeds or transplants for cool-season veggies?
Sept. 23: How to prolong the fall tomato harvest
SUMMER
Sept. 16: Time to shut it down?
Sept. 9: How to get the most out of your pumpkin patch
Sept. 2: Summer-to-fall transition time for evaluation, planning
Aug. 26: To pick or not to pick those tomatoes?
Aug. 19: Put worms to work for you
Aug. 12: Grow food while saving water
Aug. 5: Enhance your food with edible flowers
July 29: Why won't my tomatoes turn red?
July 22: A squash plant has mosaic virus, and it's not pretty
July 15: Does this plant need water?
July 8: Tear out that sad plant or baby it? Midsummer decisions
July 1: How to grow summer salad greens
June 24: Weird stuff that's perfectly normal
SPRING
June 17: Help pollinators help your garden
June 10: Battling early-season tomato pests
June 3: Make your own compost
May 27: Where are the bees when you need them?
May 20: How to help tomatoes thrive on hot days
May 13: Your plants can tell you more than any calendar can
May 6: Maintain soil moisture with mulch for garden success
April 29: What's (already) wrong with my tomato plants?
April 22: Should you stock up on fertilizer? (Yes!)
April 15: Grow culinary herbs in containers
April 8: When to plant summer vegetables
April 1: Don't be fooled by these garden myths
March 25: Fertilizer tips: How to 'feed' your vegetables for healthy growth
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