Worm Tea

In this post we are going to cover making a simple worm tea.  This is a simple compost that can be used a few different ways.  Plus you can't over use it.


Here are the items needed:

• Small can.  Coffee or something that size with a lid.
• Unsulphered molasses
• Worm castings
• Air pump with hose and stone.
• Water that has set out for a couple days to let the chlorine evaporate.

To make the worm tea add about 1-2 tablespoons of molasses to the coffee can.  Follow that with about 64 oz of the water.  (I use aquarium water cause it has already been dechlorinated.)  Stir the mixture to dissolve the molasses.  Add about 1/4 cup of worm castings to the water.  Then throw in the airstone and plug in the pump.  If you have it you can also add some fish emulsion, seaweed extract or lemon juice.  Just a tablespoon or two will do.


I cut a notch in the lid for the airhose and put the lid on.  This keeps all the bubbles inside the can.  Let this go for 24 hours or a little longer.  Strain though a tea strainer into a spray bottle or other container.  Put the worm castings in your compost pile or in somewhere in the garden.  Use right away and keep for about 3 days in the fridge.

This can be used a few different ways.  In a dirt garden it can be used as a soil drench, in other words pour in the ground.  You can use it as a foliar spray to feed the plant directly.  Dilute it 1 part tea to 9 parts water and use it to get rid of and prevent spider mites, aphids and other pests. 


In the center of the picture on the leaf those little dots are spider mites.  They look like little red specs but if you watch them closely they move.  You can also see tiny webs.  I plan on using the tea to get rid of these.

Refrigerator pickle recipes

Here are a couple of my refrigerator pickle recipes:

Lazy Jalapeno Pickles

Cucumbers
Jalapenos
Garlic
kosher salt
white vinegar
pickling spice
hot tap water
pint (16 oz) sized mason jars (Ball mason or similar)

1.    Cut cucumbers into chip.
2.    Slice up garlic about 1 large per jar.
3.    Fill with cucumber wedges make it packed.
4.    Put 1/8" slices of jalapeno into jar.  I used 2 large per 3 jars.
6.    Add 1 tsp kosher salt to each jar
7.    Add 1 tsp pickling spice to each jar
8.    Fill each jar 1/2 way with white vinegar.
9.    Fill the rest of the jar to the collar with hot tap water.
10.  Put lid on and put in fridge for a couple weeks at least.

Garlic Dill fridge pickles

Cucumbers
kosher salt
white vinegar
pickling spice
garlic
fresh dill
hot tap water
pint (16 oz) sized mason jars (Ball mason or simular)

1.    Cut cucumbers to 1/4 slices enough to fill the amount of mason jars you want.
2.    Add one and a half cloves of garlic sliced to each jar
3.    Fill with cucumber slices 1/2 way
4.    Add dill, I used alot
5.    Add cucumbers to collar of jar, if not enough use some carrots or cauliflower.
6.    Add 1 tsp kosher salt to each jar
7.    Add 1 pinch pickling spice to each jar
8.    Fill each jar 1/2 way with white vinegar.
9.    Fill the rest of the jar to the collar with hot tap water.
10.  Put lid on and put in fridge for a couple weeks at least.

May 2013 Update

This winter/spring has been a cold one.  Some of the bitter cold nights killed off the cucumbers, tomatoes, strawberries, herbs and salad greens.  But before that I had hundreds of cherry tomatoes.  Made many salads from the salad greens.  Had a couple strawberries and even got enough cucumbers to make 3 mason jars of refrigerator pickles.  As of right now only the onions and garlic survived.  Since the weird weather has started to change back to normal I will be starting to replant.  I have some cherry tomatoes and hot peppers in the seed starter right now.

17 gallon wash tub as a planter bed

These 17 gallon wash tubs make a nice planter bed.  For around $18 at Lowes you can't beat it for price and size.  First thing that must be done is some drain holes need to be put in the bottom.


Over these holes I place some weed blocking material.  It will let water pass through and keep the dirt in.  Actually I do this on all my pots.


The next step is obvious, fill with potting mix.  Then plant.  You don't want it sitting directly on the ground so some bricks are placed underneath.  This will keep the critters from getting up into your grow bed.

01-06-2013 Update

Things are growing good in the containers.  The plants were fertilized with Miracle Grow a couple days ago.


Here is the microgreens in front and the mesclun mix in the rear.  The three little planters has one of the microgreens growing in it.


I planted some garlic in a pot as well. Three of them along with three onions.


In the past never once has the garlic grown. All three came up. Will have to relocate the onions out of the pot so the garlic has room.

Seed starting my way

This will demonstrate my process for starting seeds with a Burpee Self Watering Seed Starter and Grodan rockwool cubes.


These are some of the items needed.  1.5" Grodan A-Ok Starter Plugs, pH up and down and a pH meter.  You can use a pH chemical test kit from the pet store instead of the electric one here.


The Burpee Self Watering Seed Starting system is the what we are using for a greenhouse.  It comes with a seed tray and peat moss pellets.  Those will not be used.


First thing we have to do is adjust he pH of the rockwool.  Test your tap water to see what the pH is first.  Use your pH up/down to adjust it.  A word of caution use only a couple drops at a time to adjust the water.  Test each time until the pH is at 5.5.  Then soak the cubes for 30-60 minutes.


Next the cloth mat is soaked in water then placed on the stand in the tray.  I use the same water used to soak the cubes in the tray.


Then the rest is easy.  Set the cubes on the tray and put a seed in the hole.  Place the dome on top of the tray and place it under light.


In 3-4 days you should have seedlings.   At this point the seedlings were hitting the clear dome.  Only 8 out of 12 have come up so far but I expect the others will show up in a couple days.  For some reason some seeds take longer than others.  I will let these sit on the tray until the secondary leaves start and roots are coming out of the rockwool.  Then it is time for the ground.

12-29-2012 Update

Did some more planting and now have 30 flower pots going.  My home faces the south and my backyard is fully shaded.  So this is what the front entrance of my home looks like.


In the top pot is a cherry tomato plant and 6 onions from a set.  The bottom pot is a patio hybrid bought from a Home Depot.  This one came in a biodegradable pot.  You are supposed to be able to plant the pot and everything but I have better luck taking them out of the pot.  The two terracotta pots have sweet onions also bought from Home Depot.  There is also a few pots to fill.


This is the other side of the entryway.  The 17 gallon tub has a bunch of sweet onions in it.


This is a close up of the main cluster of pots.  On the top in the big blue pot is a green bell pepper.  In the small lime green is an onion from the set.  Next to it in the olive green pot is garlic and onions from the set.  On the bottom row right hand side is picklebush cucumbers.  Small blue is an onion, lime green has a cherry tomato.  In the blue is another onion and behind it is dill.  The lime green has orange mint.  The small one below it has another onion then a sweet basil and parsley.


What I have done here will probably be considered sacrilege among the Weber grill enthusiast.  I used two old Weber Smokey Joe grills as planters.  In the top grill/planter is hot oregano, cilantro, and chives.  Strawberries are in the other one.