Worms are decomposers with the ability to turn trash into treasure. Though worms are present in most compost piles, creating a wormbin is an excellent way to use these powerful critters to break down organic wastes and make usable compost fairly quickly. The process is called vermicomposting, and it doesn’t have to be a complicated affair, nor does it have to cost a lot. Whether you use a wormbin or compost pile to recycle kitchen and yard waste, worms can help.
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How to harden off seedlings
The first year I started my own seeds indoors, I planted around ten flats of annual flowers and vegetables, growing them on top of my mother’s dining room table (sorry mom!). I was sixteen years old and a fairly novice gardener. When the April showers finally cleared and the bright spring sun came out, I had the brilliant idea of taking those plants – whose only light source had been a modest west-facing window – and moving them outdoors to give them a dose of early May sunshine. Oops! Within an hour, every single plant was fried and I had no idea what I had done wrong. I obviously needed a lesson in how to harden off seedlings.
Good carrots gone wrong
It’s a common tale. A bed of carrots is seeded, they sprout and start to grow, and a harvest of crisp roots beckons in a few short months. Yet, when it comes time to dig the crop, it’s discovered that some of the carrots have forked, developing multiple roots. The multi-rooted carrots may look a little funny and are harder to clean, but forking doesn’t affect the flavour. So, what causes carrots to fork?
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Attracting more bees and pollinators: 6 ways to help our native insects
The worth of pollinators is undeniable. Each year, more than $20 billion dollars of food crops come to fruition across North America because of creatures far smaller than the coin in your pocket. That’s a lot of weight on those tiny shoulders. And unless you’ve been sleeping under a rock, you know about the troubles facing European honeybee populations. So, with European honeybee numbers at risk and pollination rates dropping, attracting more bees and pollinators is more important than ever. But, what’s a gardener to do? Well, helping native bees is a good place to start.
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Forcing forsythia and other spring-flowering branches
Every year, around late winter or early spring, there comes a point where I’m longing for flowers and greenery to break up the greyness outside. Forcing forsythia branches is one of my easy to-dos. I simply select a few branches brimming with buds, and in a few days, flowers appear. This technique allows me to bring a little bit of spring indoors to enjoy on my mantle or dining room table.
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Invest in a beetle bank
One of the most important – and yet often overlooked – facets of gardening is its ability to increase backyard biodiversity. And not just within the plant kingdom. When a garden is composed of a wide range of plant material, the animal kingdom also benefits. Especially insects. Most gardeners know that having a diversity of good bugs in the garden means better pollination and fewer pests. While there are thousands of species of beneficial insects in North America, one of the best bugs for your garden is the ground beetle.
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