In Which I Daydream About Worm Poo

Is it super-strange that I dreamily think about this suped-up worm compost palace-slash-factory for my birthday wish list? Note the spout at the bottom. That is a pipeline to compost tea, my friends.

The value of worm castings has hit the front of my brain - since I started feeding my houseplants with TerraCycle liquified worm poop. More gold than gross, my plants are totally the better for it. It also seems that the worm casting products go unnoticed by the three snouts of our hound-y, scent-driven doggies. Chalk another one up for this form of organic fertilizer.

More soon on vermiculture and the worm compost quest. A terrific winter gardening project.

Garden Questions Answered :: Feed Your Plants

Hello there,

I am from Richmond and I came across your blog. I am allergic to chemical fertilizers. I was wondering if you know of any great organic fertilizers. Thank you so much!

J. C.
Richmond, Virginia

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Hi J. C.,

Absolutely!

1. Merrill's Compost Tea (my new favorite - made from poultry manure)
2. Plant-tone
3. Neptune's Harvest Organic Fertilizer (made with fish, sea weed and/or sea kelp)

But I should warn you, if you have cats or dogs - #s 2 and 3 can make them go beserk-er and rifle through the soil and uproot your plants. The smell of dead stuff (Plant-tone contains things like crab meat and, um, dried blood) causes our little woofers to dig and dig and dig until they have found the source of the smell. I learned that the hard way.

I just finished reading Helen Nearing's Loving and Leaving the Good Life, after totally loving the book she co-authored with her husband about homesteading, The Good Life. Helen and Scott Nearing's amazing Maine gardens were fed heavily with sea weed. Neptune's Harvest has it right.

You can order the compost tea directly from Merrill's. You just throw the tea bag into a gallon of water, let it steep for about 10 minutes and then feed your plants! They will gulp it down happily.

Very best . . . Tracey

Cover Crops: The Hub-Bub

I don't know about you, but the vagueness of the term cover crop just confused me more than absolutely necessary. As did green manure. But I don't see things changing on the re-definition or re-naming front.

What I do know is that these plantings are valuable to the soil on so many different levels. So, we'll just need to work with what we have.

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For the most accurate and accessible definitions, I turned to the experts. In this case, Johnny's Selected Seeds.

A cover crop is a "crop grown to cover the soil and prevent erosion."

A green manure "replenishes organic matter. Nutrients are released in the topsoil as the green manure decomposes."

A smother crop "is used in new ground or in weed-infested soil to out compete the weeds."

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For heavy, poorly-drained soil - try soybeans, sunflowers or white clover.

For compacted soil - try buckwheat, clovers, alfalfa or any clover.

Weedy areas can be conquered with red clover, soybeans, sunflowers, buckwheat or hairy vetch.

If your soil lacks nitrogen - try legumes, chickling vetch, winter rye, hairy vetch.

Oats are a general great green manure.

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Cover crops by season (when to sow . . . ):

• Spring - oats, spring wheat, chickling vetch, red clover, sweet clover, ryegrass
• Spring/Summer - hairy vetch, red clover, sweet clover, summer alfalfa, buckwheat, soybeans, sunflowers
• Late summer - crimson clover, purple tansy, ryegrass
• Fall - red clover, ryegrass, winter rye

I am testing out two crops this year - buckwheat and red clover . . . and am starting small in those experiments (less heartbreak; less frustration). For many of these crops, incorporating them back into the soil is a big component for success. I need to be able to do that with a simple hoe. Fingers crossed.

Phew. A LOT of ground to cover - so-to-speak. Hope this - at the very least - peaks your interest.

Suppliers of cover crops:
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange
Johnny's Selected Seeds

Worm Poo - in a (Recycled!) Bottle

Recently, I have been hearing more and more about the immense value of worms and their castings in the realm of gardening. Also known as vermiculture, the practice focuses on breaking down compost piles by way of a worm feeding-frenzy.

I feel as if I have a-ways to go with this next endeavor . . . and was delighted to hear about a young company called TerraCycle. Egads - a short cut?! Yes, indeed. And it is righteous.

They are bottling worm poop in, get this, recycled plastic bottles. A bit about them from their website . . .

"It all started in 2001 when two Princeton University students set out to change the way people do business. Inspired by a box of worms, these students had a dream: a company could be financially successful while being ecologically and socially responsible. Co-founders Tom Szaky and Jon Beyer were determined to turn the worm box concept into a real-life, commercially viable process. That summer, they developed prototype equipment and proved their concept was feasible by reprocessing solid waste from dining halls at Princeton University."

They need help collecting soda and water bottles and offer free space for gardening groups on their website. Check it out for further details . . .

Compost Tea vs. Plant-tone Showdown

First of all, I am only a recent fan of houseplants. I was scarred at a young age by the basement of our local Woolworth's - filled with variegated, plastic houseplants that collected dust and faded under the fluorescents.

Made me die little deaths.

My interest was peaked in recent years by an article I read on houseplants that actually clean your air. Lordy, sign me up!

Here's a quick article on plants and the toxins they clean from the air.

And a book I've had on My List for a while . . . "How to Grow Fresh Air: 50 Houseplants That Purify Your Home or Office" by B.C. Wolverton.

I have since bought a snake plant, pothos, peace lilies, spider plants, ferns, English ivy . . . and have learned that simple watering doesn't suffice. Which led me to the showdown - half of my houseplants received a side dressing of Plant-tone - the other half had high-tea with Merrill's Compost Tea.

Plant-tone boasts that it contains "all 15 essential nutrients" - nitrogen, phosphate, potash and others through organic materials - manure, crab meal, bone meal, dried blood (eeek!) and other stinky treats that our dogs go CRAZY over.

VS.

Merrill's Compost Tea is Rodale Certified Organic - compost, sea kelp, plant soluable humates and a mixture of plant essential nutrients. Hmmmm. And a note - "Not for human consumption" - well, I'm glad THAT has been cleared up. (Note: Compost Tea is just that - compost in little tea bags. Very clever. One tea bag per gallon of warm water. Steep for 10-15 minutes.)

I'll be curious to report the results - although I think at this point, the plants will take anything I throw their way . . .