A Note on Helpful Insects vs. Common Pests

   

      There are a few things vital to a healthy garden; sun, soil, food, water, and the environment. The latter element encompasses everything from weather patterns to local fauna. Groundhogs, moles, and other mammals may wreak havoc on a garden yet sometimes the pest is smaller; but destructive nevertheless. 

Slugs are bad news for vegetable gardens, and there are many methods for treating the little gastropods. Apparently the little lushes can't avoid a brew, and beer traps will drown more than a few. If however you would rather not kill them but still keep them at bay, a playground sand perimeter around the garden seems to do the job. Slugs cannot cross rough, sandy terrain, and they will stay out of your garden altogether.

On the other side, spiders are great company in a garden and it's fun to watch them grow as a resident in the world that you planted for them, getting bigger and fatter off the aphids and grasshoppers that would be otherwise chewing on your leaves. Let nature do its thing, a spiderweb moist with dewdrops, shining like diamonds in the morning sun is something everyone should experience.

Worms are wonderful for soil, and finding a big earthworm to add to your bed is always satisfying. Caterpillars will chew on leaves, but butterflies repay the debt by helping pollinate flowers along with moths, bees, and their insect kin. So in your ongoing show of love and appreciation for your fellow beings, think about how insanely cool a praying mantis, honey bee, or arachnid truly is and appreciate the world at our feet, even if we must sometimes keep it out of the garden.

D.I.Y. Composting With Worms

   The concept of using compost to improve your soil's nutritional integrity is, pardon the phrase; old as dirt. My grandfather used to keep a traditional compost pile in the backyard, enclosed in a stacked u-shape of cinder blocks. Maybe once a week my grandmother would add food scraps such as egg shells and watermelon rinds to the pile, that would be tossed along with grass clippings and leaves, to eventually be added to crops.

   My grandparents' house sits on 3/4 of an acre, so I have very fond memories of farm-living as a child. Picking strawberries, digging potatoes, and eating grapes fresh off the vine, they also harvested corn, tomatoes, green peppers, green beans, lettuce, pumpkins, and several other fruits, vegetables, and legumes. Their way of composting worked for them, because of the size of their land and the plethora of crops that the compost could be used for.

    However, due to the aroma and the space requirements associated with traditional compost piles, not everyone is able to go the traditional route. Some gardeners don't need acres of land, but would simply like to make compost to add to their tomato plants and herbs grown outside their apartment window. If this sounds like you, vermiculture, or 'worm composting' is the answer . The benefits of using worms to eat your decaying food scraps are many:

• It's inexpensive
• It doesn't take up much space
• It's basically odorless
• It's easy
• It doesn't harm the worms
• Your plants will love it!

   There is a particular species of worm, called Red Wigglers or Eisenia fetida, that are best to use in vermiculture. You can buy these little guys from a variety of online distributors such as Uncle Jim's Worm Farm, or go the more sustainable route and collect them yourself. Having bought worms from a worm farm once, my experience was that the worms ship quickly, and more importantly safely, so that they arrive alive and healthy. They will be thirsty after their "long, strange trip", so make sure to give them something to drink!

    When you are ready to begin composting there are a few supplies you should have so that your bins will be ready by the time your worms arrive:

• 2- 20 gallon plastic tubs
• 1- 10 gallon plastic tub
• 1 bag of gravel
• 1 roll of mesh weed cloth
• newspaper
• scissors
• 1 empty bucket
• 1 bag of topsoil or potting soil
• electric drill/drill bit (13/64-15/64)
• 4 bricks
• kitchen composting pail ($30 at Bed Bath & Beyond)

   I've found that for a family of two, 2 lbs (or roughly 2000 worms) are needed, one pound per bin, so by that math you should expect to have one bin and one lb of worms per person. We put kitchen scraps in our kitchen composter and empty it into a third, smaller bin that acts as a holding tank until the worms are ready to get fed. The worst smell you will encounter with this method is when you empty the holding tank into the worm bins, but luckily you don't need to do that too often and it's only for a minute. If you happen to eat animals and animal by-products, I would strongly urge you to not compost the food scraps, as it will create more odor and attract unwanted visitors.

   Now the first thing you will need to do is drill plenty of holes on the top, bottom, and, along the top 3-4" of the sides. It is important to have a tight-fitting lid and to drill plenty of holes. Don't worry about your worms escaping, with the right habitat in your bins they will begging not to be evicted! Once the holes are drilled with 3/32 - 7/64" drill-bits, it's time to put gravel in the bottom, about 4" worth. I like to use smaller pebbles but you can you whatever you like, as this is primarily just for drainage purposes.

   You'll then want to cut a piece of weed cloth to fit inside each bin. This improves drainage and also acts as a buffer between your rocks and the bin contents. Your next layer will be top soil or potting soil, and you'll want to add a good amount for the worms to burrow into, approximately 6-8". The next step is to add shredded newspaper or some other type of bedding to your worm houses. I uses a paper shredder, but you can also cut the newspaper up with scissors. Once you have about a small wastebasket's worth of bedding, put it in a bucket with water. You'll want to wring out the newspaper until it feels like a moist sponge, then add it on top of the soil to provide moisture for your worms.

It's a good idea to cover your worms up with another 4" layer of soil or newspaper to tuck them in snugly. Don't feed your worms for at least two days, to allow them to settle in to their new home. Once your bins are all set up, sit them up on bricks to allow for better drainage, and put them somewhere they will not be in direct sunlight for any extended period of time. It's a good idea to keep bedding, soil, or mulch nearby to toss over your newly added food scraps. This will enclose the odor and also deter flies and other wildlife. Happy composting!