shabby chic - cottage chic - wormy chic
A while back (OK, years ago) I found some old shutters in someone's trash. With a bit of maneuvering, I fit them in the back of my car and brought them home. I figured they would look so cool used in the yard as a funky object d'art. They sat in the yard for a wee bit. Then they got packed off to the new house, where they sat a wee bit longer. The sewer worker asked me if he could have them, he thought they were stinking cool too. What - the fact that they were leaning up against the fence behind the pool shed gave him the impression I didn't have plans for those vintage shutters?
Drum roll on five gallon buckets, please...
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| The first Shabby Chic Worm Composting Bin in the history of forever! |
Since the Molly Pup just won't leave the compost pile alone, we (read I) decided to try worm composting. It's supposed to be much faster, more efficient and produce wonderful compost and compost tea for the garden. There are lots of videos online to learn how it's done. The what-to-do and what-not-to-do list is longer than you would think, seeing that they are just worms.
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| First you need a big container. Check. |
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| Then you need worms. Check. |
The photos show the correct order that a thinking person would proceed. I switched it and bought the worms before we had properly prepared the old bathtub. They are worms, yet apparently they like things just so. Rather than buying the critters online, I bought them at Green Acres. The nice man there assured me they would be OK for a couple days in the fridge because the cold keeps them dormant. Then why, pray tell, was dirt mysteriously spilling out the top of the dormant worm container?
After creating worm heaven in the old tub, we dumped them in. It looked like a pile of dead worms to me, but Ernst saw a few live ones. He assured me that the live ones would eat the dead ones and all would be just fine. Exactly what I wanted to hear, I froze half the worms and turned the rest into cannibals. Oh, the guilt. I keep checking on them, but I don't know how to tell if they lived. Or if they need anything from me.
If and when we get any good compost from these guys, we'll need a place to grow the monster vegetables promised on the worm.com sites. Raised planter beds would be grand, but...since this yard used to have a giant deck out back, there are about 4,785 old deck pilings scattered around. I had the grand idea to take the deck pilings and snuggle them up against one another. It turned out a bit more shabby and a bit less chic, but it is raised and it is a planter bed.
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| A collection of deck pilings and life jackets. It can happen. |
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| All snuggled up together and ready for planting. As soon as I get back from the chiropractor. |
While it may look like I position my dog in many of our garden pictures, it is purely her doing. She is very interested in all our garden projects and loves when we spend time in the yard. Just as long as she stays out of the worm bin, things will be just dandy.
