Earthworm- Super Hero

It's great to have all the benefits of a worm farm such as nutrient rich castings and tea. It's even better to encourage worms into your garden beds where they can get to work directly improving your soil.

Think of the humble earthworm as the main super hero in your gardens soils life.
They offer many heroic services including: greatly increasing nutrient availability, better drainage, and a more stable soil structure, all of which help improve plant health and productivity.

·  Improved nutrient availability
Worms feed on plant debris (dead roots, leaves, grasses, manure) and soil. Their casts are many times richer in available nutrients than the soil around them. Nitrogen in the casts is readily available to plants. Worm bodies decompose rapidly, further contributing to the nitrogen content of soil.

Worm casts release four times more phosphorus than does surface soil. They often leave their nutrient-rich casts in their tunnels, providing a favourable environment for plant root growth. The tunnels also allow roots to penetrate deeper into the soil, where they can reach extra moisture and nutrients. Their  tunnelling can help incorporate surface applied lime and fertiliser into the soil.

·  Improved drainage
The extensive channelling and burrowing by earthworms loosens and aerates the soil and improves soil drainage. Soils with earthworms drain up to 10 times faster than soils without earthworms. 

·  Improved soil structure
Earthworm casts cement soil particles together in water-stable aggregates. These are able to store moisture without dispersing.  Earthworms rebuild topsoil. In favourable conditions they can form a layer 5 mm deep annually.

·  Improved productivity
Research has found earthworms introduced to worm-free perennial pastures produced an initial increase of 70–80% in pasture growth, with a long-term 25% increase, so imagine how much better you’re vegies will be with soil rich in worms.

How to encourage earthworms to multiply in your garden.

·  Increase organic matter
Mulch, mulch, mulch.
    Worms feed on soil and dead or decaying plant material, including straw, leaf litter and dead roots. Animal dung is also an attractive food for many species of earthworms. So keep adding lots of compost, straw leaves and any other organic matter to your beds.

·  Keep soil moist

Earthworms are active when the soil is moist and inactive when soil is dry so keep those babies happy with nice damp soil.


Check out this video of   'The Power of Worms' It covers the benefits of both worm farms and worms in your garden beds.

And be sure to check out this video below on Australia's giant earthworms.

nd a m ore... J ump t o t ext »

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Pruning

Pruning Fruit Trees

The past couple of months I've been out pruning with the 'Growing Abundance' group. We formed the group with the intent of harvesting all that delicious fruit grown in backyards but in the past has gone to waste because the owners have been either unable to harvest it themselves or have had too much fruit for their own use.

We distribute the fruit to anyone who needs it including schools and day care centres. We also keep a portion for our own use and can be found canning, stewing, drying and eating to our hearts content come harvest season.

But right now it's winter so we go back to prune the fruit trees and give them any TLC that's needed.

 I would encourage anyone to either participate as a grower or harvester or to start up a similar group to reap the abundance in your own area.

The Growing Abundance group: http://www.cch.org.au/growing-abundance/

There are many different ways to prune fruit trees. Just ask a dozen different people and you will get a dozen different answers. But remember, fruit trees are forgiving so relax and have a go. The tree will keep growing regardless of how well you do the job.

Basic Pruning:

• Remove broken or diseased branches
• Crossing limbs
• Any branches growing inward to the tree's centre
• Any growing vertically or straight down
• Thin out enough new growth to allow light to filter into the canopy when the tree has leafed out so the fruit can ripen and color properly
• Shorten any branches that are too long to avoid leggy growth

Pruning Methods to Encourage Fruit.

Peaches and nectarines produce fruit on last season’s laterals so when pruning make the cut at a triple bud. Last season’s fruiting laterals should be cut back to the basal leaf buds.

Apricots.  Many professionals don’t prune apricot trees. If you never prune them, growth appears to be slowed down but once you start to prune an apricot tree, you’re then bound to continue pruning because of the vigorous regrowth.

Japanese plums produce flower buds on last season’s laterals and short spurs on older wood. Prune to shorten the older laterals and thin out the spurs.

European plum trees develop permanent spurs on two year old laterals. Prune long laterals to half their length.

Pruning apple trees can be a complex exercise because different varieties have different fruiting habits. Some trees bear mostly on laterals (Jonathan apples) so shorten these by about half their length.

Other apple varieties produce fruit on spurs (Granny Smith). Thin out congested spurs and shorten or remove strong laterals. Keep the shorter laterals for future spur development.

Pear trees are pruned similar to apple trees. Thin out old spur clusters, cut back strong laterals and keep the short ones.

Citrus trees do not need pruning to produce fruit. Prune to shape, clear away dead wood, or to thin out if tree is overburdened with fruit.

Note:  While trees will recover from bad pruning, they may or may not recover from disease so always sterilize your pruning equipment. To sterilize wipe tools with a cloth dampened with a little bleach or metholated spirits.

This article was also seen on The Prairie Homestead blog:

MULCH: It's Your BFF

Today I added a protective layer of straw mulch to the new garden bed. It's now ready for spring planting in 2 or 3 weeks time.

MULCH: Your BFF (best friend forever).

WHY?

It’s the one gardening job that saves you a lot of unnecessary work down the track. Mulch works away at feeding your plants, improving your soil, retaining soil moisture and more, leaving you precious time to lay in your hammock and admire your garden. You do lay in your hammock don't you?

Check out this list of benefits:

·         Inhibits weed growth and germination so way less weeding. The few weeds that do make it through the mulch will be easy to pull out.  Yay!

·         It holds in the soils moisture which means less time watering and less $’s spent on water. Yay!

·         It helps to even out soil temperatures keeping plant roots cooler in summer and warmer in winter lessening stress on your plants. (plants are saying Yay!)

·         It prevents frost heaving when plants are pushed out of the soil due to the expansion and contraction of the soil as it cools and then heats up.

·         It can add valuable nutrition to the soil as it breaks down.    A 24hr buffet.

·         As it breaks down it creates healthy friable soil that retains moisture and drains well. This also means digging becomes much easier. Gotta love that.

·         It can create the right conditions to attract beneficial microorganisms in the soil which in turn helps plants to be strong and healthy. We love buff plants.

*      It prevents valuable top soil from blowing away in the wind, so what happens in the garden bed stays in the garden bed.

EXAMPLES OF MULCHES:

·         GRASS CLIPPINGS: this is cheap and easily obtained but it can become slimy then form a hard matt as it dries so it’s best to add it to your compost and let it decompose a bit before applying it to the garden.

·         WOOD OR BARK CHIPS: They look neat and attractive and don’t blow away. As they slowly break down they add nutrients and condition the soil by adding organic matter. This encourages worms that add even more nutrients and condition soil. (Pine bark is fairly acidic which you may not want)

·         DECAYING LEAVES: these are wonderful for providing added nutrients and smothering weeds. They will also help in attracting worms and conditioning the soil.  (Some leaves such as oak are acidic which can lower your gardens PH)

·         COMPOST: this is a wonderful way to add nutrients and condition the soil. Worms and  beneficial micro organisms absolutely love it. Just be careful that it's well rotted and doesn’t contain fresh manure or it will burn your plants. Weeds thrive in compost so it’s best to cover with a layer of straw or other weed inhibitor.

·         STRAW: Is relatively cheap, adds nutrients as it breaks down, conditions the soil and is excellent at inhibiting weeds. It’s my favorite mulch.

·         HAY: Hay is cheap and has all the same benefits as straw but will most likely contain a lot of grass and weed seeds so lay it down fairly thickly to suppress any weed growth.

·         WEED MAT or LANDSCAPE FABRIC: these suppress weeds well  and allow water to penetrate, but as time goes by soil will eventually accumulate on top of the fabric where weeds can germinate.

·         BLACK PLASTIC: will suppress weeds but water won’t penetrate it. It’s very useful for laying under paths but not great for garden beds.

Video: Back To Eden.

Click above to see a video of a man who describes all the benefits of mulching his farm. His evangelical style is not for everyone but it's worth watching for the sheer beauty of his garden and all the information regarding the benefits of mulch. I also love his belief in the benefits of giving.

For more homesteading posts click here.