Enjoy Time OutdoorsIt's a great day to get outdoors…

In less than three short weeks my small worm colony has quickly outgrown their cool-whip container.  Their new home, a spacious 12-quart plastic bin!

The move process was very quick and easy.

After drilling (a lot) of small holes in the lid I lined the bottom with a handful of sand, dumped in the old container of fine smelling worm goodness, added a 1/2-inch layer of shredded paper, added a thin layer of wet coffee grounds and carrot peals from the kitchen food scrap holder, added another layer of shredded paper, and moistened with a bottle sprayer.

Start to finish, including drilling the ventilation holes in the lid, the whole process took around 10 minutes, tops.

Based on the volume that these few worms were able to process in three weeks I should be making vermicompost tea in no time.

If you have been interested in vermicomposting but haven’t taken the plunge yet, take it from me, its well worth it!   The only regret I have is that I didn’t start earlier- I’m sure our plants wished I had, also!

The asparagus I planted earlier this year is doing great but as it grows taller it keeps falling over.  Not only does it look messy, it makes the plant more prone to pests and disease.

To remedy the situation I made a simple wire asparagus holder.

Asparagus bed after a refreshing rain

I made it out of an old underground utility marker flag.

After pulling the plastic flag from the end of the wire, using a pair of wire cutters, I  bent the wire, near the middle, at 90 degrees.  I then carefully bent one half of the wire into a circle.   With the circle complete, I used the wire cutter to form the open end into a hook.

To install the holder, I simply placed it in the ground behind the asparagus, gently picked up all of the cladodes and placed them in the loop and closed it.

Not only does it keep the asparagus off the ground, I think it looks great!

First batch of blueberry jam

I LOVE blueberry jam! For several years I’ve wanted to try making my own but never tried- until now. 

Every year when fresh blueberries are in season I’ll buy ten pounds of fresh Michigan blueberries.  In past years I’ve either eaten them fresh or froze them for the long-cold winter. 

This year is different.  Not only have I dehydrated them to make blueberry raisins, I made my first batch of blueberry jam. 

There are many great resources and recipes out there, but here’s the process I used. 

My recipe only uses two ingredients, blueberries and sugar (no pectin, no additives) 

The recipe- 

approx 4.5lbs of fresh blueberries (processed in a blender until smooth, it nets nine cups.  Its’ really more like a blueberry jelly when finished) 

6-cups pure cane sugar 

Preparation- 

1.) Boil canning jars (my batch netted approx six pints) 

2.) Sterilize lids in hot water (I heard you want them near a boil, but not to actually boil.  Mine were removed from heat when they were just about to start a rolling boil) 

3.) place several large spoons in the freezer to cool (I used three, so I could test and retest without having to wait for the spoon to re-cool)  

note- before I started filling the jars I added the funnel  and jar tongs into the jar pan boiling water- to help ensure they were sterile. 

The process- 

1. ) Sort, wash and blend blueberries until smooth (like a smoothie) 

2.) Combine blueberries and sugar in med/large pan and bring to slow rolling boil, stirring frequently.  Keep boiling and stirring until the mixture thickens and some remains on side of pan when you stop stirring.  I let mine boil for a long time (I’m guessing about 1/2hr to 1hr, but I didn’t time it). 

3.) Test the mixture- scoop a spoonful of mixture and hold over a plate (not over the heat).  Let it cool for a few seconds and turn the spoon vertical.  If the mixture drips off quickly, it’s not ready- if it slowly runs off as a clump, it’s ready. 

4.) Remove jars from hot water and set on towel 

5.) Ladle mixture into jars- leaving 1/2 inch headroom (I tried to fill them to the bottom of the lid threads) 

6.) Wipe top lip of jar and place sterile lid and lid ring (hand tighten) 

7.) Process in a water bath for 15 minutes (starting the timer after the water returns to a boil).  Be sure to have at least 1/2 inch of water above the top of the jars. 

8.) Remove from water and let cool.  The lids should pop on their own as the jars cool. 

9.) After cooled, wipe dry and label jars. 

10.) Enjoy 

11.) Share with friends and family (or not  

If you have any questions or suggestions, please leave a comment.

The compost bin is finally up and running!

I’ve had the addition of a compost bin on my list for some time, but I hadn’t decided where to place it and what to make it from.  I wanted to have a compost bin that was self-contained, wouldn’t dry out to quickly or stay too wet during rainy periods, easy to turn, easy to move (if so desired), relatively inconspicuous, and somewhat attractive (i.e.- not incredibly unattractive to the neighbors), and inexpensive to make. 

I considered the pre-made molded plastic bins, but couldn’t see spending the money.  I opted to use a spare Rubbermaid tote we had lying around.  To make the compost bin, I simply drilled 7/8 inch  holes in the bottom and all four sides, and filled it up.

To get it going I added a weeks worth of veggie scraps, egg shells, coffee grounds and filters, the remnants of my first round of spring cleanup debris, some soil from the best perennial bed we have, some old dried out potting mix (from some old containers), and a little potting mix, and watered well.

I located it in an old neglected bed that was little more than sun-baked clay with a little bit of  hardwood mulch.

After three short days, I was very happy to see that old bed coming back to life.  I moved the bin and discovered a handful of baby worms enjoying themselves in the moist, nutrient rich soil.  To give the bin a quicker start I added my little worm friends to it, with the addition of today’s coffee grounds and veggie scraps.

I have contemplated adding some worm towers to the main beds around the landscape.  After seeing the immediate success under the compost bin I think that decision just got a lot easier.

I’ve got the first round of seeds started for the 2010 container garden.

The first set of seed starts includes several variety of tomatos, sweet and hot peppers, salad green blends, green beans, and zucchini. 

I’ll be planting some ever-bearing strawberries in hanging strawberry planters very soon.

I made the starter pots out of toilet paper rolls.  To make the pots I flattened the rolls, cut them in half, then slit the bottom into quarters.  This allows the pots to be assembled like little open ended boxes.  They are a perfect size for starters.

These little pots are free, easy to store, fun to make, and biodegradable.  When they get wet, they wick up water like a sponge.  Plus, you can write on them with a permanent marker to make them easy to identify.

I like to start them in old clamshell containers from the grocery store.  These little greenhouses make it easy to care for, transport, and water.

When the time comes to transplant, I’ll tear the flaps off the bottom of the pots and plant them in their new home or containers just as they are.

For Valentine’s day, my lovely wife bought me a three pack of mini pots for our kitchen windowsill garden. I didn’t waste any time getting these filled and into the sunlight. These three pots will be the first herbs in the windowsill garden. We’ve decided to start with Oregano, Sage, and Dill. I’ll be adding more herbs to the outdoor container garden I’ll be starting this week.

Material list-
Instead of using rocks, pebbles, or broken pot shards in the bottom of the containers, I prefer to use coffee filters. For these small pots, I fold them in quarters and trim them down to about a six inch diameter. This fits these small containers very well. I find that this works much better at keeping the integrated saucer free from debris.

For the potting mix, I’m using Schultz’s Garden Safe- Natural/ organic potting mix. So far I’m very impressed with the water retention and quality of the mix. Menard’s has this mix on sale this week, with a $1 per bag mail in rebate. I purchased the six bag limit (for the rebate). This will be the primary mix for our veggie and herb containers this season.

The seeds were all old packets I had in my seed bank. The oldest packet being from the 2005 season. They have been stored well, so I don’t expect any problems.

I’ve covered the pots with plastic wrap to create a mini-greenhouse.  This works very well to help raise soil temperature and retain moisture,  I poke holes in the plastic to allow for some airflow and remove the wrap as soon as the seeds spout.

Growing location-
As Springtime draws nearer, our kitchen window is getting better and longer sun exposure. This window faces East-Southeast.

Update on the green onions-
Since the last green onion post, we’ve added some more green onions to the mix. We’ve harvested the onions two or three times. After the second cutting four of the plants have failed. While the five others are still growing back they are much weaker.

A few weeks ago I planted a green onion kitchen scrap root trimming.

Looking at the roots on the green onion and the plantless pot sitting on the window sill, where a spider plant start failed to take,  I figured ‘why not give it a try?’.

Within a few days the center of the green onion started growing like crazy, followed by a new shoot, about a week and a half later.

I’ve since added four more green onion roots to the same pot.  Three of the four have already started growing.

Last night was the first opportunity to use the home-grown green onion.  The flavor and texture of the fresh onion was fantastic!  It was unlike anything I’ve experienced from grocery-bought onions.

The time from plant to plate was a whopping 20 seconds.   The home-made BBQ Chicken flatbread pizzas were awesome! 

I’ve since started a few garlic plants from some nearly dried out garlic clove slivers.  These sprouted after only three days in the pot.  I plan on transplanting these outside come springtime.

This experiment has proven a great success.  Time to check the fridge and see what else we can grow or start on our window sill.

I wonder if a regular onion eye will sprout.  Or maybe a baby carrot…

What do you think?  Is there anything you would recommend trying?

Follow-up to yucca cordage video…

I posted the first in a series of Suburban Bushcrafting videos- Making Yucca Cordage, on YouTube today.

Here’s the link…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OKDqEwr8S8&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00]

update- 20100110- updated post tags



seasoned wood on seasoned log rack

Example of the racks I made-
spisblog_lograck_plans.pdf

To help familiarize myself with the recently installed Inkscape Vector Graphics Program (on my Linux box), I created a simple plan for the log racks I built last fall. This was my first use of this application, so the drawing is not to scale and can use a fair amount of refinement.

From my experience this simply designed, inexpensive to build, log rack can support a lot of weight. As I mentioned in my previous posts I loaded them up with freshly split oak and maple in the fall. I set them on some inexpensive concrete patio pavers so they wouldn’t sink into the muddy ground during the spring thaw and rainy spring. They made it through the hard Midwest winter and very wet spring with ease. A couple of the racks were on a slight slope and were not level when I loaded them. They ended up twisting out of square, but they held together just fine. The ones that were level look as good and true as the day I built them.

The first (proof of concept) rack I made didn’t have the middle support. One of the long 2×4′s broke under the load. There was a knot in the middle of the 2×4 that caused it to fail. I suspected it was going to have problems because the long run was sagging a bit within a month of loading it. I just never got back to install the middle support. I used more care when selecting the boards for the long runs of the other three racks. They all held up fine.

I found that I like these racks better than the metal tube racks. They are wider, more stable, hold more wood, look better and are easier to cover. They fit my needs for a cheap, simple, efficient way to store a surplus of firewood. It got the wood off the ground and helped it season without getting moldy, rotten of full or rodents.

Here’s an interesting book all about  woodburning- “The Woodburner’s Companion” by Dirk Thomas

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