It is always a big experiment around here.
Wanting to add some healthy protein to our chicken’s diet we decided to play around with meal worms. Yes, we are growing meal worms, in plastic totes, in our house.
From what Dadzoo (or farmer Mike) has researched they are really easy to grow. They need some type of medium to craw around in, a food source, a water source and warmth.
We prepared a big plastic tote with wood chips, dog food and some lettuce. We originally wanted to use wheat germ for food and bedding but it is taking awhile to get here so this is what we have for now.
The new wiggly babies seems to like their home and hopefully we will soon see beetles, that will lay eggs, that will turn into meal worms, that will be fed to chickens or left grown into beetles.
It’s the circle of life, y’all.
I’ll let you know how it goes.
Last Fall we staked out the new garden. Previous it had been a big pumpkin patch, but we needed to move it because of squash bug issue and I wanted my new market beds closer to the established garden area. The pumpkins will go in the new, raw area, they are a good plant to break in a new place. We made each bed 30″ wide and 50′ long.
Not wanting to disturb the soil already there and not wanting to churn up weed seeds we are laying six inches of compost right on top of the soil and not mixing it in. Well made compost can be planted directly in, it won’t be too hot. The isles will be planted with mini clover, that will help keep the weeds and dust down and when it is mowed we will rake the clippings right into the garden beds, and as the plants grow we will add mulch and cover crops.
I love this picture, it shows the steaming compost both in the pile and in the wheelbarrow. This shows how well the microbe activity is, good healthy microbes mean good healthy soil. It is also nice on a cool morning to be able to warm up at the pile!