This isn’t something I like to admit, but I’m getting older! Surprised? Not likely, as we all are!
But, I’m also weaker and that I really don’t like, not one bit!
Not only am I weaker because of age, but because of physical limitations brought on by several (7 to be exact) car crashes. Nope, not caused by me, but by those who were negligent, careless or the one who lost his brakes. Whatever the reason, the results are that I don’t have much physical strength or stamina and I have a mild brain injury that affects me physically and mentally.
So, I started gardening for physical therapy, plus it made me go outside for fresh air. All in all it worked well. I no longer have weeds with a few bits of grass sprinkled here and there, I have two perennial gardens, one on either side of my deck.
However last year I noticed my stamina had decreased to the point I didn’t do all I planned to in the gardens, and what I did accomplish was much harder to do.
So I had to rethink how to do it all. Fortunately for me, the deck is a lovely place to spend time, so I split my active gardening to drinking cold beverages and resting, then gardening. And back and forth I went and as it seemed to work well, I’m going to follow the same pattern this year, because I want to grow some veggies to offset the ridiculously high cost of food.
But, last summer I noticed my ‘dirt’ needs amending and with the cost of living going up and up and up, buying manure or triple blessed dirt is far too expensive for the area it needs to cover so I got thinking and……
Ta Da ……. composting right? And I did some of that. When I pulled weeds or dead-headed flowers or cut down spent stems, I dumped them altogether in a pile, hoping they would decompose enough to use this summer. Whew, that was hard and took a long time given my diminished strength. So this winter I wondered how to get composting going quicker and with less work.
Trust me, I researched all the DIY methods of making composting bins. None were such that I could manage, plus filled with composting material it would also be too heavy.
Then, I read about vermicomposting. What the heck is that you may ask? Why it’s worm composting. Ah Ha! I read all I could about it and voila, a new adventure was about to begin. I feed them my scraps, they do the heavy work and I reap the benefits of composting without work.
I knew I would have enough of a food source for the worms as I eat about a 90% plant based diet. The scraps I didn’t eat, would be food for worm composting.
I grabbed a mostly empty tote from the attic, dumped out the stuff, and drilled holes around the top for ventilation. I then gathered up bedding materials for them. I kept my scraps and ordered the worms which came about two days later, and I put them to bed.
I now had a composting system that I could physically handle.
They say, “One man’s garbage is another man’s gold”. Well, why can’t my garbage be my gold?
They call worm castings (or poop) black gold.
Works for me!
Ordinary Me; Extraordinary God 