Worms!

My mind is currently obsessed with gardening, outdoors, earth, nature, etc. So in April, when there still wasn't much for me to do, or chances for me to go outside (still lots of snow!), I decided to make an indoor vermiculture bin. AKA a worm bin!

Basically it's a bin full of bedding and red wriggler worms (NOT everyday earth worms). I put in scraps, and they magically turn it into compost. Ok, so it's not entirely magic, but magic is a much nicer way of describing the process ;)

And of course I took this opportunity to include Ciaran, and explain to him the cycle of composting. I don't think he really cared that much, and got bored of the project pretty quickly, but I think he liked the worms!

So I started with a typical rubbermaid bin. Drilled a bunch of holes in it. I chose not to put drainage holes in the bottom and instead just keep an eye on the moisture level. While I keep my cupboard baby proofed, I don't always remember to keep the latch on and wouldn't want to find Roan playing in compost tea.





Once all the holes were drilled, we shredded a ton of newspaper, then wet it down. You want it to be as wet as a wrung out rag. When you squeeze it, it should be damp, but no moisture dripping. I found that when setting this up, it was much easier to tear the newspaper, and just dunk it in a bowl of water, then wring it out (I started by cutting the newspaper and using a spray bottle to wet it).




I also added in a bunch of peat moss (later, not shown in the pictures). This has really helped.

Then you add your worms! They must be Red Wiggler worms, not the earthworms from your backyard. They can easily be purchased online, or locally from someone who does worm composting. Or if you're lucky like me, your stepdad is an instructor at an agriculture college in the horticulture department. Their master composter has a ton of worms that she was looking for homes for, and I happily obliged!



And here is where my worms live :) It's been working fantastic. Every few days I put a handful or two of our veggie/fruit scraps. I bury them in a corner of the bin. The next time, I bury them in the next corner. And so on... Burying them helps to keep fruit flies from laying their eggs on the food. And the worms like the dark, so they happily munch away under the cover of the bedding.



And some things I've learned by trial and error. Do not feed rice or bread. They are eating it, but it has gone all moldy. I'm not feeding them for a bit until their finished that stuff. I don't want to just pull it out becaues all the worms are intermingled in the scraps and I don't want to throw them away.

Also I have added more bedding occasionally, and remember to keep it moist! All in all this is working great. The only downside is it doesn't really make a dent in our food scraps (we eat a lot of fruit and veggies). So I've also just finished making an outdoor composter, will be posting about that soon. Oh, and I have to mention, this project did not cost me a dime. We had the bin in the basement, the newspapers we recycled, my mom shared some peat moss with me, and of course, my stepdad gallantly sourced me some free worms. Which makes this project even better!!!

Bringing the outside in

We are so tired of this winter. It was warming up nicely and Ciaran was having fun playing outside in the yard a lot. But then the winter storm came again, and he hasn't been outside in almost a week. He was wailing "Spring is NEVER going to come!". So I decided to bring the outside in to him, with an indoor sandbox! G thinks I'm nuts, but I think a little mess is worth not having Ciaran burn his eyeballs out in front of the television. He's been playing with it for over 30min now, and every few minutes saying "Thank you so much for my playset, I LOVE it!!". Awwwww! Thats worth the mess!





So I got a bin from Walmart ($5.67), 3 bags of cornmeal ($4.50), added a half bag of lentils I had in the cupboard, some scoops and spoons and assorted stuff, and for about $10 he has a great activity. He's even added his dinosaurs and is having so much fun! When he's done (when Roan wakes from his nap, he's still a bit young and I don't have that much time to clean it all up), we'll snap the lid back on and its ready for next time!

Srpouts - the final result!

So I should totally know better than to try and commit to posting everyday. Its not going to happen. But I did continue to take pictures, and growing our own sprouts was a huge success. Within a day or two, we could see all the little sprouts sprouting. We rinsed every morning and every night, and otherwise totally forgot about them. And in a week, we had a ton of sprouts! They were so green, and fresh and crunchy! We celebrated with a tuna sandwich, and were in heaven :)




I will be making more, and even bought a 'starter kit' that includes two screens (the nylon worked, but was a little dense and made rinsing a little harder then it needed to be, I'm all about 'easy') and lots of seeds. And I got a package of mixed seeds that I will also be trying. YUM!!!

Sprouts - Day 2

So we woke with great excitement about our sprouts. At first, the yucky water wasn't that pleasing



We covered the top with a nylon and drained and rinsed the sprouts






Even at this stage, we could see the tiniest of beginnings of what soon will be our alfalfa sprouts.
Then we tipped the jar over a tea towel, and let it continue to drain for the day. We repeated these steps again before bed, and again the tiny bits of sprouts were popping out all over!



This morning, again we were excited to see what was happening. And wow! Sprouts are sprouting! Enough I even tried to get a picture




So we'll keep rinsing and draining, and I'll post pics of the progress, and in the not too distant future I'll post pics of the delicious sandwich we'll be enjoying for lunch, with our yummy sprouts!!

Sprouts

Ciaran and I are making our own sprouts! I'm really exciting about spring this year and can't wait to get into the garden. But we're still a ways off, so in the meantime I thought making our own sprouts would be fun for Ciaran and get him interested for the impending growing season. Apparently its super easy. I've done my research (hah, google and youtube). And now I'm going to do a little day by day, step by step, recap.

Starting with tonight, Day 1.

We needed some seeds (from our local greenhouse), a tablespoon and a jar.


Then we poured about 1.5 - 2 Tb of seeds into the jar (Ciaran did it, so its a little off measure, but thats the fun part!)





Then we put about 1.5c of cold water in the jar





We scooped out the few that stayed floating on the top (read a tip that these could be 'yucky' or even have bug eggs in them).

And thats it! Tomorrow morning when we get up, we'll rinse and drain them.

More pics to come tomorrow!

Wearable car seat blanket/poncho

Yes, I've used the word 'poncho'. Mental images of unflattering moo-moos abound. Bad plastic rain gear. But wait! There is a method behind my madness...

Winter is here. Yes its late, and the weather is still mild, but its here. And I know that means that any day now we could be hit with -30 weather. Which has some less than obvious inconveniences. Did you know that it is unsafe and unrecommended for a child to wear a coat in their carseat? The bulk of a coat can interfere with the performance of the safety straps. So when you are hit with the chill of a Canadian winter, that leaves you in a bit of a dilemma. What to do? We don't have the luxury of an attached garage. We must leave the warmth of our home, brave the wind and cold to the car, open the door, buckle the boys in and then finally close the door. This may only take a few minutes, but that's a very cold few minutes. And add to this that apparently we should take off their coat before buckeling them in? And then when we get where we're going, we're supposed to open the door, unbuckle them, then put their coats back on? Plus while driving, even with the heat on, often its chilly in the car. Ciaran is now big enough to cuddle under a blanket, but Roan kicks them off.

So I started thinking. And planning. And googling. And here is my solution! A wearable carseat blanket/poncho!

Basically its a poncho that fits over the lighter coat that Roan is wearing now in our autumn tempatures. Its two layers of soft soft soft fleece, sooo cozy and super warm. When I sit Roan in his carseat, the back of the poncho lays over the top of his car seat, and his straps are easily buckled under the front of the poncho. Then he's toasty and safe. And if he starts to overheat in the car, its easy to slip off. Its long enough that on the short trip from the door to the car and the car to the door, he's perfectly covered and warm even on what will soon be the coldest days of the year.

I'm really happy with this one. I might have to add some snaps or something for armholes as Roan doesn't like his hands getting lost under the folds of the fabric, but thats an easy fix. And of course now its too warm outside for me to actually test it, but here are some inside action shots. Forgive Roans grumpy look, he thought we were playing peek-a-boo and wasn't pleased when I wanted him to sit still for a few pictures lol!

A little bit of this and that...

So I have finished a few different items lately. I haven't however found time to post about them. Until now, ha!

I'll start with my jewellery mirror. I have just a few things, and I almost never wear jewellery, but half the reason is probably because its all tucked away in a box and I never remember I have anything. Well no longer! I took this cheapo Ikea mirror, added some hooks for necklaces and bracelets, plus some ribbons for my earrings (I have all studs, so needed something for them to go through) and voila. I like it, except for the ribbon. I don't have much in the way of ribbon, but as soon as I find something prettier, I'll switch it out. Now we just have to finish organizing our bedroom so I can figure out where this will be hung so I can get it off my craft desk!

Then I also made another shopping bag and a matching zipper pouch. This has a home it will be going to shortly. I found adding the zipper much easier this time. Practice makes, well, better!

Then as I'm sure everyone is well aware of, Christmas is coming! So I made a fun little toy for Ciaran's stocking. Its an I Spy Bag. As you can see, its a bag with a window, filled with beads and miscellaneous little trinkets. You squish the beads around trying to find all the trinkets inside. I managed to find this Thomas fabric that I'm sure he'll love, and hopefully he'll have as much fun with the bag as I do!

Here is a pic of all the items inside the bag. This picture will be printed and laminated and attatched to the loop so Ciaran will know what to look for.

I will be making another one for Ciarans little friend too :)