Visit to Community Gardens

Yesterday the Blue Moon Gardens' Garden Club did a field trip just down the road to the Ben Wheeler Community Gardens. Our host, head gardener Jim Bundscho, did more than just give us a tour. He gave us programs on the many activities and experiments he has going on there. It was fabulous!

First, we got a demonstration of his vermiculture operation (worm farming). It was a simple set-up: 55-gallon barrels with the top cut out and a drain, with a drain pipe attached, on the bottom. He puts in table scraps (no meat), paper, and thinnings from the garden and the worms turn it into fertilizer - sold on the market as "worm castings". The liquid that drains out the pipe, worm tea, is collected in a bucket and used as a foliar feed.

Here is the contents of the bin. As long as you keep feeding the worms and keep them moist, then continue to grow, multiply, eat and poop. Turning that waste and trash into fertilizer.

These are the workers on this project. Red wigglers.

I encourage you to visit the gardens in Ben Wheeler, TX. I will share more of our visit and what is going on down there in future posts.
For more information about Jim, visit his website at
www.homesteadservices.org