At Coldwater Gardens, the primary fertilizer for both potting soil and foliar feeding (ie. applying liquid fertilizer directly to their leaves) is worm compost. Every stage of this rich, dark matter became part of weekly routines. First, mixing fresh kitchen compost into five-foot heaps of dry hay for the ' hot compost'. Once it's broken down into less recognizable parts, it's added to the worm bins. The worm bins at Coldwater Gardens are primarily four-foot deep cinder block troughs. The gardens are in a stage of experiment and reflect the patchwork of volunteers that revolve through its canvas tents, so there was also a one-foot deep wood planked box. Whatever your container, the worms and their food need to be covered by cardboard. So to the casual observer, a pile of cardboard behind the greenhouse is not a trash pile; rather black gold. Once the worms have eaten through all the compost, they leave behind airy, soft casting which make perfect potting soil for baby plants. Baby plants need more than the nitrogen in the worm casting (essentially just fertilizer), so homemade potting soil is amended with pearlite, vermiculite, and peat moss for water retention and root medium. This farm practices the Permaculture methods which mean a constant cycle of nutrients. Kitchen scraps to worm bins, to potting soil, to new plants, to our belly and around again :)
Mature, and growing plants, can experience benifits of vermiculture as well by brewing 'worm tea.' You literally take a few cups or handfuls of castings in a sock and simmer in bubbling warm water for 24 hours to basically explode colonies of good bacteria and multiply the nutrients. The result is a 5-gallon bucket of liquid organic fertilizer. I volunteered at this farm in Spring so every week was busy turning the compost, mixing new soil to re-pot baby plants into larger containers, and fertilizing plants in the ground. I became familiar with the feeling of worms in my palm, and I grew to love the feeling of light fluffy casting in my bare hands.
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