Firstly, I discovered the very first baby butter bean hiding underneath the leaves!!

It’s so small and cute (*v*)/

And next, even more exciting, my yabby is giving birth! I have a pair of yabbies, her name is Bluey, and his name is Blacky. Bluey has been pregnant for some time, and yesterday when we went to check on her…

There are like 100, if not more, yabby babies hanging on to her!! They are borned!^0^
(I have to admit that this picture is actually a bit gross hahaha :p)

A few of them are running around freely, but most of them are still clinging onto Bluey, I think for protection. It is actually not the first time Bluey is pregnant, but by far the largest number of babies I’ve seen. Last time, there were only like 10 or so, and they all ended up eaten by Blacky!!! Naughty boy! So this time we moved Bluey and her babies to another container to keep them safe from their evil father!

They are now safe to swim around ^_^

22-10-2009 Update:

Bluey eats the babies too>< I have to take her out as well!!

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My butter bean plants (I have the drawf variety, not the climbing ones) are flowering finally>< I didn't know that their flowers are so pretty, look like little white bells^0^

Green bean plants (also the drawf variety) are growing at a slower rate, but it’s catching up, I can see heaps of flower buds!!! I wonder when I’ll be able to harvest some home grown beans *v*

The sweet bite tomato plant has always grown faster than the roma variety, but finally the very first baby roma tomato appeared!! I’m very excited, it’s so good to see them growing so healthily… grow more… grow more!!!

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Well, I don’t exactly have a garden, instead I have a little front yard, and this is where I work on my gardening projects! Three weeks ago I bought some baby herbs and veggies at the Rozelle Market on impulse, I’ve re-planted them and since then they have grown so much!

The veggie bed is the home of two tomato plants, two species of beans and some mixed species in the capsicum family – that sounds like a lot, but they were all very small when I got them. But after just three weeks, the veggie bed looks so cramped.

Before:

Now:

You might notice that I also planted some spring onions!!! It’s a must for a Chinese kitchen!

There even are baby tomatoes hanging on the vine, still pretty green, I hope they will ripen up nicely*v*

I feel very sorry for them, they look like they have no room to grow! So I decided to re-pot them!

This huge pot is the new home for the bean and capsicum plants^^

This is the new arrangement! More space = happier plants!

More tomatoes! – soon to be

My herb garden has also come a long way! What a difference!

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I also see it as having pet worms at home (I love pets!) and I feed them with food waste that would normally go in the bin^^

Yesterday, I went to pick up my baby worms, which I ordered a month ago, as well as a worm farm (it’s like a stack of trays). It cost me AUD$28 for about 1000 worms and AUD$68 for the worm farm.

Setting up a worm farm

This is my new worm factory! The home of my new worm babies ^^

Once you opened the lid, you’ll see a bunch of parts and the most important of all, the coconut coir bedding block! The bedding block provides the initial food for the worm to settle into the new place. It is nutrient-rich, provides the worm with the right amount of moisture, and at the same time, proper aeration – if the bedding is too wet, the worms will suffocate!

First of all, put all the parts together, you probably would be able to work it out without referring to the manual.

The Fly proof inserts (left side the photo) click into the side of the lid, this is to prevent unwelcome guests entering the worm farm through the handle holes. Fit the tap and nut in the hole found on the bottom tray – this is where the liquid fertiliser comes out – the liquid fertiliser is great for pot plants!

Then, fix each of the four legs in place with the clips provided – two clips per leg.

Now, take the bedding block out of the tray and rip the brown wrapping apart – be sure to read it first! Soak the bedding block in half a bucket of water, including the wrapping paper – yup the worm will eat through that too!

Leave the bedding block to soak for about 20-30 mins. Remember to check and make sure that there is enough water, add more if it looks too dry.

When the bedding is ready, it should look and feel like potting mix. In fact you can actually use it as potting mix, but that’s not the point The bedding should feel moist but not wet.

Before the bedding goes in, line the top tray with the cardboard packaging that came with the worm farm, this is to prevent the bedding material from falling into the layers below initially.

Next, spread the bedding on top of the cardboard lining. Remember not to compact the bedding, just gently spread it out.

It’s time to let the worms into their new home! Empty the whole bag onto the bedding.

Let’s take a closer look at them before they burrow down into the bedding. There are three types of composting worms here, not that I can tell which is which. The point is they are different from the earthworms that you can find in your garden, the earthworms cannot survive in the composting environment!

The bag in which the worms came in is biodegradable too, so it can go into the farm as well, the worms will eat this in time.

It is advised to put a hessian lining on top to help retain moisture in the worm farm. The worms will eat the hessian material if they run out of food, so it is also a secondary food source for them.

Last but not least, replace the lid! You don’t want any cockroaches in there, do you?
And it’s done!

You shouldn’t put any kitchen waste in for about two weeks to let the worms settle down and start eating the bedding material. After two weeks, put a small amount of food scrap in a corner – this makes it easier to observe whether the worms are actually digging into the food waste. Very important not to overfeed them!

I hope this helps anyone who is looking into setting up a worm farm! I will keep you updated on the progress of my worm farm^0^.

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