Feeding the Worms

I guess you've all been wondering where we've been the past two months. Well, right here in the woods. As I mentioned in the last post I had started work on a vermicomposting flush toilet. It is now complete. The following pictures will summarize the process but generally speaking this is what had to be done:

1. Remove the old toilet
2. Finish the tile floor
   The former toilet was a built-in bench seat that was set diagonally in the room, The tile did not go under it. Fortunately we had just enough whole pieces and scraps left over to replace the diagonally cut tiles.
3. Build the enclosure for the worm tank
   This was necessary for two reasons; to ensure good slope in the sewer line from the house and to help maintain a more constant temperature for the worms. Just don't do what I did and try to destroy your work while back-filling 😢
4. Run the sewer line
5. Prepare the worm tank
   This entailed making four aeration stacks to ensure plenty of oxygen in the system. These stacks consist of 3" PVC with about 20 one inch holes drilled in each then wrapped in fiberglass window screen. The tank itself is a 1000 liter IBC - a big polyethylene container with a 2 inch drain valve in the bottom. A layer of fist size stones was laid in the bottom of the tank then covered with several inches of gravel on top of which was another layer of fiberglass window screen. Finally the tank was filled with aged wood chips. On top was placed a layer of green kitchen waste (vegetable scraps) to give the worms something to munch on until the system was inaugurated.
6. Run the drain line
   The drain line carries the liquid that has filtered through the bed of wood chips and gravel out to the greenfilter.
7. Prepare the greenfilter
   Also called the "soakaway", this element of the system handles the bulk of the flush water. It is a shallow pit (mine is about 3x5 feet and about 18 inches deep. It is also filled with wood chips. The drain line empties into this pit and is covered by about 4 - 6 inches of wood chips.  Natural soil bacteria in the first few inches of earth consume the excess nitrogen and generally clean the effluent.
8. Run waterline
9. Install new flush toilet
10. Build roof over worm tank for shade

The new system has been in operation for almost 2 weeks now. The worms seem happy and there are no foul odors coming from the tank. So far so good.

Of course, that is not the only thing going on around here. Besides tending the garden - tying, spraying, pruning, weeding - we've had to deal with three broken vehicles. First my Trailblazer started running very rough and about the same time my little tractor had a clutch failure. And, just because bad things seem to come in threes, my riding mower had a catastrophic blade failure. I was able to fix both the mower and my car but the tractor was taken to a mechanic over in Rainsville.

During the storm that cut across Alabama on Juneteenth, I lost a couple of trees. Sadly they were both red oaks. One I was expecting to loose relatively soon to disease. When it went, it took another healthy one with it. Such is life.  Now I have other things to do - make wood chips, split firewood, and saw lumber. Yay!

Since the middle of May, we have sighted six snakes around the house, shop, and garden. As good luck would have it, they have all been the kind you want hanging around - rat snakes and king snakes mostly plus one milk snake. These reptilian friends not only keep rodents in check, they are very territorial and do not tolerate venomous snakes. 

Well, that's about it.  If you have any questions or comments please email me. We'd love to hear from you.

Russ - rustygrey@gmail.com

Carolyn - csmith7173@gmail.com

Blossoms Galore and Garden Expansion

I am always impressed by how beautiful the wild azaleas are. We have them in white and pink and combinations thereof.

The azaleas and the dogwoods really catch your attention but the tiny wild flowers at your feet are just as pretty. Here we have Bird's Foot Violet, Yellow Violet, Dwarf Iris, and Trillium.  This year, there was more Trillium than I have ever noticed before.

Carolyn made this lovely Easter table decoration with an arrangement of Bluets and moss along with her hand-painted eggs.

The garden space enclosure is three times the size of last year's.  Let me tell you that driving T-posts is not among my favorite things to do.  Still, I managed to get it done in just a few days. I explained the 3D deer fence in the March 2020 post Beware the Ides of March.

The garden really had to be larger to accommodate the larger number of varieties we wanted to try this year.  Among the new crops are: Cabbage, Broccoli, Sweet Peas, Winter Squash, Red Onion, Tomatillo - just to name a few.

I don't have pictures to include here but we are attempting to root Redbud, Coosa Dogwood, and Yates Apple trees.

As hinted in the previous post, I have actually begun work on what will become a new flush toilet system. Here is where the "septic tank" will be located.  This will not be a traditional septic system.  Instead of relying on anaerobic bacteria to break down solids, I will employ thousands of red wiggler worms to do this in an aerobic environment. Liquid will rapidly filter through a few hundred pounds of wood chips and exit the tank into a "greenfilter" bed  filled with nitrogen-loving plants.  You can read all about this system here: http://www.vermicompostingtoilets.net/

Next step is to lay cinder block on the concrete pad I just poured then back fill three sides leaving an access point for maintenance on the downhill side. 

In Like a Lamb...

 ...Out Like a Lion

At least that is the way it seemed.  March just kind of eased in on us in such a gentle way that we were already putting plants in the ground outside.  Then came the last week of the month where we had one weather warning after another - Severe Thunderstorm, Flash Flood, and most dreaded of all Tornado.

Tonight and the next two nights come with frost/freeze warnings. We are hoping for the best for all those little plants Carolyn has already put out. Most are cold hardy so we are not too worried.

Carolyn has already started some of the summer crop seeds - tomato, pepper, etc. Once they are an inch or so tall, she transfers them to larger pots then eventually into the garden. In the larger pots, she plants them fairly shallow so she can add soil as they grow to prevent them from becoming too "leggy". When she transplants them into the garden, I make a cover out of tulle to keep some of the insects off them until they are larger. Using row covers is something new for us. Honestly, they are not protecting the plants all that well. Next year we may wait to transplant until the plants are larger and can withstand a bite or two. 

This month was significant for us in that we were both able to get our COVID-19 vaccine. Both rounds of the Pfizer. While we do not feel this makes us invincible, it does give us a little more confidence we won't be killed by this virus. If only everyone would do what they could to fight this, we could avoid further suffering.

I started digging new hugels last month and continued into March. We now have three new ones and I plan to add one more in the next week - if the rain will ever slack up.  The basic drill is to dig a deep trench, fill it with a layer of dead wood, add a layer of clay soil, another layer of dead wood, another layer of clay soil, top with a layer of good garden soil, and finally top with several inches of wood chips to hold moisture and block weeds.

In addition to the hugels, I made a proper drain field for the kitchen drain. It had been simply pouring out onto the surface of the ground. I diverted the pipe toward the new garden area and added a clean-out port. Now the kitchen sink water drains into a deep pit filled with wood chips. Hopefully this will benefit some of the plants inside the deer fence.

When she is not helping me unload a trailer full of something, or tending her seedlings, or preparing something delicious to eat, Carolyn can be found tending one of her flower beds. 

Well, that's it for now. Stay tuned for exciting bathroom developments. Until then, peace be with you.