Worm Food

On my last post about the worms someone said they needed to see the worm food. So here ya go!

Doesn't that look delicious?! You may not be too interested in eating it, but worms are going nuts! They're eating about a pound of the ground up food every two days. Which works out well since that's about how much we have in food scraps.

We blend it, then freeze it, then thaw it out and feed it to them. The only problem was that that freezing and thawing causes a lot of excess moisture and that was making the worm bin really wet.

A little more shredded newspaper fixed that and now I have a boatload of happy, hungry worms! They must be getting busy with it because there's a LOT more worms in there than I originally bought.

Indoor Update

I thought I'd give you an update on the houseplants. I've been focusing a lot on preparations for the garden, but I still haven't forgotten my indoor jungle.

I have a large spray bottle and try to spray them daily since the humidity level in the house is really low.

The shamrock is in full bloom. The white flowers are so delicate and pure looking. I wonder if that's what Ireland looks like in the spring?

And the spider plant my mom gave me when I moved to Boston is finally big enough and strong enough to throw off a shoot. I'm hoping to take the shoots and start growing them. There's a huge nursing home down the road and I'm wondering if there's some residents who might like a fairly low-maintenance houseplant.

And in other news my dining room has officially been taken over. It never really stood a chance, but I'm hoping to reclaim it sometime in June. Or at least most of it. The blue worm bin will most likely be a permanent fixture. Though the front sunroom closet might work well in the warmer months...

Dum, dum. Dum, dum, dum dum...

Looking at this thing I can't help but think of the Jaws theme music in my head.

Is it ever going to open so I can get the seeds?

Labels!

Yesterday's post gave it away a little bit, but look how beautiful the label maker makes the seedling tray look!
The long tall sprouts at the back is the kale and everything else is the lettuce seeds I just planted. So many varieties should ensure great salads in not too many weeks!

Kale Leaves

The cotyledons (the first 2 leaves that appear on a sprout) didn't look much like kale, but the new leaves are looking really interesting.
I lowered the lights a big because I'm worried that the stalks are getting really thin and spindly. Another week or two and they'll be ready to transplant!

Type A

I tend to be a little OCD. I love the Container Store's motto that "Life is more fun when you're organized." It's so true. When things are planned I can be a lot calmer and more laid back. Well... as laid back as I can be anyway.

So of course it makes sense that I've been craving a label maker for a while. I'm pretty sure J wouldn't let me get one because he was afraid he'd come home to a house full of labeled items. And I can't say it wouldn't be tempting... but I promised to control myself.

So we bought one. It's so beautiful. Think of the endless possibilities! My pantry will be so organized it will be ridiculous. Everything will have a place on the storage shelves in the sun room. And of course now my garden can be perfectly in order with lovely labels that are so much neater than my handwriting.

I can't wait! I've already attacked the spice rack. Would it be weird if I said that I slept better knowing they were clearly and neatly labeled?

Sprouts

For some extra deliciousness while I wait for the big vegetables - in August, which seems so far away - I decided to try my hand at sprouts. I know there are a few ways to grow them, but I decided to go with the soil method instead of the mason jar method.

We had just had some Florida strawberries (so jealous!) and the plastic tubs seemed perfect. Maybe a little bit deep, but not too bad. And there's lots of drainage along the bottom. I chose to do Adzuki beans and mustard seeds first. This very complicated decision was mostly because that's what Whole Foods had that was organic (non-organic seeds and beans may have been treated with chemicals that will make them un-sproutable and I don't really want to eat a chemical I can't pronounce) and near the checkout. I know, my planning is impeccable.

The beans soaked for about 7 hours and the mustard seeds soaked for about 4 hours to help promote germination. Then I tossed them in and let them go.

Two days later it looked like the earth had exploded!! The sprouts came up so fast it was amazing. And now salads and stir frys and sandwiches have an extra bonus of nutrition and spice!