Make a Worm Tunnel

On the weekends I usually spend time reading gardening books, old magazines or surfing the net for gardening tips and ideas.  Months ago I saw a picture of a lady making worm tunnels for her garden out of plastic pipe offcuts.  At the time I thought it was a great idea, as my worm farm was not keeping up with the constant supply of food scraps that our household produces. This week I decided to try and make a couple, but do you think I could find the original instructions? Then I remembered.  I'm a man...I don't need instructions! The idea is to take a length of drainage piping, drill holes in it, put it in a hole in the ground, put your food scraps in the pipe so worms will enter through the holes and munch on the scraps. The worms help to break down the organic matter, adding nutrients to the soil, and also assist in aeration, which will help with air and water movement through the soil. Ultimately this will give your garden healthy soil for healthy growing plants. Once the worms have worked their magic the tunnels can easily be moved to other areas in the garden to repeat the process. Here is what I did.

Measure a 45cm length of PVC piping.  Drill random holes around the pipe.  I just used the largest drill bit I had.  Make sure you leave a 5 cm section at one end of the pipe hole-free, as this will be above ground.

This is what it looked like.  In hindsight I think it could have done with a few more holes.

Dig a 40cm hole in a spot where you want the tunnel to be. I chose to put mine in between the rows of broad beans I have growing.  The hole will need to be deep enough so that the 5cm "hole free" section of the pipe is just above ground level.

Give the pipe a gentle tap into the bottom of the hole (I used the flat of the spade) to secure it in place. Carefully back-fill the hole so that no soil goes into the pipe.

Put food scraps in the top and push down with a stick. I haven't totally filled mine yet. I want to see how quickly the worms are attracted to the tunnel. It's easy to add more scraps as they become available. The only scraps I wouldn't suggest putting in is onion peel and citrus.

I used old saucers turned upside down with a rock on top to cover the tunnels. Hopefully this will stop the rain filling them up and unwanted animals getting in. The tunnels can easily be pulled out and placed in other areas in the garden once the scraps have been broken down and there is no room left in the tunnel.

Cabbage! That's what's Growing.

Cabbage!  Boring?  Mmmm, maybe.  But it’s the only thing that has actually grown and ready for picking in my winter garden this week.  But boy is it packed full of all the good things my body needs.  Really high in vitamin K and C, great source of fibre (you may hear that coming from my bedroom later tonight), manganese, folate, vitamin B6, omega 3 fatty acids, calcium, potassium, vitamin A, protein, are you still reading?  Get my drift?   

I was inspired by a tweet (on twitter this week) when someone posted a picture of this fantastic looking cabbage grown in the Wairarapa, New Zealand, circa 1890s (http://mp.natlib.govt.nz/detail/?id=3190).  Ok, so my little one is nothing in comparison and I am suffering from size envy, but I’m still going to make really good coleslaw from it, even though it won’t be able to feed the whole town (and when I say “I”, I mean my lovely wife).  This is how she made it:

 STEP1  Finely slice cabbage (about 3 cups)

STEP2  Finely chop small onion (raw, don’t cook)

 STEP3  Grate two medium sized carrots

 

STEP4   Grate 1 cup of Edam cheese

STEP5  The dressing.  Combine in a bowl: ¾ cup natural yoghurt, 1 finely chopped gherkin, squeeze of lemon juice, 1/4tsp mustard powder, season with salt and pepper, parsley and thyme (these were growing in the garden so chuck in anything you have growing). 

STEP6  Mix the dressing through the chopped up vege and cheese and you are ready for dinner. 

I put a call out there on facebook for some cabbage recipes.  This is one I got from my friend Dave Dougherty. I’m a vegetarian so can’t vouch for the taste, but it does sound good for those carnivores out there.

Slice cabbage into roasting dish, sprinkle with finely diced bacon, sprinkle with celery seeds, salt and pepper, place a couple of knobs of butter over surface, cover with tinfoil, bake in oven for 10-15 minues, remove pan, remove tinfoil, toss everything together before immediately serving ...

What do you do with cabbage?