Tote #8

Today I went to Walmart and purchased another 13 gallon tote.  I've been thinking that I need to tidy up the porch.  I decided to buy another tote and convert one of the larger into a compost tote to keep the rest of the leaves and shredded material I have as well as to use up the table scraps.

So this afternoon I put a couple inches of leaves and shred in the bottom of the tote, mostly leaves, and then some table scraps, including some orange peels and coffee grounds.  Then I covered that with a layer of the garden soil.  I didn't add water because the soil is so wet.  Then I transferred the soil from the big tote to it.  In the process I found about 12 worms of good size and about 4-5 very little ones, like like they are the next generation.  It made me very happy to see so many worms of such good size and alive.

I used nearly all the soil to fill the new tote and then put all of the extra leaves and shred in the large tote.

I'm still hoping to get this tree cut down but SK is balking even though they dont care two hoots, it's the city's tree.  But the city man was talking to Jason about it and the tree on the NW side this afternoon.

2nd tunnel for the tote #4

Yesterday I went to Ace Hardware to purchase more PEX for the tunnels for the totes.  They didn't have any 10' lengths of 3/8" but did still have one 5' length so I purchased it to add an additional tube for the clear tote, so it will stand up better.  I haven't put it on yet, because I want to move the two that are there closer to the ends.  I did some checks on temperatures.  One day when it was only in the lower 40s, my thermometer read nearly 50, and yesterday when it was only 35 outside, my thermometer read nearly 60.  I think the difference is that it was sunshine today, and cloudy on the other day.

I purchased a 10' section of 1/2" PEX pipe and had it cut into thirds, 3'4" each.  I mixed up the soil in the tote with the bulk of the leaves that I had on it and mixed in some of the garden soil.  I filled it about to the top leaving enough room for mulching and drip system tubing.  Here is a picture of the finished tote as taken through the sliding glass door.

I will continue to use the 1/2" PEX tubing as it is sturdier, and will use 3 pieces for the longer totes, of which I have 3.  

Adding leaves and soil to the clear tote #1

It is 40 degrees but calm, so I checked the tote with the plastic tunnel house over it to see if it was keeping it any warmer, as we have had an ice storm and cold weather since I put it on.  The sun was out this morning, but I don't get a lot of sun because of that tree, which thankfully the city has given permission to take down.  The temp inside it was 50 degrees, so it is warmer, though not as much as I hoped.  I think that will improve once we start getting full sunlight from the east in the mornings and when the sun moves further to the north as the days go by.

I took some pictures as I went along.  I wanted to add some half-and-half leaves/soil mixture to the tote.  I took a picture to show its volume before beginning.  You can see my peanut butter jar that has the entire bottom cut out serving as a worm tower.  I just put that in the other day.  I put down 4-5 banana peels cut up in fine pieces and some coffee grounds and coffee filters before adding the new leaves/soil.

Using a 5-gallon bucket, I filled it nearly half full with crushed leaves, but I didn't press the leaves down.  I then added garden soil from a 40-lb bag that I purchased when I purchased all of the tunnel supplies the other day.  I chose to use garden soil instead of potting soil because 1) it is cheaper, and 2) I'm adding a lot of compost to it.  I mixed the soil and the leaves together pretty good, but it is not quite half-half as I have more leaves than soil.  Here are pictures after I added the first bucket to the tote.  I removed the worm tower before I added the extra leaves/soil and lifted it a couple of inches higher than it was. The garden soil was plenty wet so I didn't add any extra water.

 Then I did another bucket of leaves and dirt in the same way and added that to the tote.

That is as full as I'm going to till this tote as when I plant I need room to put the drip line as well as add a layer of mulching on top.  When I plant, I will thoroughly mix all the content of the tote.

Since this is my shortest tote height wise, I have it on the north end of the patio so it will be at the end of the drip line.  I plan to put some winter crops that vine in this tote, maybe some peas, and then follow up with melons.  The vining plants will be planted at the back of the tote (north) and I may put some other plants in the front of the tote, such as onions and garlic.

I will build the tunnels for the totes as I have money for supplies and the weather permits, and add to their content when I do so.

Cost of Materials so far:
Leaves - free, gathered
Shredded paper/cardboard - free, from my own boxes
Totes - Varying prices, from $4.99.  7 totes.
Soil - free, leftover from 2019 buckets
PEX tubing for tunnel - $4.59 from Skaggs Ace hardware
10'x25' clear poly film 6-ply - $29.99
40-lb bag Miracle Grow garden soil - $8.99

Tote #1 Greenhouses

I think I am going to make some little greenhouses for my totes and for my other buckets when I set them out to plant
  I'll do one to test it to see if it actually keeps them warmer through the winter.⁸


I saw a teference to it in a YouTube and watched one where he built them on raised.beds to extend his growing season to either use with shade cloth or clear plastic
  The YouTube is by MIGardener and is for a low tunnel on a raised beds.

This is my plan.  For each tote, I will

• Put two flexible hoops, one at each of the long ends.
• Make each hoop only about 2 1/2 feet tall - just tall enough for seedlings and short plants.
• Make each hoop long enough to reach to the ground.
• Attach each hoop to the sides of the tote and if possible drill holes for the hoops through the totes.
• Drape clear plastic over the hoop and use clothespins to secure it to the tote to the ends and to pull it snug.  
• Use clothespins all around the tote to secure the plastic.
• Use the clothespins to remove all or part of the pladtic when necessary, but leave the hoops in place.

Test on one tote to be sure it raises the temp in the tote from the outside temp.  If it does, do the other totes.

A suprise gift and more worms

My brother Ricky laid over at my place for his appointment at the VA in Wichita, and he have me some Christmas money.  I went to WalMart today and shopped for a dinner to make in my Instant Pot and got 2 more containers of worms, and I put 9 in each tote, except the last green tote along the south wall only got 7 I think.  I also added more covering to some of the totes in anticipation of it getting cold again.  They forecasted cold weather for tomorrow and the next few nights and also for next week starting Wednesday. Some of these worms were larger and some were small.  I think this is the 2nd month that I've added worms twice during the month, and maybe one month I bought two containers, but I believe 3 containers is the most I've added each month.  When I see the videos of the worm farms and they just have so many worms, I know that my totes can handle a larger capacity of worms.

With the dinner I will make tonite, I'll have more food scraps to put in the totes, besides just banana peels.  I'll have some bell pepper scraps, both red and green, and they say it's safe to add a little onion, so I will do that also.

WalMart has their package seeds on display, so I'll start buying some for spring planting, to spread out the costs.  I saw the seed tapes for carrots, and I think that is what I will use because those seeds are so small.  I think I can put 3 rows in front of the large tomato plants in those small totes.  At least 2 rows.  I don't yet know how many totes I will use.

I've also thought about using the yogurt large containers for worm towers instead of the soda bottles because they have lids that I can use to cover the towers.  I have a few to use for food scraps but I will start collecting more to see how they work.

Worm Check-In

I added another container of worms divided amongst the 7 totes this month, January.  I didn't look for living worms, just added the new ones.  They were quite small.

This afternoon I got into the clear plastic tote, the first one I started adding worms to, to see what worms I could find.  I put the layer of leaves into a garbage bag and then dug really good around the soil.  I counted 10 separate worms, in various parts of the tote, and some of them quite large.  I know that none of them are the worms I added this month, as they are all too large.  So they are surviving the cold winter.  I put the leaves back on as mulching as I do believe that helps keep the soil warmer because the nights have been in the 20s.  We are supposed to get snow on Friday and lower temps and then a warmup, and rain on Wednesday.  All with nighttime temps in the 20s and teens.

I also noticed that there isn't much of the food scraps that I put in that tote the last time around.  It's that tote's time again to be fed with scraps.

I'm leaning towards having a row of buckets in front of the patio to grow some food like herbs, potatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, etc.  I can make a clear path in my totes so that I can access the yard to take care of the buckets.  Problem is the excess rain when we get it, and also the wind.

Curiosity Prevailed

My curiosity got the better of me and I checked one tote, the long clear, white one, to see if I had any living worms.  I bagged up the leaves on one end and checked, and no luck.  Then I pulled back the leaves where I had last left food scraps and dug down to the scraps, and saw a nice-size worm in that area, and the food scraps look like they have diminished.  I have been burying the scraps just below the surface, rotating locations.  And the last food scraps I put in there were in the left top area.  There's 9 areas I will use altogether in each tote to balance out the food scraps and let them decompose if they aren't eaten by the worms.  I'll get more worms on Friday as it is payday.