Oh Lordy, I killed my Worms

You know how last week i confessed that my interest in gardening was a bit skewed and that i spent alot of time creating my garden, growing veggies, taking photos and then forgetting to harvest? Well I'm a shocker.  I've been feeding my worms and keeping the mat moist for months and months and i never thought to turn on the tap.  I have looked at them several times and thought, Jeepers, you guys aren't being very productive.  All those banana peels and coffee grinds seem to have disappeared.  Where are my mounds of castings and why haven't i had to put the second layer on yet?  Well that might be because I've killed nee drowned most of them in their own pee.  What a way to go.  DOH!

Did they make a game out of my stupidity - By the way this game is so cool.  I haven't seen No. 2 but No. 1 has us in hysterics.  

I'm not sure what made the light go on but i grabbed a bucket when i got home Friday and turned on the tap.  Now that's a big nappy bucket in that picture and as you can see its still running fairly strong.  It stank, which means it must be good, right?   I have bottled up some as gifts for a friend and then diluted the rest of the bucket and put it all over the garden, including the compost bin.  Lovely aroma out there.

Oh, that's right.  When i was buying my umpteenth cup of coffee on Friday, i asked for their coffee grounds and received a huge bag full.  This set me thinking about all those great tips and tricks i had learnt from Shoestring Gardening and subsequently posted about only to have forgotten to do them.  Shit! The Worms!!!!!  

I picked this up in the morning and it sat in the sun in my locked black car all day (not sealed) and oh my, was i on a coffee high all the way home.  Its still got that heavenly aroma.  Its from a fair trade organic coffee dealer cafe, so you know that this is good wholesome stuff.  I spread it all over my beds to deter all those nasty slugs and snails, topped up the worm farm hoping the remaining survivors will forgive me and then sprinkled the remainder into the compost bin.  Now the garden is a combination of worm tea and coffee, delightful!  

Its all go out there and i managed to clear out a few of the old plants going to seed.  The dill , parsley and mint were wandering too far and i lost interest in the silver beet (no one would eat it) so out it came as well.  Someones chooks will be happy.   This has cleared a lot of space for more things i do eat which is plenty of lettuce and basil.  I could live on homegrown tomatoes with basil, lettuce and feta cheese with a splash of balsamic on baked ciabatta.

Speaking of tomatoes....

Do you think this little bush could get anymore on it - Its called Cherry Falls and i think it was meant for a hanging basket.

For those who think i am anal about neatness, here is evidence of my recent slothfulness while i declutter the house.

Thistles !!!!   In my dark past i would have sprayed all these with the much maligned Round Up but with little Tilly using plants as toys, i think these will have to meet the end of a shovel.  That post with the red flag is the marker (1.5 X 1.5) from the fence where a post will go for the chook house.  Tilly thinks this is her personal tug of war post and goes nuts trying to pull the red rag off.  So so funny.  She is very little (now 3.5kg at 5 mths) and growls like she is a lion but its really just a squeak. 

Decluttering still continues and finally, finally, the two big cupboards in the back room are empty and going to new homes tomorrow.

Yep, that's literally a wall of storage.  Each one is 210 H X 40 X 90cm.  They are lockable and have adjustable height shelves.  It has a very thick veneer that can be sanded back to change the colour by retaining.   These and the desk  ( also huge and destined for freecycle or hard garbage) were part of a consignment of over $50,000 worth of office furniture custom built for a previous employer over 20 years ago.  I remember he didn't like the tint (too pink) and so it all went back for restaining again.  They have certainly lasted.  

Bugger that husband of mine.  Here i am thinking that Blogger has lost the plot and the screen is jumping all over the place and he is sitting in the next room with a smirk on his face controlling my screen with his Samsung Note.  Cheeky bugger is way too clever.  Oh, for those OS, "bugger" is not what you think it is, its used as a term of endearment here, really!.

So at the end of Saturday its been a full day.  Ive gardened, decluttered and been invited and partaken of a BBQ lunch for my Bestie's kids (Miss Mirandah is 19 and B Boy Brenden is 17).  Tom went to creche with both of them when they were all in nappies.   Check this card out that we gave Brenden....

I have a 16 yr old and between him and his friend Brenden, i spend my life telling them to "Pull Their Pants Up".  A couple of months ago, Brenden thought it was cool to put his jeans down under his butt cheeks so that you saw almost all of his undies.  It looked so uncomfortable and it drove me mad.  Lucky, he seems to have woken up to how ridiculous it looked  and perhaps it wasn't so Cool afterall.  

Lunch was lovely and i was asked to make trifle.  Since her hubby likes it plain his was just jam rolettes, fruit, custard and jelly.  The other was for the kids and so it was chocolate sponge, morello pitted cherries, chocolate custard, chocolate ripple biscuits smashed and covered in cream and strawberries. They were made last night so the flavors could really soak into the cake.  I didn't actually have any (aren't you proud of me) but i believe it tasted good.  I also banned any leftovers from coming home.

Time for bed, another big day tomorrow.  Tom has early start at work and i have visitors in the afternoon. Planning to very quick de-thistle in the morning (no, not my legs or chin but the garden).  Goodness, what will she think........

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