Olin Tlaloc

Here's a great video from Don Kutchenmeister Making Wax Foundation

I've tried this method but I didn't emboss my sheets, just ran them blank and the bees did fine. Now I let my bees draw out their comb without the aid of foundation.

Bees became my obsession this year. I will probably never recover from this infliction and I am happy about that. The European honey bee was replaced as soon as the bees adapted to their new environment as far as I am concerned. The honey bee is remarkable in the way it can adapt to a new area, akin to a feral pig.

What needs to be replaced is the commercial migratory pollinator. Their practices of husbandry are some of the worst our world has to offer and is overlooked because it is an insect we are talking about here. I have come to the conclusion that the "commercial pollinator" will never change their ways due to the human condition and they have their faces buried in the pie. It is up to us new "beekeepers" to start out clean.

I have to say this video makes me like Paul again. This will be a great way to pass the time with my in-laws as I indirectly lambast their way of life.

Hi Dj, I have had success with wood chips paired with horse manure in the high desert with rain gardens. 8 to 10 inches seems to be the magic number for depth/thickness of the beds. I try to wet things out as I build up the beds layering the manure with wood chips as I go. The addition of manure seems to speed the process as I have observed 2 month old beds with black humic compost forming just under the surface. Big rocks help too, the soil formation around them always seems to greater probably due to condensation.

Digging beds to this depth is no easy task but well worth it in a desert area, in the desert you really need to get down to a moist horizon to keep all the new soil flora frisky otherwise you will have to over irrigate with most likely alkaline water. You may want to invest some capital in a backhoe rental to get it done. I have a place here that rents them out for a half day fee around $115. If you are too far from the rental yard to drive the backhoe to the site or have limited accessibility a would suggest having a skidsteer delivered, usually the more expensive option.

For your hedge row I would berm them with medium sized rocks to keep the wood chips from spreading out and for condensation. I sometimes place rocks around the trunks to keep the chips back. In a raingarden format I ussually mound my plantings 4 inches so they only have around 4 inches of mulch around them and do not become inundated.

Starting the soak with hot water(near boiling) 24 hours prior to sowing has worked well for me. Ambient temps need to be on the warmer end otherwise sprouting and growth will be slow.
Has anyone else noticed mushrooms growing with their peashrub seedlings? I have had them popup with every peashrub seedling I have planted.

I try not to think of anything I do as science. I say this half jokingly since I try to approach things from a different angle and I know science has a way of explaining away the currently unexplainable.

The pH has rebounded a few times since my last post, probably due to using too much make up water. It seems to stabilize when i back off and let things circulate for a day or two. I'll need to invest in a meter to see any real numbers, until then I'll have to infer as to the hardness through monitoring the pH.

A point I hadn't mentioned earlier was how things needed to cycle when I first set this up. After a few days a rotten egg smell was faintly detectable and persisted for two or three days. I kept the pump and air-stones running just as you would a freshwater fish tank and things freshened up nicely.

I began this experiment with the goal of softening hard water naturally because I have a problem with well water. The real solution to that problem is rain and dew catchment but I did stumbled on a great way to keep some happy worms and a constant supply of nutrient rich water. I may need to add another stage to the setup with either woodchips or peat to make the softening a bit more effective and it should suit my needs while I build some ferro-cement cisterns.

This has me thinking now. If we can determine where soil creation happens the fastest we should try to recreate those parameters and rev it up. So where in this world is soil created most rapidly? Is it the bottom of a pond? If it is maybe we can devise a compact and large scale method of recreating that setting and possible call it hugelponics if whole logs are used. We could create soil rapidly without chipping(maybe) and soften water for establishing a system with well water.

Just discovered this little technique has a name....Vermiponics!

Ollie Puddlemaker wrote:
Oh, so you are not using any limestone, just going thru the vermicompost? Surprising, most of us have a battle with our worm bins being too moist, but maybe your area is dryer and this why you're getting this result. Kind looks like your idea could have this application as a 'bog', huh...

I was apprehensive when I finally decided to add worms to the system since I've read about problems with stagnation. The air stones do a good job of keeping it smelling fresh and insures against it going anaerobic. I need to do a side by side trial to see if there is any acceleration in soil creation with this method due to the increased aeration.

Hi Ollie and thanks for the welcome! My reference to limestone was only to describe the biological process within a salt water fish tank. I am located near central NM. I'll post some plans once I finish them. If nothing else this is turning out to be a great way to keep worms in dry climates. Think of the overall system as a worm bed with a constant trickle of aerated water cycled through it. The worms don't seem to mind heavy moisture, most likely due to the aeration. In addition I have been dosing with molasses to encourage biological activity. Makes the reservoir nice and frothy!

I wonder, would this be recognized as a constructed bog?