blueroot Hatfield

  Hello fellow earthiests.. I have owned and lived on this interesting piece of land sand-wiched between the Bitteroot River and Hwy. 93 just south of Missoula for 15 years and gradually my garden has grown in size and has been organic all these years. I have an 800sq.' shop up front along the highway and have dreamt of it being a produce stand during the season and have other local foods as well. It just became available again and now that I've decided to share my home, I find myself dreaming of this place becoming a small CSA or some other such expirement in growing or distributing local produce. I would be happy to lease it to anyone aspiring to and capable of making such a business happen. I am a big fan of the permaculture approach and am very open to trying to continue cultivating the diversity on this neat piece o' ground. 
  I, for various reasons now find myself needing to rent out the 3 bedrooms (the upstairs floor) to make ends meet.  I hope for housemates who enjoy the idea of living 2 miles south of Missoula on a small Farm on the bank of the beautiful Bitteroot River with a flock of cool chickens ( I have had the good fortune of selling eggs to Red Bird) and 2 friendly but on the job Dogs and a whole lot of worms in numerous compost piles. My 16 yr. old son and I live here but we will often be out in the big shop below the house or in town at my husbands' house. The kitchen will be occasionally shared, as well as the shower and the laundry. 
   

Hi there,
I have walking onions here in Missoula and I'd be happy to give you some bulbs.
Janine

  I seem to have trouble ever really eradicating these wretched gnats. I know about over-watering being a big part of the problem but my story is a little more complicated since I am making my own soil.
I mix leaf mold, hot compost heated up by chicken coop cleanings and spent grain,  & my own worm castings from various worm bins I have around.  Does anyone have any thoughts about really reducing the eggs which I have a hunch are capable of great dormancy until conditions are right ? I am gearing up to do seeds and am rather worried about fighting this since I am mixing up a big batch of soil presently.

vermiculite ? you surely meant vermicompost - I assume. I have so many various "systems" containing worm populations - everything from old wooden dresser drawers to shipping crates.. even an old bath tub, stacked tires. I like the idea of a longer narrower system that they eat their way through. All for the love of worms. 

Hi Pam,
I too see great potential for land owners and and young aspiring farmers to collaborate. I live in Montana and we have an organization here called  CFAC  - Community Food and Agriculture Coalition www.LandLinkMontana.org Their aim is to preserve Farm land from developing and help make these kinds of connections between land owners and Farmers.   I know you are in Canada, but I imagine there must be grass-roots Org.s there too dedicated to Local Food issues. Maybe Paul Hubbard would have some ideas for you since he is so immersed in this world. The other idea I had is to go to your closest Ag. schools - connect directly with the graduates.
I don't think this is just a dream. As noble as it is to want to help folks in tent cities... it may not be the place to start, but a place to look for workers after you get the system up and running.

I read an article about the use of composting worms in India to clean up pretty severe - in my memory - toxic waste. In several generations the worms began to show significant progress. They are our very best allies I think - them an' those microbes.

Lodi -  No, they're after already composting material. But it is thought that they eat microbes. I kind of doubt the parasites would outlive an active bin, as it's inhabited by an amazing variety of creatures all busy doing their jobs, such as predation. Worms are quite vulnerable to worming medicines, however - so be cautious when sourcing manures. ( but I am not a soil scientist - check with one if you feel you're at some risk)

Rickster - your holes might be kinda big, allowing material to dribble out. I do 1/4" small at 4-6" intervals along the sides in 2 or three rows  The worms, being photo-phobic will only try to leave if they feel they have to because their "bedding" is too hot or inhospitable. There is heat from the first stages of composting and the worms must have older material to escape to. This is why I use a bin for fresh stuff, which becomes great for worms in about a week (at mid-range temps) and I can then add to my worm bin.

Verimicomposting is a great relationship.  Look at them often, see what kind of material they are busiest in.
They love.. watermelon, squash, oatmeal and all kinds of surprising things like stems, which they hollow out and they then curiously, congregate in an orgy of numbers. Little worm churches ? Maybe they're grateful too.

enjoy

here's a quote-      " I've woken myself up laughing"     - an anon friend

Hi Rickster,
   I am a bit worried your sawdust and woodchips are a ways from being edible yet. It takes time for those materials to be broken down by microbes enough to be palatable for the worms.  They do love brown paper, soaked first, as a heavy addition to any bin.  Old leaves would also be a really good addition to a new bin as carbon material.
  Although they can take the addition of fresh materials to their bin, what they will actually look to eat is the older stuff that microbes have already been working on.  There is a great website called www.redwormcomposting.com, it's where I started and it gave me confidence understanding their needs. Looking into a happy bin is a great feeling. I am in total awe of worms.

I've raised them for several years and here's what I've found to be simplest. Being a huge fan of simple.

   10 gallon Rubbermaid bins work great for your average kitchen bin. For a long time I stored one under my sink.Drill small holes around the sides at intervals to give some air flow. Now I've begun to use large plastic pots, the kind trees come in, and have it by my back door.

   But not content with just such a small population I branched out, trying several containments. Shipping crates lined with layers of overlapping cardboard works if you stumble across a size you can deal with. Not too deep- say 3'-4' .  And an even simpler system is taking a piece of sturdy fencing (hogwire ?) and overlap the ends making it as big around as you want. This system is the best in my mind because it's easy to tear down and access your compost after a year or two.

How many are you wanting ?  I have been raising the Red Wigglers for several years
and could get you going with a few pounds of compost containing the Worms and many
vermipods. I've messed around with culling and have decided it's a serious waste of time
and is basically worm abuse.
I'm by Blue Mountain here in Missoula.