Vol. 15, No.1
January-February-March 2011
University of Illinois Extension, Pike County Horticulture Newsletter
Pike County
1301 E. Washington St.
Pittsfield, IL 62363
Phone: (217) 285-5543
Fax: (217) 285-5735
If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate
in any program we offer, please contact University of
Illinois Extension, Pike County at 217-285-5543.
Articles in This Issue:
Looking for Email Addresses .............................. 1
Upcoming Events ................................................. 1
Need a Gift? Give A 4-H Cookbook ................... 2
Understanding Seed Catalogs ............................. 2
Illegal Weedy Garden Plants ............................... 3
Receding Snow Reveals Lawn Problems ............ 4
Time to Plant Onions........................................... 5
Lawn Ornaments – Chic or Shabby .................... 5
There’s a Garden in Your Garbage .................... 7
Start Worm Composting ...................................... 8
If You Have an Email Address, Please
Let us Know!
If you would like to receive your “Down To
Earth” horticulture newsletter via email, please
send your email address to
cwestfal@illinois.edu and please let us know
if you prefer not to receive the newsletter
anymore. Thank you!
Upcoming Events
Spring Horticulture Telenet Series
Rain Barrels - April 12, 1:00 p.m. Water is a valuable
resource that we all need to use wisely. Runoff from our
roofs after a rain storm is really water down the drain. It
can be collected and used during dry spells. Learn how
to build and use rain barrels to reduce municipal water
usage in our landscapes. Registration deadline: Friday,
April 8, 2011.
The Summer Vegetable Garden - April 26, 1:00 p.m.
Local foods have been in the news a lot this past year.
Learn how to grow your own backyard produce will be
the focus of The Summer Vegetable Garden. If you
missed planting a spring garden, it is not too late to get
summer’s bounty. Please register by April 22, 2011.
Invasive Trees & Shrubs - May 10, 1:00 p.m.
Invasive plants and pests can out-compete desirable
species for space, sunlight, water, and nutrients. Learn
which woody plants to avoid planting or those that
should be eradicated to insure a well-balanced, healthy
landscape. Deadline to register is Friday, May 6, 2011.
Upcoming Gardener Workshops
Gardener’s Palette
Saturday, March 5th, 2011 – 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
John Wood Community College 1301 S. 48th St.,
Quincy, IL
Conference features include: Keynote Speaker, Mike
McGrath, will delight you with chemical –free options to
your toughest gardening dilemmas. Mike is author
of 6 gardening books, host of “You Bet Your Garden”
radio show on National Public Radio (WQUB locally),
and former Editor-in-Chief of Organic Gardening
magazine. He will address a wide range of home
horticulture issues from flowers and veggies, to lawns,
trees, shrubs and more!
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Keynote and 12 workshops on a variety of garden topics
Buffet Style Lunch
Coffee and morning cookies
A Packet Containing Speaker Materials
Vendor Fair with the Latest Lawn and Garden Products
Register online:
https://webs.extension.uiuc.edu/registration/?Registration
ID=5265
Pike County Down To Earth Newsletter
Gardener’s Day
Saturday, March 19th – 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
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Understanding Seed Catalogs
Greg Stack, Unit Educator, Horticulture Educator
WIU Student Union, Macomb, IL
Cost is $35.00 and includes a wide choice of break-out
sessions, lunch, handouts, door prizes and vendors.
Sponsored by the McDonough County Master Gardeners.
309-837-3939. For Gardeners’ Day registration brochure;
check online at:
http://web.extension.illinois.edu/mcdonough/downloads/
26029.pdf
Gardeners Day 2011
March 19, 2011 - 8:00 a.m. -12:05 p.m.
Sangamon/Menard Extension Unit
Illinois State Fairgrounds, Bldg #30
Springfield, IL 62702
Registration starts at 8:00 a.m. with the first seminar
at 8:45 a.m. and the event concludes at 12:05 p.m.
Nine one-hour seminars will be offered in three
sessions by U of I Extension specialist and local
horticulture experts.
Gardeners Day is presented by University
of Illinois Extension Sangamon-Menard Unit Master
Gardeners. Pre-registration is highly encouraged.
Registration fee is $10 in advance (before March 11)
or $12 at the door. To view a brochure and register
online, visit the Sangamon-Menard website,
www.extension.uiuc.edu/sangamonmenard
Need a Gift? Give a 4-H Cookbook!
Many members have nostalgic memories of
learning food skills through the great projects
and recipes offered through 4-H. The Illinois
4-H Cookbook has more than 150 recipes
from 4-H foods project books such as You
Learn to Bake, ABC’s of Food, Adventures in
Cooking, It’s Fun to Cook, Milk & Eggs,
Meat, Pastry and Yeast Breads in Your
Meals. This 8/12” x 11” spiral bound cookbook is $15.00.
This would make a great wedding shower cookbook! Call
the extension office at 285-5543 or email
cemyers@illinois.edu
Daylight Savings Time – March 13 –
one more hour of daylight available for
gardening!
Although words in seed catalogs might seem unfamiliar,
it is important to understand their meaning.
It won't be long before your
mailbox is filled with seed and
plant catalogs of every
description. These messengers of
good things to come arrive at a
time when most of us are up to our
ankles in snow and ready for the
escape these publications offer.
However, as you thumb through the pages you might run
across words that are unfamiliar. These words translate to
'horticulture speak' and are put there to help you make
decisions in buying the right seed or plant for your
garden.
Knowing what these words means can add a lot to your
horticultural knowledge and make you a better informed
consumer, he added.
When shopping for perennials, the term "hardiness zone"
will be encountered.
The United States is broken up into 11 hardiness zones
based upon the lowest average winter temperature for the
area. The zones range from zone 1--minus-50 degrees-to zone 11--plus-40 degrees.
Knowing what zone you garden in and seeing what zone
the plant is hardy to will help you pick plants that should
survive the winter. When you see a perennial offered for
sale, don't just look at the pretty picture, make sure it is at
least hardy to your zone.
Somewhere in the plant's description you will find what
zones the plant is hardy to. An example could be a
butterfly bush (Buddleia) that is hardy to zone 5. If you
live in zone 4, you might have trouble getting it to
overwinter successfully. In that case, you might want to
make another choice.
Determinate and indeterminate are words often
associated with tomatoes. They refer to how large the
plants get and how they grow.
Determinate types tend to stay more compact and bushy,
do well in cages, and are well-suited for smaller space
gardens. The indeterminate types tend to get tall and just
Pike County Down To Earth Newsletter
keep getting taller over the summer. They usually require
stacking to keep them off the ground. These are good for
the gardener wanting tall, large plants to impress the
neighbors.
Hybrid and open-pollinated are words that are used with
both flowers and vegetables.
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annual flowers like cosmos, cleome, and snapdragon will
do this and provide an attractive 'natural' garden year
after year."
Award winners are often designated by terms such as
AAS (All America Selections), PPA (Perennial Plant
Association winner), and Fluoreselect.
Seeds of hybrid varieties are produced by the controlled
crossing of known parent plants, resulting in varieties
that exhibit the best characteristics of both parents. Often
they are more vigorous, have better disease resistance,
are more tolerant of adverse growing conditions, better
tasting, and more uniform in habit. In short, they are the
best that plant breeders and seed companies have to offer.
This indicates that these varieties have been trialed for
many years in trial gardens through the United States and
have been shown to be outstanding performers. They are
often worthy of a place in the garden.
These are well worth the extra money it costs for seed
and plants. They can also be identified by an F1
accompanying the word 'hybrid.'
A plant listed as disease tolerant will probably get a
disease common to the plant. It may not, however, be so
bad as to warrant spraying and it usually does not affect
appearance all that much. Disease resistance means the
plant has been bred to resist common disease problems
and will probably not get the disease.
Open-pollinated is often associated with heirloom or
antique varieties of flowers and vegetables.
They are not the result of controlled crosses. While they
may not exhibit the best disease resistance or uniformity,
they bring to the garden interesting plants that might
have been stars in your grandmother's garden. They are
well worth keeping and growing because of their flavor
in the case of vegetables or fragrance in the case of
flowers.
Days to harvest, usually shown in number of days, refers
to the average number of days it usually takes after you
set out transplants before you can expect your first
harvest. This is highly variable and depends on growing
conditions so take the number with a grain of salt.
Don't always count on having red tomatoes at your
Fourth of July picnic even though you counted back the
right number of days and planted the plants on time.
Annuals refer to plants that will die when temperatures
start to get below freezing. These also need to be
replanted year after year.
But beware of the plant that acts like a perennial and
fools some gardeners into thinking it is a true perennial.
Some annuals self-sow and drop seeds in the fall. The
seed lies on the ground all winter and germinates in the
spring, usually in the same location that the plant was in
the previous season.
This makes many people call them perennial when, in
fact, they are not. This is not a bad thing though as many
Disease tolerance and disease resistance are both good
things but have different meanings.
A common example is in roses. You will find roses listed
as both disease resistant to black spot and those listed as
disease tolerant to black spot.
It can be a terminology jungle within the seed catalogs.
But don't let words stop you from enjoying your
catalogs!
Illegal Weedy Garden Plants
Sandra Mason, Unit Educator, Horticulture & Environment
As gardeners we all have regrets. Some more earthshattering and earth-scattering than others: "I wish I
bought that plant when I saw it in the nursery". "Maybe I
should have left my credit card at home". "I wish I had
never planted that wickedly evil, completely vile plant".
As we select what plants to grow this year, there are a
few plants that cannot be legally grown in Illinois. It's not
just ragweed, Canadian thistle or marijuana. There are
other illegal plants perhaps not as well known that are
listed in the Illinois Exotic Weed Act.
Within the Act the definition of exotic weeds are:
"…plants not native to North America which when
planted either spread vegetatively or naturalize and
degrade natural communities, reduce the value of fish
Pike County Down To Earth Newsletter
and wildlife habitat or threaten an Illinois endangered or
threatened species."
Legally designated Exotic
Weeds are: Japanese
honeysuckle including the
cultivar 'Hall's' (Lonicera
japonica), multiflora rose
(Rosa multiflora), purple
loosestrife (Lythrum
salicaria), kudzu (Pueraria lobata) and several species
of buckthorn (Rhamnus spp.).
In my mind there are numerous worthy candidates for
additions to the list such as bush honeysuckle and garlic
mustard. A great deal of time and resources are spent
trying to eradicate these nasties from local woodlands
before they choke out all our beloved wildflowers. You
think you have weed problems, just try weeding a 600acre woodland.
As the act reads: "It shall be unlawful for any person,
corporation, political subdivision, agency or department
of the State to buy, sell, offer for sale, distribute or plant
seeds, plants or plant parts of exotic weeds without a
permit issued by the Department of Natural Resources."
In other words, don't buy, sell or plant these plants and
don't give them to your friends or enemies. Since this Act
is limited to Illinois, these plants may be available for
purchase in other states. You may have noticed the fine
print with some plants in catalogs "not for sale to
residents of Illinois".
Some of the exotic weeds started out as garden plants.
For instance, purple loosestrife is a very pretty plant with
a spike of pink flowers all summer long. The problem is
the loosestrife doesn't know when to quit or how to be a
good neighbor. Although pretty, it is ecologically ugly as
it proceeds to conquer the garden and the local natural
areas and waterways by choking out native plants vital
for wildlife food and shelter.
The following are Purple Loosestrife cultivars (cultivated
varieties) which are illegal to sell or plant: 'Happy,'
'Robert,' 'Firecandle,' 'Brightness,' 'The Beacon,' 'Lady
Sackville,' 'Atropurpureum,' L. s. roseum superbum, and
L. s. tomentosum.
Some cultivars are listed as legal in Illinois since they are
derived from a different species of loosestrife, Lythrum
virgatum; however, a wealth of research is showing these
cultivars are not as harmless as once thought. Supposedly
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the seeds are sterile and will not reseed. Research has
shown the pollen is viable and will pollinate the weedy
species.
Rather than worrying about which loosestrife is correct,
why not try some beautiful alternatives such as blazing
star (Liatris), dragonshead, (Physostegia), Veronica
'Barcorolle,' Salvia 'Amethyst' or 'Rose Queen,' or
'Fascination' Culver's root (Veronicastrum). They are all
perennial plants with beautiful spike flowers minus the
nasty weediness.
Being a devoted plant collector it is difficult for me to
leave out something as beautiful as purple loosestrife.
However when I realize the consequences, it becomes
very easy to feed my compost pile with purple
loosestrife. Legal or not, we all must be responsible
gardeners when it comes to plant selection.
Receding Snow Reveals Lawn
Problems
Sandra Mason, Unit Educator, Horticulture & Environment
Stockpiled snow has finally surrendered to salt and sun.
Unfortunately its retreating has exposed my shaggy dog
of a lawn. If only I could send it out for a wash and a
blow-dry. Long periods of snow cover can cause a
myriad of lawn woes.
Many lawns weren't picture perfect going into winter.
Snow is nature's air brush; it masked the flaws but didn't
really improve the lawn's condition. As snows recede
lawns may show damage particularly from voles and
from snow mold fungal diseases.
Voles will make runways under
the snow in lawns as they feed on
grass blades and roots. Voles are
well protected under the snow
from hawk and owl predators. A
couple species of voles can
inhabit your yard. Voles may have brown to reddishbrown fur and range from 4 to 7 inches long. They have
stockier bodies and shorter tails than mice. Damage is
frequently mistaken as mole damage, but moles are not
active during winter. Vole damage appears as surface
runways or winding trails of damaged grass. Indirect vole
damage occurs as my dog tries to dig out the offending
voles.
Pike County Down To Earth Newsletter
5
Once spring arrives grass will usually grow into and fillin the surface runways; however, severe damage may
require some overseeding of lawn grass in April. Voles
love tall vegetation; therefore, prevent damage from
occurring by continuing to mow lawns to a height of
about 2 inches until grass is completely dormant in fall.
Also clean up any excessive vegetation near lawns, as
this provides cover for voles.
Check out these great University of Illinois Extension
websites for more information on lawn care. Lawn Talk
http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/lawntalk/ Frequently
Asked Lawn Questions
http://urbanext.illinois.edu/lawnfaqs/
Take the Lawn Challenge
http://urbanext.illinois.edu/lawnchallenge/
Vole damage in lawns may be cosmetic; however, voles
can cause a great deal of damage in flower gardens by
eating the roots of perennials. It's difficult to control
them in large flower beds and trapping may be needed.
I'm leaning more and more to clearing garden beds in fall
to help the predators find the voles before the snow
arrives. Check out this website for more information on
voles and many other wildlife.
http://web.extension.illinois.edu/wildlife
Time to Plant Onions
Snow mold damage can also be very visible on lawns as
snows recede in spring especially if we get a prolonged
snow cover on unfrozen soil. Both gray (Typhula blight)
and pink snow mold (Fusarium patch or Microdochium
patch) may occur. During the wet, cold weather of early
spring, snow mold may be highly visible as matted,
crusty looking areas. Gray snow mold appears in roughly
circular yellow to whitish-gray patches. As conditions
dry out, snow mold will gradually go dormant. Often just
leaves are affected and new grass blades grow as weather
warms. Severely infected areas may remain in the form
of weak or even dead turf. To repair damage, rake matted
grass and re-seed or resod as necessary in April.
Snow mold severity may vary from year to year, but
certain turf areas seem to be frequently affected.
Conditions which may contribute to snow mold include
tall matted-down grass, excessive use of fast-release
(water soluble) nitrogen fertilizer in early to mid fall,
excessive thatch, excessive shade, poor drainage, and
excessive debris (such as leaves or straw) on the turf.
Areas receiving drifting snow or piles of deposited snow
are also prone to snow mold.
Ways to avoid snow mold from becoming a severe
problem include: follow sound fertilization programs; use
fertilizers containing slow-release or controlled-release
nitrogen; and manage thatch via aerification or removal
with vertical mowing (dethatching). Surface drainage
should be adequate. Improve air circulation by pruning or
removing dense vegetation bordering problem lawn
areas. Damage from voles and snow mold can be
minimized by keeping lawns mowed until grass is
completely dormant in fall.
Sandra Mason, Unit Educator, Horticulture & Environment
You can broil 'em, boil 'em, bake 'em and flake 'em;
cream 'em, steam 'em, fry 'em and dry 'em. If you are
itching to plant something, consider the versatile onion.
Late March through early April is the perfect time for
planting onions.
Onions can be grown from seeds, sets (baby bulbs) or
transplants (baby plants). Seeds
take the longest to produce so
most gardeners stick with sets
or transplants. However many
more varieties are available as
seed than as sets or transplants.
The simplest method is growing green onions from sets.
Dry onions can also be produced from sets; however the
best storage onions develop from transplants.
Several varieties are used for onion sets. Unfortunately
they lose their varietal identity by the time they arrive at
garden centers where yellow, white or red are the only
choices. Purchase firm, dormant sets. If necessary, store
sets in a cool, dry, dark place before planting. Most
gardeners prefer white sets for green onions, but red or
yellow sets can also be used.
When purchasing sets select the size according to your
desire for green onions, dry onions or both. Onion sets
larger than a dime in diameter are best for green onions.
Large sets may form flower stalks which translates into
poor onion storage. The small sets, smaller than a dime,
produce the best bulbs for large, dry onions. Divide the
onion sets into two sizes before planting.
To produce green onions, plant the larger sets shoulder to
shoulder at one and one half inches deep. As a space
saver I plant my green onions between my broccoli
plants. The green onions are in salsa and salad long
before the broccoli gets big.
To produce dry onions, plant the smaller sets 1 inch deep,
with 2 to 4 inches between sets. If sets are planted 2
Pike County Down To Earth Newsletter
inches apart, harvest every other plant as green onions to
alleviate crowding and allow bulb formation.
Onion transplants produce the best dry storage onions.
Transplants are sold in bundles of usually 60 to 80 plants.
Five or six different varieties are available as transplants.
In general look for long day varieties. Onions start bulb
formation when the day length is of the proper duration
and different varieties of onions require different day
lengths. Long-day varieties are usually best for our area
and short-day varieties are best grown in the southern
U.S.
Plant transplants 1 to 1 1/2 inches deep. Space transplants
4 to 5 inches apart in the row to produce large-sized
bulbs (closer spacing significantly decreases bulb size) or
space 2 to 2 1/2 inches apart and harvest every other
plant as a green onion. Allow 12 to 18 inches between
rows or space onions 6 to 8 inches apart in all directions
in beds.
To develop long, white stems for green onions, slightly
hill the row by pulling the loose soil toward the onions
with a hoe when the tops are 4 inches tall. Do not hill
onions that are for dry storage. Hilling can cause the
necks of the stored onions to rot.
Green onions can be harvested as soon as the plants are 6
inches tall. Green onions develop stronger flavor with
age. All parts above the roots are edible.
Harvest dry onions in late July or early August, when
most of the tops have fallen over naturally.
Onions have few insects and diseases, but require fertile
well drained soil and do not compete well with weeds.
Lawn Ornaments – Chic or Shabby
Sandra Mason, Unit Educator, Horticulture & Environment
How many gnomes is enough? Can a
garden be too accessorized? We all
have our limits. Mine is when I can't
see the plants for the plastic. Our
fascination with adding more than
plants to landscapes is nothing new.
Now, however, we are tempted with an
endless volume and variety of lawn
ornaments.
The quintessential American lawn ornament is the pink
flamingo. This bird has had a raucous history spanning
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almost 100 years. In its life span it has been adored as an
irreverent symbol of mainstream establishment, but also
banished from some communities as being too tacky.
So why pink flamingoes? It all started in Florida in the
1920's. Hialeah Race track had imported live Caribbean
flamingoes to add some tropical ambiance. In the 20's
Florida and race tracks were playgrounds for the rich.
Soon bronze, metal, and wooden flamingoes materialized
as status symbols on the northern landscapes of the
wealthy. The bird's appearance boldly stated to all
passersby that the residents had been to a Florida resort.
For thirty years flamingo lawn ornaments were the
property of the rich.
In 1956 newly graduated art student Don Featherstone
was using his talents sculpting ducks and cows to fashion
molds to pump out the animal's plastic counterparts at the
Union Products plant in Massachusetts. In 1957
Featherstone designed a plastic version of the popular
flamingoes by studying National Geographic magazine
photographs. And as Featherstone joked in a National
Public Radio interview in 2006 he brought "poor taste to
the poor". The true Featherstone flamingoes are signed
by Don in a spot familiar only to other flamingoes.
Featherstone eventually bought the company responsible
for all kinds of lawn ornaments from gnomes to
penguins. By the time Union Products plant closed in
2006 they had sold more than 20 million Featherstone
pink flamingoes in the 50 years of their reign as the icon
of kitsch.
I don't profess to be an art expert, but I have seen many
well-accessorized and not-so-well accessorized
landscapes. Here are a few questions to ask yourself
before you add more stuff to your landscape.
Does it match the architectural design of the home?
Statues of partially clad women holding Grecian urns
may not feel at home adorning the landscape of a ranch
style house. Giving the gals cowboy hats doesn't help.
Does it say what you want it to say to your visitors? For
example: "I'm a Cubs fan." "I'm a Cardinal fan." Or very
popular ornaments on Florida front lawns "I'm from
Michigan, but I got tired of shoveling all the snow and
moved to Florida."
Is it in proportion to the landscape? If you are in the
Champaign area, take cues from local gardens with art
such as Allerton Park in Monticello or Wandell Sculpture
Garden in Urbana.
Pike County Down To Earth Newsletter
Will it likely be used by the neighborhood as a
landmark? For example will the neighbors give
directions to their home by their proximity to your giant
Statue of Liberty?
Does it make sense where it is? Lawn ornaments should
not be used to hide a power box unless it makes sense to
have the ornament there without the offending structure.
Accessorize an eye sore and all you get is an
accessorized eye sore.
Can a garden be too accessorized? If it brings you joy
and doesn't offend the neighbors too much, I say go for
it. We all need more reasons to smile.
There’s A Garden In Your Garbage
Sandra Mason, Unit Educator, Horticulture & Environment
Did you know there is a garden in your garbage? Those
bits and pieces of fruits and vegetables that end up in the
compost pile or garbage disposal can yield a garden.
Garbage gardens are great indoor projects for kids or for
frustrated gardeners anxious to plant something.
My first garbage garden experience was with avocado
seeds. I think it was the shift of perspective that intrigued
me the most - from garbage to garden. The reality that I
was unlikely to actually see an avocado fruit from my
new plant seemed unimportant.
To grow your own avocado plant: remove the seed from
a ripe avocado and plant it into a six-inch pot filled with
potting mix. Or stick three toothpicks into the seed about
1/3 of the way down from the pointed top and equal
distance around the seed. Suspend the seed using the
toothpicks for support in a glass of water so the wide
bottom (where the roots will emerge) is in the water and
the pointed end (where the stem will emerge) is pointing
up. Place in sunny window. Once the seed forms roots,
plant into six-inch pot of soil so seed is about an inch
deep. Grow as a houseplant indoors in winter with
summer vacations outdoors. A similar technique of water
glass suspension can be used for sweet potatoes and
white potatoes.
Some garbage gardens can be quite exotic including
plants from the seeds of mango, papaya, kiwi and
pomegranate. Citrus sprout easily from seed that has
been soaked for a few hours in warm water. Unless you
have a greenhouse and a great deal of patience you will
likely never see fruit on these but they make interesting
plants.
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Carrots make easy projects. Purchase carrots with tops
intact. (Carrots really don't grow as orange pinky fingers
in plastic bags). Cut off the top of three carrots leaving
about 2 inches of carrot with the top. Fill a pie plate with
pea gravel or decorative rocks. Place carrots in among
pebbles, cut side down. Place in a sunny spot indoors.
Fill pie plate with water just so top of pebbles are wet.
Soon the leafy part will sprout lovely ferny leaves. Keep
plate filled with water. Enjoy the ferny centerpiece. Try
using other root crops such as turnips and beets.
For another carrot project cut 2 inches of carrot with top
but this time take a knife and hollow out the inside of the
carrot. Stick 4 toothpicks into the carrot about one half
inch from the cut surface equal distance around the
carrot. Tie string to the toothpicks to suspend the carrot
upside down. Keep the hollowed carrot filled with water.
Soon the leaves will sprout into a ferny hanging plant.
If you want a garden you can eat, take garlic or onion
bulbs that have started to sprout. Plant into a small pot of
potting mix or soilless container mix. Plant so the bulb's
shoulders are just below the soil surface. Place in a sunny
spot and keep soil moderately moist. As the green shoots
grow, snip a few for salads or vegetable dips.
Try planting unroasted (raw) peanuts, uncooked popcorn
kernels, dry beans or tomato seeds. Cut off the top of a
ripe pineapple. Dry the cut end for two days. Plant the
cut end an inch deep into a six-inch pot filled with
soilless potting mix or cactus mix.
Keep in mind many plants are hybrids so their seeds will
not yield the same fruits and vegetables. You may never
get anything edible out of your garbage garden but it's
cheap entertainment.
Helpful books include: Gardens From Garbage: How to
Grow Indoor Plants From Recycled Kitchen Scraps by
Judith Handelsman and Get Growing! by Lois Walker.
Pike County Down To Earth Newsletter
Start Worm Composting
Ron Wolford, Unit Educator, Urban Horticulture and Environment
Worm composting is an easy way to
turn your kitchen scraps into compost
for your indoor and outdoor plants.
Vermiculture is also a great way to
introduce kids to recycling and
environmental issues.
All you need to get started is a plastic
bin, a drill, newspaper, soil, worms,
and fruit or vegetable peelings.
Ten-gallon plastic bins work well for first-time worm
composters. These can often be found on sale at local
discount stores for under $5. Worms need air to survive
so drill holes no larger than 1/4 inch or smaller into the
sides and the lid of the bin. At a minimum, the bin should
be 10 to 16 inches deep.
Newspaper is readily available and easy to prepare as
bedding for your worms. Tear the newspaper into oneinch-wide strips and pack it down into the bin to within a
couple of inches of the top. This is a great timeconsuming activity for kids. You can also run the
newspaper through a shredder.
Add water to the newspaper and mix well until the paper
is as wet as a wrung-out sponge. If it's too wet, just add
more paper. Add a handful of soil to the moistened
bedding. The gritty soil will help the worms digest and
grind their food in their gizzards.
Next, add the worms. The worms that work best in a
worm bin are red worms or "red wrigglers." These are
not the large earthworms found in your backyard after a
heavy rain. Earthworms like temperatures around 50
degrees F and like to burrow deep into the soil. They are
not suited to the 70 degrees F temperatures in your home
and the confined space of a worm bin.
Red wrigglers, on the other hand, are surface feeders and
thrive in room temperatures. You can buy red wrigglers
at local bait shops or numerous places online.
It takes about a pound of worms--1,000 worms--to start a
bin. A pound of worms will cost from $17 to $20. Add
the worms to the bedding; the worms will immediately
make a beeline under the bedding because they are
sensitive to light.
Worms will eat potato, carrot, apple, banana peelings,
orange and grapefruit rinds, oatmeal, coffee grounds with
8
the filter, tea bags, and crushed eggshells. Chopping or
grinding the kitchen scraps in a blender will make it
easier for the worms to eat the scraps.
You can keep a supply of food in a plastic container in
the refrigerator for the worms. Do not feed them any
meat, dairy products, or oily foods.
It is important to bury the scraps in the bedding. Leaving
the food on top of the bedding may attract unwanted
pests like fruit flies. After feeding the worms, leave them
alone for a couple of weeks to let them get used to their
new environment. Feed them every couple of weeks. Add
more bedding every three to four weeks.
In two to three months, you should have a bin of worm
compost that is ready to harvest. When harvesting the
compost, a couple of options are available.
With the 'divide and sort' method, you stop feeding the
worms for two weeks. After two weeks, move the old
bedding to one side of the bin. Add fresh bedding with
food. The worms will migrate into the fresh bedding,
allowing you to harvest the finished vermicompost.
Another option is 'live and let die.' After three months,
just stop feeding the worms. The worms will die, leaving
behind the finished worm compost.
The worm compost can be used as an amendment to
potting soil for houseplants or as an organic addition to
your garden soil.
The articles in this newsletter have been provided
for you by University of Illinois Extension Educators
and University of Illinois, Pike County office.
Kristin Huls, County Extension Director
Newsletter Compiled and Designed by Cheryl Westfall, Office
Support Associate
If you have any questions or comments regarding the issue of “Down
To Earth”, please contact University of Illinois Extension, Pike
County, at (217) 285-5543.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign College of Agricultural,
Consumer and Environmental Sciences
United States Department of Agriculture • Local Extension Councils
Cooperating University of Illinois Extension provides equal
opportunities in programs and employment.