Abe's Beer Garden, Blog

Building a Worm Farm

I recently constructed a worm farm to put kitchen waste in and have the worms reduce it to compost and worm tea. The worm compost can be used as a potting soil ingredient and soil amendment for the garden. Worm tea is a brown liquid that drains out of the tubs and is collected and used to water seedlings or plants in the garden. I used 3 plastic tubs to make the worm farm. Continue reading Building a Worm Farm

Gardener's Guide Serie

Gardeners Guide to Compost

Compost is an invaluable ingredient for garden soil. It enriches the ground with minerals and other nutrients and can provide ideal mulch for growing plants. The Gardener’s Guide to Making Compost is a primer that both gardening beginners and veterans can use to help them make better compost. The book covers most popular types of compost systems, making compost with worms, mulching and green manures. It is an excellent primer on making and using compost. Continue reading Gardeners Guide to Compost

Gardener's Guide Serie, Sample Chapter

Sample Chapter – Garden Soil Types – A Quick Soil Primer

Garden Soil Types – A Quick Soil Primer
Soil is the top several inches of the earth’s crust. Soil is necessary for civilization to exist, as it supports the plant life that sustains forests, plains, agriculture and other habitats. Five basic factors influence the formation of soil, the bedrock, climate, local fauna and flora, topography and the passage of time. The gardener will find three layers of soils underlying their garden, the topsoil, and subsoil and parent material. The parent material is the minerals that originally formed the soil. The subsoil is the intermediate level between topsoil and the parent material and will have some qualities of both. The topsoil is the part that concerns most gardeners. Continue reading Sample Chapter – Garden Soil Types – A Quick Soil Primer