Worm bin update... and it's getting full! No surprise, because I've had this going since November 2nd, 2006! Upon first glance, all we see is the coir bedding...

....dig around a little, I see worms! Plus some little round thingys... ....indicated by the arrows. I'm guessing they are either worm eggs or maybe seeds/pits from something. I'm not going to disturb things too much to find out, because the moisture is fine and there are plenty of worms...so what the hey. I'll feed this group again, but soon it will be time to add a second bin on top and get the wormies to "migrate north" into it. Then I can use the awesome castings left behind to amend soil and feed plants.
So chow down and "recycle" for me, buddies!

(This took place in January, more updates to follow...)

Trouble on the web...I lost most of my links! (But not my skinks...this one got hung up here only briefly.) Hey Bentley! Have you seen my links?
Gizmo? Well keep watching out for them, ok?
I bet it was the gnome! (Isn't it always the gnome?)
I was trying to update my links and re-arrange them, but I didn't want to copy and paste them all. So I thought I'd be clever and take a "screen shot" image of my links page with all set on "edit" so I could see the URLs...but I only got the first few lines on the image! (Of course I'd deleted the whole damn page element before I realized it!) *Sigh* So if your link has disappeared, don't panic! Stay where you are! I'll find you! :)

Birds do it, bees do it, even educated fleas do it....in this case Robber flies, um... ....do it. Heh, so here's some "inspiration" for your holiday weekend! (Tacky? Yes! But Happy Labor Day anyway! ;-) Submitted to Friday Ark.

Cactus garden reeee-mix! Here's what I started with...a weedy mess! And where are the cacti? The one lone prickly pear I used to have in here rotted-bummer! There's even a tall sedum, some groundcover sedum, a small conifer, and a yucca in there somewhere, but it's mostly grass and weeds. But after some hard work....... here's the end result! It's kinda hard to tell in this picture, but along with 'Dragon's Blood' sedum and hen and chicks planted randomly throughout, there's 'Blue Dune' Lyme grass in the back, 'Golden Sword' yucca, 'Hab Grey' sedum, "Shenandoah' switch grass, mugo pine, and a stolen prickly pear pad! Here's how it went down... ...first the 'Blue Dune' grass, and boy is it ever pot-bound!So I get out the Chef Tony knife (I have part of an extra set that I use in the garden), and quartered the root ball. I have to say, those knives are super sharp! I have to be very careful not to cut myself...which I did by barely grazing my ankle!Next the yucca, and it's pretty pot-bound as well. Since there are these node-looking thingys, I'm not gonna use the Chef Tony this time... ...I'll just tease them out somewhat.

After those two are in the ground, I'll dig the new cactus spot to be a "no-rot zone". My Cactus Guru says I should dig it out at least 6 inches deep....done! Then I use the "guru" cactus soil mix...

.....and it's looking more coarse and well-draining than the surrounding sand-excellent!
There! Looks reasonably natural, especially with all the surrounding rocks. Now for the cactus... ...here he is, the "contraban" prickly pear pad. Wow, look at the nice roots! I hope he enjoys this spot as much as he liked the pot where he was forming those!I added a few more hen and chicks as well as more rocks...
....some weeding to do also, but I like the way this grass looks growing out of the cow's nose, so I'll keep it... ....as well as these volunteer asters. Kind of a nice contrast next to the dead animal bones, eh? Yea this skull is the real deal, I got it from a local rancher for free...
....with the "butter" (flesh) still on it! I actually put this in a large container and covered it with sand for a few years to wait for it to "clean up", and had another one with less "goo" on it to display initially.As I put the 'Dragon's Blood' sedum back in, I decided to put a few in front of the yucca into "native" soil and amend the holes with manure for a "richer" mix... ...and some are planted in the "cactus mix". We'll take an informal poll later and see who's happier! :)
Eventually I want to get more cacti that are hardy up here in zone 4 (there are actually several!), but for now I want to see how this goes. I'm thinking I'll put a "cage" over the prickly pear to minimize debris buildup from overhead trees this fall and reduce the chances for rot, but that may not be necessary with the right soil. We'll see...wish me luck!

Update on the composter...although I have been using some finished product this season, I haven't added to it as often as I'd like, since the worm bin gets a lot of the scraps. Well as I lifted the lid, who did I see? This compost thief cute skink was dashing around, presumably hunting bugs. Guess it's not very hot in here, eh? Then let's get some "hot composting action" going! After a few layers of kitchen scraps and garden cleanup debris, I'll top it with these biodegradeable packing peanuts. They're made from cornstarch, and just dissolve in water....

.....see? They're mellllting! Just like the witch on the Wizard of Oz (or your boss, ex-girlfriend, whatever :) . I really love it when shippers use these, and in a perfect composting world, it would be a law!
Unless your shipping something that may get wet! (Hope they come up with a biodegradeable product for that, too.) Note: No skinks were harmed in the manipulation of this compost! He jumped out right away and ran off in the grass. For now...