But anyway, as I was filling pots with dirt, I went over to the compost bin to get some nice, fertile compost to add to the soil mix. I opened up the door at the bottom, reached in and grabbed a handful of compost which was, to my surprise, full wet, wiggly worms.
Speaking as a gardener who frequently deals with dry, compacted soil, a big handful of worms is an exciting find. I promptly took them over to my garden beds, buried them and then sprinkled them with water. I'm hoping these worms survive and multiply. Happily, I believe those worms are only the tip of the (compost) iceberg. The bottom of the pile seems to be teeming with them. Hurrah!
And speaking of nice surprises, check out this lovely volunteer sunflower that just started blooming.
It was planted by one of my hens, back when the chicken tractor was sitting on that spot. Wasn't that thoughtful? I noticed it growing a while back, and have been encouraging it ever since.
The volunteer sunflower inspired me to plant some more. After all, the chickens like the seeds, and they are (obviously) pretty easy to grow. While I'm not a huge sunflower fan, I think they'll make a nice addition the summer garden. And I like the idea of a flower that also provides a tasty snack.
Lovely worms!!!
I live in Northern California and have many worms throughout my backyard that my boys seem to dig up and relocate. We have 8 baby chickens that will soon be worm collectors too. They are plentiful in my yard now but its taken me a few years to get them that way! We dont use a compost bin but throw our compost right IN the garden during cold months and till it in whenever the ground allows us to! The worms LOVE it that way.
I love the sunflower too. I havent grown those although I keep meaning to.
Love them worms...
we just started a compost bin acouple of weeks ago. I love sunflowers too