Working on the Garden and Building Garage Doors

Working on the garden and building garage doors was part of what we did to usher in the spring season here in Texas.

woman planting seeds in garden and man building barn style garage doors

STARTING WITH COMPOST

When I decided that I wanted to try my hand at gardening, one of the first things I did was to learn about composting. I knew that it would be an important part of the whole process and also take some time.

After building our outdoor compost bin where all our food scraps would go, we purchased red wiggler worms, which are great for harvesting vermicompost, or what you could also call worm poo. It’s a great natural and organic fertilizer for your garden.

MAINTAINING A SMALL WORM BIN

Maintaining a small worm bin is a pretty simple process. Just feed your worm babies once a week and every couple of months, harvest their poo. But as you can see, vermicompost really just looks like healthy organic soil. It has no bad odor and just smells like a garden or forest. It’s been my refreshing connection to nature.

HARVESTING VERMICOMPOST

It was a bit of a learning curve to figure out the best method to harvest my worm poo over the years. I’ve tried out many different methods and even shared them in our videos a bit. The way that I’m harvesting them here has been the best way for me so far. Using that handmade sifter Nate made for me has been a game changer. I can sift out large pieces of compost and my worms to add back to the worm bin.

Then I can take that beautiful compost and add it to my garden. I especially love to do this when I’m planting new seeds. I create a bed of homemade fertilizer for the seeds to rest in.

woman putting vermicompost in garden beds

SPRING GARDEN PLANTING SEASON

Right now is spring planting season here in Texas. I’ve tried out many different crops to experiment with. Some have turned out really well and some not so good. I think you just have to learn how to garden by doing it.

Figure out what grows best in your area and pick the things you actually like to eat. Then give it a go! Hot peppers and herbs have done really well in my area. And I have given away lots of herbs to neighbors and even bartered with our local farmers market for them. It was so cool to see my herbs being sold there and to get some free produce in return. I love how my garden has also given me opportunities to connect with my local community here.

It actually has been one of the biggest attractions around here for friendly neighborhood conversations. And this is of course besides all the rave from our neighbors of the outdoor projects Nate has been working on.

After I’ve planted my seeds then I cover them up with another layer of my vermicompost. And then they finally get a thin layer of the soil from the garden beds. Not too much so they can feel the sunshine and begin to sprout into little seedlings.

I have say though that I’ve not had any luck growing spinach here. I’m not sure if it’s too warm here or what. Sometimes I try growing a crop several times and if it’s not successful, then I stop growing it and spend my energy on what I know will grow.

SAVING SEEDS

During the last growing season I was really successful (to my surprise) growing Korean melons. Remember how we had to build these garden cages here to keep the squirrels out of the garden and from taking my melons! I ended up harvesting a lot of melons and decided to save some of the seeds from them to see if I could regrow them. And again, to my surprise, they actually grew!

hand holding up melon seeds for garden planting

I’ve also seen a lot of success growing different varieties of lettuce, salad mix, and kale. But if the weather gets too hot, they don’t do as well.

I also tried to save the Japanese watermelon seeds, but that was unsuccessful. And I actually never was able to grow any Japanese mini watermelons.

LAYERING WORM BIN

I wanted to show you how I refill my worm bin after I’ve harvested half of it. You can use the same method if you harvest your whole bin and start from scratch. I’ve also done that.

The first layer I add is packaging paper. This is usually from my Amazon orders. You can also use cardboard. This creates a nice base at the bottom. Then I add a bit of water to make it a little moist. But not too much. Then I add more paper, a layer of leaves, and a bit more water. Just a small sprinkle is all you need. To give your worm babies a soft bed to lie in add a layer of compost. I’m using organic mushroom compost, which you can find at your local garden store. Regular organic compost will do as well.

I had some leftover seed starting mix so I threw that in there too. Then to help the worms grind the food I add some egg shells. These are a bit large so next time I’d grind them in my Vitamix. I’m sure you could use a regular blender as well. And coffee grinds are really great for worms to grind their food. Pun totally intended! Here I’m adding some that I put in the freezer. When I feed my worms I’m usually taking out scraps from my freezer that I saved for them. That way when it melts in the bin it creates a bit of moisture for them and you don’t have to add extra water to it. I love this method.

woman layering worm bin with food scraps

Then I add another layer of the compost. This reminds me of the lasagna layering method we used for our outdoor compost bin. The final step which I consider their covering or blanket is leaves.

BUILDING TEMPORARY BARN STYLE GARAGE DOORS

Nate wanted to remove the main garage door in the front so he could continue to work on repairs inside the garage. So, he decided to build temporary barn style doors in the front. They turned out really great. Another diy handmade project around here!

Materials & Tools We Used

Seed Starting Soil: I used this soil to start my seeds. I also tossed some in my worm bin to give my worm babies soft bedding in addition to the compost I added.
Garden Tool Set: I used the little shovel to help me sift my vermicompost and spread it in the garden.
Garden Hat: Great for gardening during those sunny days! Protect yourself! And it’s stylish enough for beach days as well.
Garden Gloves: I’m always using these no matter what the garden task is.
Grow Bags: Great for planting crops that you don’t want to spread all over your garden. Like mint and strawberries!
Paint Roller: Nate used this to prime the barn style garage doors he built.

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CHECK OUT OUR VIDEOS

Thanks for joining us on this journey! We hope that you will find inspiration watching us learn as we go while we’re attempting to renovate and rebuild this old small historic cottage mostly on our own~ while working full time jobs! Stay tuned for more progress updates ahead. Read more about us here.

You can also watch a video about this here.