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Spring 2021 – Let’s Rethink How We Garden

spring 2021

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Organic Land Care & Garden Maintenance

 

Residential backyard with pond in the foreground organic lawn spring 2021
Self-watering garden bed on a back deck organic lawn spring 2021

  

Land Care Organically for Spring 2021

    

The name Eat MY Shrubs came from the idea that we can plant beautiful gardens that are completely edible!  

Growing food does not have to be in a rectangular shaped, tilled-row garden.  In fact, the best gardens are interplanted species, or polycultures.  

This is because some plants are only there to benefit  the plants that we really want.  They may attract beneficial insects, or fool herbaceous animals away from other plants.  Also, all this can be achieved without the use of harmful chemicals. Practices that destroy (what we now have come to realize is) the delicate balance of life in the soil, can also be a thing of the past.

Spending time outside on your property, no matter the size or setting, has a positive effect on your health and well being. Choosing to practice organic land care is not only important if your growing food.  Ornamental gardens, meant to be a relaxing setting, can be anything but. Especially if your are spraying chemicals everywhere to make it look good and keep the mosquitos away.

Endless pulling of plants and spraying compacted ground is not going to keep the tap roots like thistle and dandelions away. But, relieving the compaction and improving the microbial life, that increase the water and air holding ability of the soil, that will. It just takes a bit of time.

Using organic, regenerative practices for Spring 2021

By using organic, regenerative practices, the soil begins to come alive once again. These rushed practices and instant remedies to our properties over the years have stripped most of the life away from the soil. There is endless evidence of this. However, every spring herbicides and pesticides, unnecessary fertilizers and enhancers, are sprayed and sprinkled all over the soil. Killing many beneficial animals, fungi, and bacteria. They then work all summer to recover their population. Freeze or go dormant in the winter, and be bombarded again in the spring with another dose.

Organic & regenerative gardening teaches that everything on the landscape is there for a reason. Once you realize what that reason is. Altering something in the land to discourage or encourage what we want, will be much less daunting, and deadly. We must then work with the garden to come to some sort of agreement. Give the microbes and fungi the food they need. And then deprive the microbes and fungi that we do not want of their food. Stacking the deck for the beneficial life to win. Then in turn, we get the results we desire, or some form of them.

“Not only are they beautiful, but you can Eat MY Shrubs”

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The Goal Achieved!!

The goal map 2020

The Goal

Last January I set a modest goal of doubling the traffic on the website www.eatmyshrubs.com. I had learned a lot in 2019 about website development and content, and I was sure that I could do it. The numbers are not large. There were 323 visitors and 705 page views in 2019. Probably the same number that Amazon has in the time it takes to type 323, but that is not the point. I am not competing with anyone. I started the website in 2014 and did not have an actual human on it until 2017, when I started to take it seriously and saw the use in having a website. That is when I started to learn about the inner workings of a website.

It can be a whole other world, with its own language and slang. When you get up in the morning to work on your latest addition, only to find the whole site is down. Trying to figure out why, how to fix it and prevent it from happening again, can be like falling down a rabbit hole at times.

The Modern Day “The Butcher, The Baker & Candlestick Maker”

Running your own business in this age is a daunting task even once it is established. Building a business is not for the faint of heart. After working all day and week doing the actual physical work, you then have to do the “business” side of things. Invoicing and estimating, planning and coordinating, marketing and sales. My wife (who also runs her own separate business) and I chuckle a bit at the mention of a weekend. Whats a weekend?

As an organic gardener with many years of landscaping and earthworks experience, website development and maintenance was not, and is not, my forte. Heck I used spelling and grammar correct twice on that past sentence, but here it is.

Back in October when I finally surpassed the views goal of 1410, double the 705 for 2019, I took a screen shot of my WordPress stats page. I had reached the visitor milestone a few weeks before, but I waited until both goals were reached to take the pic. Super Pumped!!

The goal stats page

Lets Not Stop There

So I thought at 864 in October, lets see if we can get 1000 visitors and 2000 views. The goal was reached already of doubling the previous years numbers, so why not right? I do think the 2000 views may be a bit lofty, but yesterday, with 11 days to spare!

The goal second stats page

BAM!!!!!

1000 visitors. I can’t thank everyone enough. The coolest part of having a website for me is this below:

As one might expect, most of the traffic is coming from North America. Thank You fellow North Americans! But, of the 195 or so countries in the world. 61 of them are represented on this map. 61 countries!!! Thats so cool!

THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!

The Goal 2021

So what’s next? Well, we moved! Still located and based out of High River, Canada, we moved to a bigger location with room to expand both (Eat My Shrubs Organic Land Care & DJ Wellness Consulting) of our businesses.

Consider these some of the before pictures from our yard. Check out the website for future blog posts and follow me on Instagram to watch the development of this bare, canine destroyed lot into something (hopefully) beautiful, organic, and self-sustaining.

As far as website goals. Lets try for 2000 visitors from 98 countries in 2021. I think we can make it happen. Woo Hoo!!

If you are still reading this, happy holidays wherever your are, be healthy, and all the best in 2021!!

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Not only are they beautiful. You can Eat My Shrubs!
SOUL logo Organic Urban Land Care
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Composting for Small Spaces & Small Gardens

Composting for small spaces and small gardens can be tough. If you are a family that lives in an apartment or townhouse in an urban setting, your garden space, if any, is more than likely on the smaller scale. When this is the case, trying to squeeze in a 3-bin compost bin that measures 3m X 1m is pricey real estate to give up. Compost is by far the best thing you can add to the soil in your garden. Hands down. No argument. So what is a person to do?

Compost inside!?!

But, if you can’t fit a 3-bin system in your yard, can you fit one in the kitchen?

Just kidding. I am talking about composting inside, year-round, with worms.

worm close up composting for small spaces

Wait!!!

Don’t Go!!! Just wait!

A lot of people I have talked to, love seeing the worm bins at the market and in classrooms. But, when it comes to having them in our house. Many people get a little…squeamish.

worm compost for small places

“How do I get the compost out? ” & ” Do you have to pick out each worm?” Are questions I get asked a lot.

If you have not seen them before, allow me to introduce you to the migration system for worm composting!

Worm Composting – The Migration System

The migration system of composting with worms takes all the squeamish work out of harvesting the finished compost. Though, I would still recommend a pair of gloves, it is a great way of composting in small spaces. The key aspect to this system is the screen divider that splits the bin in half. Because of this divider, the worm farmer (that’s us) can use the natural tendency of the worms to move, or migrate, toward a food source.

The inside is lined with a poly film to protect both the wood from moisture but also, I have heard the worms don’t like cedar, so its a double purpose I guess.

How it works.

Really, the migration system can be used in any worm composting container. Simply make a screen divider that will fit snuggly into your worm bin. I construct bins to have a permanent divider built in. This just allows for more aggressive turning of the compost as it is being made. With the divider in the midway point in the bin, it is easy to divide the compost bin into 2 halves.

The worms do not know the difference!

I have been composting with worms for about 12 years. I have looked at them under microscopes and collected eggs from under layers of plastic when a hole was found in a liner. My kids do everything but name the worms as we feed them, so I can say this with a lot of confidence.

worm egg compost for small spaces

I’m pretty sure the worms have no idea the screen is even there!

divider compost for small spaces

It’s just a way for us to divide the working compost from the finished compost.

Feed the worms on one side of the screen and then, when that side is getting full, start feeding them on the other side of the screen. The worms will migrate to the new food source as the old food source is eaten. This will leave finished compost, virtually worm-free.

Finished compost close up

Basically, once you get into a rhythm, just move the food source from one side of the screen to the other. It’s actually kind of fun to watch the worms move from one side to the other. It is as close to communicating with the worms as (I think) we can get.

Worm composting can be a great addition for kids around 10 years old as well. They can have a thousand little pets! They need to be fed once a week at the most, but can go 3 weeks once they get established. It all depends on the quantity of food. The worms will never run away. They will only survive for a few minutes out of the compost. And, every few months you empty their bin of some of the best, organic soil amendment money can buy.

For free!

Visit eatmyshrubs.com to learn more about composting with worms (and other methods)!