Compost "Worm"

I got an amazing addition to my garden toolbox last week - the Compost Worm, invented by Dion Kentwell in Newcastle. A retired engineer, Dion named the device 'Worm' to describe the way it 'screws' down inside the material (apparently this is common engineer-speak). You could also call it the Compost Corkscrew - it corkscrews down into the compost just like into an old-fashioned bottle of wine, then you pull it up again in order to aerate the contents, and corkscrew the other way to let all the material go again.

The problem with composting when you don't have any garden waste or chicken manure or anything going into it is that all the kitchen waste on its own just sits there, compacting into a really horrid substance. This is the case with me (renting a house with a professionally maintained garden) just as it is in an urban environment.

I knew I had to do something with my compost but was a bit stumped. A weekly pitchforking was recommended, but I didn't own one. Besides, where would I put everything I upended with the pitchfork? I could hardly wield one in my 30 weeks pregnant state, either.

Enter the Compost Worm and its amazing ability to turn a solid, slimy smelly mass into aerated, tossed and pleasant-smelling humus.

You can get quite warm operating it (great in the cold weather right now) but it isn't as physically demanding as pitchforking :)

Broccoli thief

What sort of garden pest do you think left this damage?



I already do a daily check for those little green caterpillars (a garlic spray - made by blending up a few cloves of garlic with hot water in the blender, then straining into a spray bottle - is good for these). But I'm not sure how to deal with the current broccoli thief...



I like how he seems to think he's a Very Hungry Caterpillar; holding his hands well away while he just uses his big new teeth to chomp into the tenderest spot of the floret.

I live in a rented house and we're not allowed to plant anything into the beautiful low-maintenance native garden. So I use these white insulated boxes that you can pick up at the vegetable store. I'm not sure what they're made of or how easily they break down into the environment (need to find out!). However, they are great for growing vegies, particularly in winter, when the material they're made of really work well to insulate winter seedlings from the cold.

It didn't matter about the loss of the broccoli in the end. Last Thursday we had a freak hailstorm with stones 3 cm in diameter, that decimated my garden. This was only a few days before the official start of summer!