Retaining Wall, Dirt, and a Worm Update

Today I finished breaking up the fill dirt behind the new retaining wall. I am getting pretty good with a mattocks. The wall is nearly 40 feet long and I've already broken up and amended and back-filled about half that. Because of the way the ground slopes behind the wall, I'll need significantly more soil for the second half. Before I fill it, however, I still need to pass all the broken up dirt through a screen to filter out larger rocks. I let these rocks rest against the backside of the retaining wall to improve drainage. This is nice because I think it'll make the overall structure better and because it keeps me from having to haul rocks around the property. Been there; done that.

Dirt / Soil Analysis

Also today, I sent three cups of soil taken from "root level" in five different locations in the main vegetable garden to Twiss Analytical Laboratories down in Poulsbo. They'll do a comprehensive analysis of the soil and report back on a recommended amendment program. It is clear at this point that the garden isn't doing so hot.

Although I'd of course prefer to see thriving vegetables right now, I am not at all discouraged. We started, after all, with very poor fill dirt in the main garden. We're talking essentially zero organic material: mostly sand, gravel, big rocks, and some hard clay-like stuff. It was compacted and very difficult to work. Now I've gotten it all broken up and have a lot of organic material added in. A few years of organic gardening with lots of real compost and it'll be excellent soil, but it will be good to get a real analysis done so that we have a good understanding of our starting point.

This makes me wish we had some chickens & rabbits. Their droppings, added to the compost mix, are a good thing. Maybe some day.

(Marginally) Funny Story:

As per the instructions from the lady at Twiss Labs, I loaded my three cups of dirt in a zip-lock bag, put my payment and typed instructions (and contact information) in an envelope, and packed the whole thing into a small box. Then I took the box to the local post office to mail it.

The lady behind the counter asked me if there were anything "breakable, perishable, or hazardous" in my package. I said, "No." She asked if I wanted to insure it against loss or breakage. I said, "No, thanks." She weighed the package and printed out the postage sticker. As she was applying the sticker, she noticed the "To:" line on the label:

Twiss Analytical Labs

She suddenly got tense. You could just see the wheels turning in her head. Labs... Labs. Science. Danger!

"Uh, this is going to a Lab. What's in it?" she asked, obviously worried.

"It's dirt. From my garden. I'm having a soil analysis done because the plants aren't growing so well."

She practically sighed with relief.

I followed up with, "That's why I didn't think I needed to insure it against loss or damage."

Tension bubble pops! She laughs. Smiles. Happy moment at the Post Office Window. Shucks, I smile a bit as I type this.

On to the worms...

Ned, one of my regular yoga students, has had some success with vermiculture. Since my worms seem to be ignoring the food I put in the bin, I asked him how he feeds his worms. Ned says that he digs a hole in the material in his worm bin, adds some shredded newspaper, dumps his kitchen waste on top, and then covers it up with soil from the bin. It sounds as if his bin is similar in size to mine. Tonight I tried this "algorithm" in our worm bin. Let's see if the little guys figure out what they're supposed to be doing.