Angus Stewart | Public figure

Angus Stewart

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24.01.2022 This handy little tool is called the Compost Mate but it also fits nicely inside the Tumbleweed worm buffet. By twisting it down into the contents of the in ground worm farm, we can have a good look at what’s going on in there with a little sample plug. Plenty of worm activity and after a lot of rain, everything is looking quite damp. Time to add some ripped up corrugated cardboard to help soak up some of the excess moisture. Also, a few more twists and turns of the Compost Mate to help aerate it.

23.01.2022 In ground worm farms like this Tumbleweed Worm Buffet are a great option for those wishing to keep things nice and simple. All you need to do is pop your biodegradable scraps in and let the worms do the rest. There are lots of holes in the buried part of the worm farm and a large opening at the bottom so that the worms can come and go as they please into the surrounding soil, distributing their highly fertile castings as they go and also creating little tunnels for water, ox...ygen and nutrient flow, a recipe for the dynamic growth you can see around this unit. The fact that the worms are below the soil surface also has the added benefit of allowing the worms to escape extreme temperatures if needed by burrowing to a lower depth where the soil temperature is more even all year round. If you like the idea of having a worm farm, but don’t want to worry about maintenance such as harvesting worm castings or rotating the levels of an above ground unit, then an in-ground worm farm could be just the solution you’re looking for. It's just like having a bin in the garden that you never have to put out onto the street. Think about all the household arguments that might save! Not to mention saving the planet See more

20.01.2022 Repost from Cool Country Natives, Canberra of Melaleuca fulgens ‘Red,’ commonly known as Scarlet Honey Myrtle, putting on a great display this afternoon. A beautiful bush growing around 2.5m high by about 1.5m wide in full sun. Great option for those keen to attract birds to their garden.

18.01.2022 Three weeks ago, I made a post about squeezing some tomato seeds into compost left on the ground from moving the Gedye bin. Here’s a quick update of how they are doing. They have sprouted and there’s lots of healthy growth. There are obviously way too many for the small space so I will soon be thinning out the weakest ones and letting the stronger, larger plants grow on. But already the vigorous extremely healthy growth is demonstrating how important adding well rotted, mature compost to vegetable garden soil is for growing high maintenance crops like tomatoes. Watch this space.

15.01.2022 Last week I shared one method of harvesting worm castings, but it’s certainly not the only way to do it. Here’s a different way that I have also found works quite well: Swap the top tray (where the scraps go) with one of the middle trays that has contains castings. Gently push all the casings to one side of the tray. Do this carefully because there is most likely a few worms hanging out in the castings. Once the castings are mounded to one side of the tray, put a good amount ...of appetising scraps (such as horse/cow manure mixed with old straw, avocado, pineapple or any other food you have observed your worms to like best) to the bare side of the tray. The idea behind this is to attract the worms out of the castings and over to the food. It might take a couple of days for the worms to migrate out of the castings towards the scraps, but once they do, you are able to harvest the castings without having to pick out too many stray worms. See more

12.01.2022 My kangaroo paws are out of control at the moment. In the best possible way.

10.01.2022 One more method of harvesting worm castings to share with you all. The idea behind this method is to build mounds of worm castings. The worms will want to move away from light and exposure (which can cause them to dry out) by burrowing down into the bottom of the mounds where the castings are thicker and give them more protection. This is how I did it: I took off the top layer of the worm farm (where the fresh scraps go),exposing one of my middle layers that had plenty of cas...tings ready for harvest. I could see a lot of worms wriggling about in the castings.I used the lid of my worm farm as the base for my mounds,because I wanted to relocate the worms to one of my in ground worm farms,but alternatively, you could build the mounds in the castings tray itself. It all depends if you want the worms in your castings to be returned to the farm they came from, or to be used elsewhere. So,once I had my castings tray ready,I put on some gloves and began to build worm casting mounds.I channeled the inner sculptor as I created the mounds and it was quite satisfying watching the exposed worms wriggle deep into the castings.Once I was happy with my artistic work,I left the mounds for about ten minutes to allow the worms time to burrow as deep as they can.I did not do this in direct sunlight as I didn’t want my mounds drying out too much and didn’t want any harm to come to my little heat and light sensitive friends. After 10 mins,I started harvesting castings.I took the tops off my mounds and there was not one worm to be seen!I continued to harvest castings until my mounds were about half the size.It was here I began to see some worms and my sculpted mounds were looking rather flat.I piled the remaining castings and worms into one final mound.I left this for another ten minutes and came back to harvest the castings.I started from the top of my mound and worked my way down to the bottom.Once again, I found not one stray worm, until I was about 4-5cm from the bottom of the mound. At this point, all that was left was a ball of worms! See more

10.01.2022 The Spring Wild Pollinator Count 2020 begins today (8th - 15th November.) It’s a wonderful opportunity for each of us to contribute to wild pollinator insect conservation in Australia. And also take the opportunity to slow down and be part of nature such as watching this blue banded bee going about its work. The good news though is you don’t need any specialised gear or any prior knowledge of insects to be involved. All you need to do is watch any flowering plant for just 10 mins in the count week and submit your observations via this link: https://wildpollinatorcount.com/

06.01.2022 With many, areas in Australia expecting heat wave conditions over the weekend, it pays to be prepared. Compost worms such as tiger and red worms can be really affected by heat waves, especially if your worm farm is outdoors. If it is black in colour it will heat up very quickly and can kill all your worms if you don't take measures to cool them down. This happened to me about 15 years ago and taught me a lesson and so I’ve got some cool ideas (groan for the Dad joke) to share in an article on my website that have helped my own worm farms survive these extremes and can hopefully help yours too. Some of them require preparation in the freezer, so I’m posting this today so you’re armed and ready for tomorrow. For those interested to read more, here’s the link: https://www.gardeningwithangus.com.au/how-to-keep-your-wor/

06.01.2022 Biodegrability! What sort of clothing will break down at the end of its useful life in a worm farm??? I bought these socks thinking they were biodegradable as the label said "cotton rich", hmmm what does that mean I wonder. When they got holes, into the worm farm they went. They have been in there for 6 months now and unfortunately I think it’s safe to say after this length of time, they are not made from fully biodegradable materials. Experiments I have done with clothes m...ade from natural fibres like cotton have broken down by this sort of time frame. There are a few extra holes where some cotton may have been as part of a blend, perhaps with an artificial fibre like nylon, but overall not what I would call biodegradable. The moral of the story is that next time I will look for 100% natural fibre such as cotton or wool. Synthetic fibres may be cheaper on the hip pocket but ultimately the cost to the environment is too great for my liking as I always want to recycle my used clothes in the compost bin or worm farm. See more

05.01.2022 Over the last few weeks I’ve been sharing a few different ways of harvesting worm castings. I have put all the information into an article on my website for those who might want a quick and easy reference: https://www.gardeningwithangus.com.au/harvesting-worm-cast/ If you have a different way of harvesting castings from the worm farm, I’d love you to share it! Put it up in the comments, or tag me in your own social media post about it.

03.01.2022 Repost from Newcastle Wildflower Nursery of Casurina glauca 'Cousin It' fully gown and in all its glory. These plants are literally in a garden facing Lake Macquarie showing that they can thrive in coastal conditions as well as anywhere.

02.01.2022 I touched on this a while back, but it’s been coming up a lot lately in the comments, so thought it worth revisiting. If you ar using a multi level worm farm have you ever wondered why it has up to three levels? Each level/layer has its role and this simple diagram may help explain the different functions of each one. I have an article on my website that delves deeper into explaining in more detail, so if you would like to learn more, click on the link below: https://www.gardeningwithangus.com.au/managing-multi-level/