About Vermicasting

Vermicasting, done in a systematic way, transforms food waste into a rich, odorless fertilizer, and quite fast. Dr. Hala Chaoui from Urban Farms Organic, Inc. (UFO) explains how to use free tools developed by UFO to design your own effective vermicasting system.

Food scraps can be processed through earthworms into a rich fertilizer which is called vermicasting. Vermicasting is a wonderful source of fertilizer for balcony gardeners. Earthworm casts (vermicast) are a nutritious organic fertilizer for houseplants too. A vermicasting system can be sized to process the daily food scraps of small or large households and can be set up indoors or outdoors (on a balcony!). 

Start Seeds Indoors in Four Simple Steps

By Steven Biggs

 I can still picture my grandfather fetching a plastic washbasin from the laundry room. We were planting tomato seeds indoors—and didn’t have any trays or pots. It didn’t bother him. He added a few handfuls of potting soil to the basin, tore open the seed packet, casually sprinkled on some seeds, and encouraged me to sprinkle on a few more. We covered them with a bit of soil and were done, except for a label made from masking tape.

Vegetables and Herbs to Grow on Balconies

Mary Brittain from The Cottage Gardener suggests the following vegetables and herbs that grow well on balconies. The Cottage Gardener is an heirloom seedhouse and plant nursery in south-central Ontario — www.cottagegardener.com

Container balcony gardening is very different from regular gardening in a few key ways:

Balcony Composting

Making a balcony composter can be easy. Marco Pagliarulo offers the following guidelines to make one like that shown in “A Downtown, South-facing Balcony, 5th floor”. Marco developed this composter with some ideas he found on the web, adding his own modifications.