More Earthworm and Compost Questions

One question came in from Facebook - what about a large supply of coffee grounds, pounds and pounds from Starbucks? Aren't earthworms crazy about coffee grounds?

Earthworms love just about anything organic, but they do not actually digest the material. They graze on bacteria that digest what goes into the earthworm's tubular system. The earthworm breaks down organic matter, with a crop or grinder filled with little stones, to make it easier for bacteria to attack the food they both need.

The earthworm is a series of rings of muscles with bristles. These bristles on the muscular rings move the earthworm smoothly through soil and resist being pulled out of the soil by birds or humans.

The earthworms produce Caltrate (TM) with their calciferous glands. OK, it is calcium carbonate, but I remember Caltrate more easily. The tiny kidneys excrete nitrogen compounds into the soil, and the castings leaving the earthworm form an ideal soil.

Big-eyed bugs are beneficial insects easily overlooked.

I have mold under my cardboard. Is that bad?
The idea behind the mulch, which God builds naturally under every plant and tree, is to:

1. Provide organic products for the needs of the plant.
2. Conserve moisture in the soil.
3. Reduce weed competition.
4. Attract beneficial bugs and birds to help the plant grow.

That mold is part of the decomposing process that can be enhanced with waste products, like:

• Cardboard, newspapers.
• Leaves and sawdust.
• Wood mulch.
• Animal manure, but not cat or dog manure.
• Kitchen waste, minus meat and grease.

Mold attracts mold-eaters that digest it. Once digested, the mold-eaters are devoured. Every creature of decomposition is food for another, even the lowly slug. I once read that only ducks eat slugs, but that is not so. Various beetles eat slugs. Otherwise, slugs would overcome the world, just as bacteria would without the protozoa to keeps its numbers down.

Fungus is the champion decomposer, using its microscopic tube system to deliver the dissolved ingredients to plant roots. In turn, the plant roots offer carbon that the fungus must have to grow. God has not only engineered a fascinating system for building soil, but also manages it without our intervention. Sometimes God manages His improvements in spite of our meddling.

My favorite rose grower in a magazine wrote, "I keep putting chemical fertilizer on my roses, but they keep getting worse and do not produce. Should I go organic like my friends? They have lots of roses and never use chemicals at all."

Neither does Queen Elizabeth II, and her private gardens are a mecca for all wildlife.

So we try to balance the earthworm feast a bit, simply because its effect mixing and improving gets better with a tiny bit of help from us. For example, if we have access to rabbit, cow, or horse manure, that means addition ingredients - and lots of bacteria - for the earthworms to process.

As I told the person who IMed me, the wonderful thing about earthworms in clay is their ability to release even more nutrition from the clay to plants. Adding a load of organic matter will make the earthworms multiply and pull down the ingredients while making soil more amenable to digging, tunneling, and soil roots.

Organic matter holds water, sponge-like, and contains a wealth of compounds for the plants. A mix of organic additions will increase the array of these compounds, but one can go far simply with leaves, paper, and cardboard.

My unscientific formula is - one pound of organics (newspaper, cardboard, wood mulch, leaves) = one pound of excellent soil, due to earthworm digging and excretion. Therefore, I am always adding rather than taking away.

God adds to the soil over time by building up plants and trees that rain down material on the soil. The bio-mass increases as plants grow, penetrate the soil with their roots, rot back into the soil, and feed the creatures that helped give them nutrition in the first place.

Dill flowers and its cousins benefit
the insects that protect our favorite flowers.

Midland Experiment
I began organic gardening in Midland, Michigan, so I decided to make one small piece of land my earthworm paradise. I put all the kitchen trash in a small patch near the kitchen entrance. I kept putting grass, kitchen trash, everything, into that soil.

Two things happened. The first - the soil seemed to be almost all earthworms as they multiplied to process all the food. The second - the birds gathered in a tree overlooking that spot whenever I went out to dig. They chortled among themselves contently, looking forward to the extra food I was disturbing for their enjoyment. It became a favorite spot for them to eat, but they always left gifts behind to feed the survivors of their snacking routine.

This was repeated when we put children's swimming pools under the rabbit cages. We put soil and earthworms in each pool. The soil became a mass of well-fed earthworms, and this Rabbit-Gro was put in the gardens and replaced with less potent soil and an initial lump of earthworms to tend it.

The worms kept the area beneath the rabbits sanitary, and the worms were promoted to compost duties and garden chores.

Birds plant pokeberry for me,
and I grow it because so many birds enjoy the fruit.

Relaxing Work at the Jackson Rose Farm

The car.

The rose - developed
by Dr. Walter Lammerts, Creation scientist.

Predictions of rain on Friday and Saturday moved me to get some gardening done. Every day I look at two weather websites and check the barometer. The last storm spared us the brutal winds  that were only 20 miles north of us. That storm followed a rapid drop in the barometer, and it has stayed that low. A needle marks the last reading.

I planted the dappled willows across the backyard, which will form a rapidly growing screen to block the view on the West and perhaps decrease the excitement of the dogs who guard their fences. Two chihuahuas are sure I am ready to vault the fence and invade their territory.

I was digging through the cardboard and leaves from last autumn's effort. The soil was soft and well worked by the earthworms, which were abundant with every move of the shovel. When I received my double shipment from Uncle Jim's Worm Farm, I scattered  some along the perimeter of the yard and the house.

I packed some seeds in my work-sweats and added some more Bee Balm to the yard. I planted more milkweed for the Monarch butterflies and Scarlet Runner beans for the hummingbirds. Some fully mature beans were still in their pods on the fence, so I crumpled them into the soil as well. Some beans left? I dug those in, around the tall elderberry plants, which are starting to bloom.

God's overwhelming abundance is everywhere in His Creation. The gardeners and farmers think of the tons of fertilizer that come down with each rainfall. I also see it in the vitality of the plants first placed last year. Blackberries planted on one side of the house have moved around to two other sides of the house, rounding the corners and taking up their new positions.

God created each form of life as an opportunist. Most of the world's population lives within 100 miles of the coasts, because a vast food supply is available, ready to be fished. Each plant has a soil, weather, and sunlight preference, so it will take over the time and place allotted for its growth.

Pokeweed's blossoms foreshadow
the form of their red berries.

Weeds fascinate me because they grow unbidden and often have hidden value. They either arrive on the wind or secondarily through the birds of the air. Pokeweed beries (toxic to us) are loved by dozens of birds, so they are planted everywhere and grow up to 8 feet tall, even in the shade. Why should I fill the bird-feeders and cut down the pokeweed in the wild garden?

One gardening article said, "If you want plants favored by birds, just build a perch across one part of your wild garden. The birds will plant their favorite foods while resting." One suggestion was stretching a wire across the area. I planted a tree stump with many branches coming from it,, between two Butterfly bushes in the backyard fence area. The perches allow places for various birds to rest and preen, or watch for prey in the target-rich environment of thick autumn leaves, cardboard, and tall grass.

One indignant reader asked why I would plant roses around a maple tree - too much shade, too many roots. To top it off, he did not want to deal with thick, heavy clay soil. I planted 20 roses around the maple tree for several reasons:

1. My wife suggested it, and her gardening ideas are great, even when causing backbreaking labor.
2. The area was once a hideous mass of weeds, suckers, and forgotten trash.
3. I had no better area for rose farm expansion.

The 20 roses last year were special offers via Gurney's and Weeks roses. They cost $5 each so the gamble was a small one. Placing them around the maple tree meant the entire area would be groomed all the time - mulched, weeded, and trimmed. Shade is not an issue, since the Army Ranger trimmed the tree's branches back, as high as he could safely go.

Clay soil is the best, but difficult to work without planning. Mr. Gardener rototills and confesses, "It only makes the soil worse." Indeed.

I put hundreds of gardeners to work instead. I sprinkled red wiggler earthworms around the tree. We dumped 10 bags of mushroom compost around where the roses would go, then covered the mushroom compost with 10 bags of wood mulch.

As I feared, digging into maple roots close to the tree was tough. I bought tools to hack, pry, and cut the roots. I worked the first ten roses into this mixture last year. Our helper did the second ten this year, using twine and screw-hooks to measure the same distance from the tree.

All 20 roses had their start last year, so all 20 are now budding and blooming. Some of my first roses cut came from the maple tree rose garden. I took one gold rose called Strike It Rich, several yellow roses, and bi-colored orange roses to the chiro's office. For perfume I cut a Mr. Lincoln from the fence garden in the back. The office was all excited by the roses and the fragrance of Mr. Lincoln, truly a giant rose that grows on gigantic canes.

Rose Intensive Care
One way to increase rose production is taking care of the plants that are slow or not growing after their initial week or two. My ambulance consists of a wheelbarrow, a plastic wastebasket full of rain water, and rose shears.

The rainwater is gathered in the back, so I bring it to the front on the wheelbarrow. The wastebasket limits sloshing and makes it easy to dip a  gallon at a time, using a former ice tea maker. The shears are used to remove dead wood from new and old bushes. Cutting roses makes them grow, so this always spurs growth.

Dead wood will never revive and let growth happen at the end of the branch, so snipping it away has a triple benefit:

• All pruning will enhance rose growth.
• The dead wood was not going to become alive again.
• Letting dead wood remain on a rose will sap its energy. See John 15:1-8.

Pouring water all over the rose canes gives the entire plant water and fertilizer at once. The canes need the water. The roots grow more with the water. Feeding the plant natural, mild, non-toxic nutrition will benefit the the roots, canes, and the soil creatures at the same time.

Thunder rolled and the rain began to fall
as soon as I was finished posting this.

St. Marcus Calls Erin Hollmann To Be Principal

Call Meeting Results

On Sunday, April 10th, congregational members gathered for a special Call Meeting in order to extend two calls – one for a St. Marcus School Main Campus Principal for grades 1-8 and the second for a Pastor of Outreach.

Mr. Tyson explained the reasons for extending this call for principal and then presented the list of candidates. After members shared thoughts, offered comments and asked questions, it was apparent that there was a clear consensus to call Ms. Erin Hollmann. Ms. Hollmann is a member of St. Marcus and is currently serving as the Director of Primary Grades in our school.

Background  - St. Marcus School is splitting the School Principal role into two focuses. Jon Boche, who has served as Principal for 8 years, will be assuming the role of Director of Recruitment and Staff Development. He will focus on staff recruitment and development, interface with the synod, work directly with staff, students and parents, tour groups and implementing areas of the school’s strategic plan. Jon will remain in his current position until someone accepts the call to serve as Principal. The Principal role will focus solely on culture, academics and behavior. The Principal will provide overall school vision, train, develop and support a team of directors and will lead school wide events and initiatives. The North Campus will continue to be led by Principal April Richter and the Kindergarten team will continue to be led by Mrs. Kristy Wegner.

Pastor Hein then explained how we are restructuring pastor roles and responsibilities and how a Pastor of Outreach will fit. After some clarification and questions, members considered the list of pastor candidates presented by our District Praesidium. Again, everyone shared their thoughts, offered comments and asked still more questions, eventually identifying Pastor Clark Schultz as their choice to fill this position. Since 2005, Pastor Schultz has been serving as a Religion Instructor at Lakeside Lutheran High School in Lake Mills, WI. Pastor Schultz is married to Kristin and they have two children.

Background -  Historically, St. Marcus has had school pastors and church pastors. Going forward, all pastors at St. Marcus will have a role in both the church and the school with clearly defined responsibilities for each. Some of the Pastor of Outreach’s responsibilities will be to: drive School evangelism, manage Catechism class and youth confirmation in November, provide additional Word of God tutoring for students, teach new member classes, provide staff one-on-one discipleship, deliver some sermons and assist with chapel.

The division of time is expected to be: 40% church / 60% school. Assisting with general member care (particularly those with school background), service projects and advising our Church Council will fill much of the church percentage.

Please include Ms. Hollmann and Pastor and Kristin Schultz in your prayers as they now prayerfully consider their calls and determine where the Lord can make the best use of their gifts and ministry experience.