Ann, thanks for that link. I'd looked up some DIY vermicomposting guides before, but always held off on doing it. I can't promise I'll start now, but your post (and you) have reinspired me.
Elaine, yeah, it sometimes astounds me how much compost some folk can gather. 25 years ago, as a kid on Long Island, I remember my mom having a compost pile in the yard. It practically looked like a hay bale, and you could just see the smoke rising from it on cool mornings. I don't think I could pay for a pile that heats up and breaks down like that. Not anymore lol.
Hetty, I'm a regular customer at a Starbucks on the way to one of my jobs. I collect 30lb bags of grounds from them regularly. Unfortunately, they rarely make it to the compost pile, as I have so much real estate that needs the additives.
The biggest problem I've faced as a new gardener is the fact I was a new gardener. With big ideas, lofty goals, and little patience, I had A LOT of work to do, and not a lot of time to get started. I've built or torn down multiple beds since starting in July, and there's only so many bags of leaves, compost piles, or affordable amendments one can purchase before they run out of resources. That Tropical Bed photo was my "big" recent project, but I've had so many projects underway that every bag of leaves gets turned into groundcover immediately, or every bag of coffee grounds gets mixed into the cups of my bromeliads, etc.
I can't wait till everything is "done", and I can simply focus on stockpiling and tending to what's already there...for awhile
Btw- thanks so much to everyone who has been conversing with me. I really do apologize for carrying on and on. I feel like I've thoroughly derailed what should be a generic welcome aboard thread
