Living in a condo, I don't have a lot of space, so I sometimes need to get creative with my gardening. I can't imagine a garden without compost, but did not have a large permanent place for a compost pile, so I took a large black pot that had once held a tree and I started using it for composting. The idea worked very well -- with added benefits. I had placed the pot in my rose bed. Earthworms quickly found their way up into the pot from the drainage holes in the bottom of the pot. They delighted in the constant supply of fresh kitchen and yard waste that I kept putting into the pot, especially my coffee grounds, banana peels, and egg shells. Soon, I had an entire nursery of baby wrigglers, and my kitchen/yard waste was rapidly composted and became full of earthworm castings. Then, I had another idea: I had a rose bush that was not doing very well, so I moved my compost pot next to the rose bush during the rainy season. Nutrients must have drained out of the bottom of the pot, and baby earthworms made their way back out of the bucket and into my rose bed. Soon I noticed a great improvement in the rose bush, and a definite increase in the number of earthworms. It seems that this was a win-win situation: I was breeding earthworms, composting, and improving my soil -- all at the same time! This summer my composting pot is moving again. I have another bed that needs some soil improvement and is lacking in earthworms. What an easy way to improve my soil!
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