Microgreens, worm compost and cherry tomatoes

This week's tips are based on tips from `The Vertical Veg' by Mark Ridsdill Smith

wigglers. Keep the area moist and, within three months, “you’ll have a jillion worms,” East said.

Worms create the perfect soil amendment. Twice a year, East would dig 12large-size wheelbarrows of earthworm culture out of his worm farm. He used it both as a soil conditioner and as a top dressing for fruit trees, vegetables and flowers.

Stepping on the edge of a newly planted strawberry patch, my shoe sank several inches into the buttery soil. A bed of asparagus planted a few months earlier was already producing tender spears an inch thick — a result not ordinarily achieved until two years or more after planting. Two artichoke plants that produced 150artichokes between them the previous year were sporting new growth.

“My plants are always healthy,” East enthused. “I give them nothing but earthworm culture; I never use chemicals and I never see any insect pests.”

I took a shovel to see how far I could dig in unimproved Saugus soil. I dug 3 to 4 inches before meeting an impenetrable layer of rock and sand. But when I dug into soil improved with worm compost, the shovel went down 8inches at least; the color was dark and the smell was sweet, just like finished compost.

Earthworm culture is not only of value in the edible garden. East used it as a medium for rooting hardwood cuttings of red flame grapes, as well as for rooting cuttings of indoor plants such as fiddle leaf fig (Ficus lyrata) and dragon tree (Dracaena marginata).

Tasty mouthful: The leaves of sorrel, when chewed, make a refreshing lemony pick-me-up. You can incorporate young sorrel leaves into your salad or just chew on them, enjoying the juice. Just don’t overdo it, since oxalate crystals in the leaves can cause kidney stones if too much foliage is consumed. Redvein dock (Rumex sanguineus) is an ornamental sorrel species.

Scat!: To keep cats from relieving themselves in your containers, make sure they are always full of plants, since bare soil attracts them. You could also put prickly cuttings, from bougainvillea or holly, for example, to deter our feline friends. A water scarecrow is also recommended since it shoots a stream of water when a cat steps into the path of its light sensor. This device will also deter other critters that may want to dine on your container crops, such as squirrels and raccoons.

Window sill tomatoes: Cherry tomatoes are recommended for containers because of the ease of growing them in comparison to other tomato types. You can plant cherry tomatoes in a window box resting on an exterior window sill and then train them to grow up vertically with strong string or cord, taking care that it does not cut into the vining tomato stems. Screw small hooks into the wall above the window and tie strings between hooks and planter box, winding strings gently around tomato stems until they are secured below.

Worm compost is perhaps the most beneficial ingredient you could add to your container soil mix. To make it, you will need a wormery, containers for which you can find online starting at around $50, or you can make your own. After obtaining your worms — red wigglers from any bait shop will do — add them to a box or plastic tub containing a mixture of vegetable and fruit peels, coffee grounds, eggshells, shredded newspaper and any other worm-friendly materials to set your wormery in motion. If you put a lid on your homemade wormery, make sure it has ventilation holes (same for the container’s sides) and that drainage holes, covered with a layer of newspaper, are on the bottom. Many years ago, I visited the wormery (well, he called it a worm farm) of Stewart East. He grew the sweetest parsley I had ever tasted. It grew in full sun on a windy slope in Saugus. In a place like Saugus, where summers are hot and dry, you doubt parsley could grow year round, much less thrive, without some protection from the elements. Yet Stewart East harvested from his parsley plants several times a week, 52weeks a year. His secret, he said, was worms. East had been growing red wigglers for 50years. Also known simply as redworms, they grow to about 4 inches long. They are shorter and thinner than the gray worms or night crawlers that live in your garden soil and find refuge under your flower pots. East’s original wormery was on an apartment balcony. He used grass clippings and soil to culture them. “Earthworms need some sort of grit or roughage to grind down the decaying organic matter that they eat,” East said. Over the years, he had experimented with a variety of materials for growing his worms. He found horse manure to be the most successful. “The alfalfa hay in horse manure is an excellent source of roughage for the worms,” East explained. “The manure’s moisture-holding capacity is also ideal for worms; they simply cannot survive under dry conditions. That is why you typically don’t find worms in compost piles, which are often not moist enough for worms to feel at home. But don’t use cow manure; worms cannot grow in it because of the salt.” If you don’t have a horse but want to grow worms, the kitchen scraps mentioned above are acceptable manure substitutes, as is newsprint. Corrugated cardboard is also excellent; its grooves are ideal repositories for earthworm eggs. To contain the manure or newspaper or cardboard or kitchen scraps, make a frame — East’s was a single level of cinder blocks 8 feet wide by 10 feet long — and sprinkle in a pound of red