Hey gang- I'm developing a new passion which works great with bale gardening, or ANY type of gardening: VermiComposting. Worm composting not only breaks down your compost much faster, but it also creates castings which are the most productive and beneficial compost/fertilizer/soil enhancement that there is, and it's SO simple. A woman (Christy) in Idaho has a phenominal blog site (and even offers ecourses for FREE in VermiCulture). If you're interested, check out http://www.vermiculturenorthwest.com/castings.htm . Apparently out of the thousands of worm species, only about 6 are effective composting worms (Red Wigglers!), and all they really need is shredded newspaper and some blended fruit/veggie matter and they'll create black gold for you!!!!
When I mentioned this on the General Discussion thread, it was suggested that I post a new thread for this subject. I'm very excited about this for overall soil improvement, and also for how it interfaces with my bale gardening. I use about 1+ cups of soil with each plant I put into my bales, and this vermicompost is incredibly rich in nutrients,100% organic and will not burn the roots of your plants. This'll really help with the general health of the bales and plants.
Christy's VermiCulture site is fascinating, and she's so outgoing and helpful. Check it out!
VermiCulture, for bale gardens and general soil enhancement
Hey Suzan,
Read your message at Dave's and wanted to olet you know I set up my worm factory today and will begin the bedding process tomorrow....hopefully the "red wigglers" will be ready to go Wed.or Thurs.
Neat! Good luck- let me know how it's coming along. It'll be a while before I can get to that point, but I'm so psyched about it! FASCINATING to read about it!!
Bump
Hey Suz, how are you doing with the worms? Jessica, Guardadore, is looking for you to discuss the alfalfa.