My worm composting experience

well I am a person who knows everything, have never made a mistake, always make the best decision, choose the right plants, ........ YEAH RIGHT! my DW just said. See even she agrees.
Pam do you really have those old farms around with super soil under the buildings? when I was a kid, Michigan had those and you never had to compost just go dig it up. They are all gone now. I am going to enjoy the Sask R when I paddle up there.

LOLOL ;)

Sofer this was the newer barn: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/532169/

Haven't taken a pic of the much more protected older one yet.

This message was edited Mar 3, 2006 8:32 PM

I cried when I was 19 and my Grandparents barn fell over. I spent my early life exploring all the nooks and crannies in the barn. All the rodents, broken machinery, rusted cars, and useful for imagination stuff I found in that special place. You guys in Sask need to build big dirt piles and place some big rocks at the summit. We call them mountains here and that keeps the western side of them wind protected. This is what we call mountains.

Chuckling here ;) Yep that barn (and a few others) holds some very found memories. Here's one SK manure pile ;) : http://davesgarden.com/forums/fp.php?pid=1243529

re: North Saskatchewan River I imagine you have looked at this? http://images.google.ca/images?q=North+Saskatchewan+River&hl=en&btnG=Search+Images

Andy please forgive us for hijacking your thread!

This message was edited Mar 3, 2006 9:18 PM

Ok lets get back to the SK compost pile. There will be worms there. Are some better than others based on soil type. IE red worms do best in clay. Cause Worms love clay. I suspect that it is because of the moisture it holds. The bed I goofed up on was full of the little red buggers when I put organic stuff in it. Shortly after, in summer, popped with millions of them. Of course it could have been the fact that I cut a bunch up with my small rototiller and they grew new parts. How many times can a worm be divided and survive?

What do you mean Pam with the worms turning it back to origional condition? We yanks learned a long time ago to use machines not hand tools. It makes the job much faster and we then can buy more buried hoses, electrical line, dammaged plants, and rototillers when we break them. American capitalism!!!!! How can you break a hand trowell?

This message was edited Mar 3, 2006 9:16 PM

hmmmmmmmmm let's try this again ;)

Pam you are getting off the thread. I was just trying to get some worm information not save money cutting up each one I catch. It really is a fear that when I cut up my favorite child of the soil what chance do they have to recover. I advertised my clinic opening in a street parade where I wore my stethascope and pushed a wheelbarrow behind the horses so I could scoop poop and I had a sign under an IV drip that said "worm hospital" arrow pointing down to the collection. It was well received and my new practice started with a boom.

LOLOLOL I give up! ;b
'night Gracie. :)

Here's another update. I've been wanting to start a second bin (this is very predictable behaviour among vermiphiles) and had it all ready to go. Then I decided my current (first) bin isn't ready to have its population divided. Not because of separation anxiety (or anti-separatist sentiment). Just numbers. I think it's better to let the population get much bigger before splitting it. My reading tells me that a population will multiply aggressively until it reaches a maximum comfort level, then stablize. I'd like to get close to that point before I divide them.

The bin is doing very well. I checked it thoroughly and found lots of robust worms, lots of egg casings, and some baby worms. I added extra bedding and decided not to disturb the bin for a good few days, maybe a week, and see what happens. The second bin I have put away until I'm ready to use it. I'm storing kitchen waste outside (frozen, in a plastic bag).

Anyone following this thread is welcome to visit my Journal here on DG, which I'm really enjoying playing around with. Here's the link to my Vermicomposting section:

http://davesgarden.com/journal/edit/viewbycat.php?cat=35295

After years without a worm bin, your enthusiasm sparked mine. so yesterday i went out to the old compost pile which i left to its own devices when the brutal heat of this Utah summer hit, and dug out some worms. That is when i discovered i had rats - gasp! My fault: I was not turning in the fresh kitchen waste (a downside of making my kids empty the compost pail). The vermin discovery had an upside in that i pumped up the heat in the pile and now have compost cooking away. i do worry about the worms i left behind to cook and hope they head down to cooler temps.

Years ago when my kids were in elementary school I started a big worm bin with their class. I would have them gather around the bin and sit quietly telling them they could hear the worms. Then i would whip off the lid and laugh when the kids all gasped at the sound of thousands of worms sucking back into the compost. When divorce took up all of my time and energy, my home worm bin got a bit stinky. Not able to cope with taking care of any more living things other than my kids, i put the stinky bins in the basement and bid my worms goodbye. On moving day months later i discovered the bins completely dried out, but amazingly the worms were still in there. Tough little critters.

Worms are Republicans and can take care of themselves. If the pile gets hot they move down even deep into the soil and come up for a meal when ever necessary. Though it is good to let the pile cook and then they will tell you when its ready by being there for you slightest fork full.

worms are Republicans?! that is far more gross than any vermin in my pile

Well, I have everything ready but no worms. I live in West Texas and can't find anyone who will ship worms here due to the heat. My mail carrier is very good about delivering packages in the morning before she does her regular rounds. I want to start very small. I have enjoyed reading everyones experiences and hope to have some of my own soon.

Tammie

Kristen - the liquid coming out of the bin itself is NOT tea its as Andy the seperatist said, leachate. BIG difference. The one thing I truly thought I would see mentioned is not so here goes...why hasn't anybody mentioned the most famously known worm aphrodisiac I used this a couple of times (found a bag at Big Lots - cheap) and could NOT believe the orgies that insued. Feed them this do NOT cut a worm in half this is only partially true only some types can grow back and its rare that both ends grow back so encourage orgies. Believe me it works, it just does not happen overnight - they are not eating the food you give them they are eating whats eating the food (bacteria, fungus, other elemental organisms). Do see them all wrapped into a big worm ball all of them going at it (well it would make a hooker and any Kennedy blush).

Freezing is a good idea for ANYTHING you put into an INDOOR bin because of the fruit fly larva on pretty well anything you buy from the produce department - this is why we have to wash ALL vegetables from the store - the store sprays for these flies pretty well everyday. So you have to wash your food (because they sprayed) and should freeze the produce (the POISEN did not get them all...) what a waste of time and money - just because we do not want anything natural like a fly in the produce dept. Gotta love it!

MQN: check out the new Rocky Mt/high desert/mountain forum just started on DG!

So what is the aphrodisiac!?

Yeah, MQN, don't be a tease!

Please fill us in on the name of this wonderful worm aphrodisiac also, is the leachate good for anything?

Tammie

LhasaLover, I'm under the impression the leachate is like compost tea, but I'm not sure if it differs in strength.

Okay, MQN, out with the worm porn!

Sorry I have not been able to keep up my worm diary... spring and then summer happened and the purpose (soil enrichment) overtook the recording.

Two things: leachate can be used as a tea if diluted. Mine is so thick I expect it might be too strong to use as is. My plants loved it. Everything I planted with finished worm compost thrives.

Regarding fruit flies, my bin was alive with them. A cloud arose everytime I oped the lid. this was after I moved the bin outside (on a deck, not placed on the soil. I don't want intruders). I also had them in my kitchen. I struggled to keep fruit etc. wrapped or in the fridge, but they persisted. Then one day I took a cutting of some mint to root in a glass on my kitchen counter. The next day the fruit flies were gone. I put a few branches in my bin, and enjoyed the same effect. I hadn't heard of this great remedy before, so I pass it along for anyone else with this problem.

Now I'm concerned about the unrelenting heat. It's 100F today and the bin is in full sun for 5 hours in the afternoon. I think I'll bring it indoors. Aircon for worms... hmmmm, am I going too far? We don't have Republicans in Canada, but political slime may be borderless . (No offense intended)

MINT?!?!?!? Mint I've got. I'll do a little trimming this afternoon. I was about to spend yet more money on fruit fly traps when I found a site that said to put saran wrap over a bowl of cider vinegar, poke holes in it, and wait. I used a dog food container -- Beneful gives you a really great little container for your use after your spoiled rotten dog eats the food -- and bored little holes in it with an X-acto knife. Voila! A container full of drowned fruit flies. Well, they're only drowned because I shook them into the vinegar so they got wet, but at least they're not hanging around anywhere near as much. But the mint seems like a MUCH pleasanter way to deal with the little b@$^@&ds.

It's so hard to imagine 100 degree weather in Canada. I've only visited there, but wore a peacoat on the fourth of July. I read the worms need to stay about 70 degrees. That's why I keep them in the pantry. When they're in the ground they can dig down to where it's cool, but they don't have anywhere to go in a bin.

Sorry, sorry - mental glitch on my part I guess because I am starting to be anti....this product - try to guess what its derived from.. Hints - why I hate/love...

Hate - that the HIGHLY SWEET concentrate liquid form of this is in almost EVERYTHING we eat today....from ketchup to chips to soup to fruit juice to well you name it. (High Fructose Corn Syrup)

Hate - that they are actually considering this product in an alcohol form as an alternative to gasoline. It requires too MUCH fetilizer can deplete soil quickly - no way can we make enough to help reduce our dependency on gas. (ethanol)

Hate - I can not grow this successfully (corn)

Love - with butter and salt. (corn on the cob)



Cornmeal makes them horn dogs...;+}

Idvogt - I do not see it listed under Regional Gardening Forums - am I missing something.....

Love the mint idea - have had to go the cider vinegar route in the past


This message was edited Aug 2, 2006 10:09 AM

This message was edited Aug 2, 2006 10:50 AM

ummm... rice?

Rice was a really good guess, did not want to keep everyone guessing so I edited, then had to edit again due to bad typing...

MQN - the Rocky Mt forum was just added! I don't know how to list the link but i saw a big "welcome" posted today on the forums page.

I am going to bliss out my worms tonight with a shot of cornmeal love drug.

You will see results from the "love" drug in a week or 10 days. Seriously it freaked me out the first time I saw...

it will probably be the most exciting thing happening in my life in a long time!

My Buffalo grass greened up and grew half an inch after the storm and all of a sudden the first year perennials show some signs of actually growing rather than just hanging on. The plants are not big enough for pic but my new favorite combo - purely accidental, mind you - is Agastache 'desert sunrise' with Echinecea 'sunset.' Wow.

Idvogt would love to see you Agastache and Echinecea combo. I bought Echinecea through a coop and only 1 made it out of 10 (5 different varieties). I have 1 Agastache - wanting to get more hummingbird plants - I only have 1 visiting my feeder this year (last year I had 3 seemed like a family) and it seems to me he is visiting it way to often.

I have been thinking about planting buffalo grass - what can you tell me about your experience with it. I was thinking that I would eventually be totally devoid of grass but I am starting to realize that may be a bit extreme - was wanting pathways with moss between some type of stone. But each year goes by and money needs to be spent on indoor renovations so it keeps getting put off.

Willard Bay Gardens has all the new Echineceas in the sunrise/sunset series; i believe there are five. WBG has 20% off through Aug. if you bring in a coupon, which i can email to you since i got two. They also have Agastaches galore.

As for Buffalo grass, I was also on a budget so i bought one flat of plugs from High Country Gardens ($37.00!!!) and planted them in a patch of lawn i cleared. They slowly grew enough for me to invest in another few flats which i planted over the course of two years. The first two years were disappointing: the grass filled in slowly and sent out wiry, brown runners that were quite unsightly. Now at year three, the lawn looks more like a lawn but still browns out in patches in the heat. It can take some afternoon shade and look good even though it is supposed to tolerate only full sun. Mine colors up early enough in the spring for my taste, and i don't mind the tawny dormant look. I may plant in a bunch of crocus, etc. this fall because i understand they look spectacular in Buffalo grass.

If the ground is deeply prepared, the grass plugs do really well both in growth and color. Mine got too much traffic from dogs and kids but i was able to work it in sections losening and amending. Buffalo grass hates dog pee and poop! I mow mine a couple of times per year to give it a more even appearance. The unmown meadow look is nice because the seed heads are attractive, but in my small yard it looked a bit too rangy for my taste.

I wanted to go lawnless but still have not gotten the shaded front yard done. For pathways planting, i used thyme and veronica. The thyme even browns in my yard but the veronica is amazing and has a nice fresh green color all year. It blooms early and grows slowly. I still have visions of a tapestry of color and texture with pathways winding through beds and lawn even though reality rarely matches my fantasies - when does it ever. But i guess that is what makes us keep going especially in gardening.

By the way, and speaking of beds, i am considering taking out some of that expensive, hard-won Buffalo grass lawn to install a new bed. If i do, i would happily give you the grass.

here is the going lawnless thread on DG: "Front yard garden - NO LAWN!!!!"

Gasp! Head is reeling, room is spinning, dots in front of eyes (makes it hard to type) stomach churning - impossible, unthinkable, INCONCEIVABLE there is a nursery that I have never been to or heard of? You jest I have looked in phone book, there is no such place....

If you think you can pawn some expensive plant off on me......YES PLEASE! I have a confession to make I am a tree stalker one of my favorites here in Salt Lake is on 5 east between 13 and 17 south on the east side of the street is a Fig tree that actually is old enough to bear fruit. He totally encloses it during the winter. I work near by and I do Drive-by-Lusting.

I hear you about the visions. I have visions of a self sustaining yard with NO weeds.

For any other poor, unitiatied, and until now sadly ignorant Utah gardner like MQN who has not had the delirious experience of Willard Bay Gardens, here is the link: www.willardbaygardens.com

Check you email MQN for the coupon.

oops - link is fixed

This message was edited Aug 4, 2006 2:27 PM

Head hanging dejectly, kicking at dirt, stick of hay hanging out of my mouth.... gee shucks...my only excuse is I am a foreigner....oh who am I kidding.......

Head high, waving hands over head, dancing in circles, I have a new plant source, I have a new plant source, I have a new LOCAL plant source......thanks Idvogt

Ack! My worm composting thread has been hijacked!

sorry - got carried away. carry on with worms: can the two types you mentioned way back when (red wrigglers and compost worms) co-exist?

From what I've gathered, yes. I have red wigglers and also a European one (forget the name just now) and they're isolated from earthworms, being in a bin on a balcony. I can't imagine that earthworms would be a threat, and haven't heard of a problem.

Since I will be starting soon with a worm bin and wrigglers I thought I'd resurrect this thread. I do have a qestion for those of you who live in Florida. I had planned on putting it under my orchid pergola (for the shade); will it still be too hot though during our summer ? I don't think I will do what the Aussies do (or so I was told) and put the worm bin in my kitchen or other living area..... Oh, and the leaching (worm tea - or pee) is excellent. Dilute it and use on everything as a spray (was told it was good for orchids); even nail fungus !!!!

NOT SURE I'M READY TO USE WORM TEA MEDICINALLY! ;p

I have a pantry off my kitchen, and I kept them in there last summer and will soon harvest as many as I can and set it up again this summer. They really don't like heat. I don't know whether they'd die or go way underground (which would be fine) but I give them the royal treatment when I can. Does your garage stay cool?