vermicomposting

Well, if you're worm composting, you don't use the same ingredients---if a real worm-pile gets too hot, it will COOK the babies! But you can put red worms---or fishing worms---into a regular compost pile, and if it doesn't get so hot, it won't matter. They'll compost everything anyway.

Oooooooooooooh. So the worms don't need heat?

Composting with mix of greens and brown is to bring the temp's up get the "burn" going ........are you sure your hubby isn't "watering" the heap with a "protein based" accelerant?

VERMIcomposting does not care about heat, its more about decompostion & moisture levels - you can do it in a bin inside or any where in anything outside - the worms will migrate within the area for temp appropiate surrondings

Question -- I had some bedding that came. separately, with my worms. I added some damp newspaper on the bottom, added the bedding and worms, and then added some food -- chopped apple, some cantaloupe chopped (with rind), some coffee grounds and a few tea bags. Then another layer of damp newspaper.

When I check on the worms every couple of days it looks as if the food isn't being eaten; but they are moving around before burrowing out of the light. Should I remove some of the fruit, etc.? I don't want it to go rotten and start to smell. They've been in there for almost a week now.

My bin took 2-3 weeks to develop a 'bloom' which is basically its own microbial environment. This comes from the natural rotting process of what you put in there, the bacteria, spores, etc. that are on the skins of the fruit. This is where the worms derive their nutrients, and they eat the decomposing material to get their food. So just have patience and you'll see it develop on its own. Feeding the bin with a lot of different fruits and vegetables will give more variety/complexity to the microbial environment.

BTW, I assume you mean damp *shredded* newspaper! If you've got a good layer on top (2-3" fluffed) you shouldn't have a problem with smell. It's anaerobic decomposition that really smells bad, and this you get when there's no oxygen because the bin contents are too compressed for air to be circulating. This happens occasionally just because things tend to settle, and I just use a cultivator to loosen up the bin contents a bit. Also, the worms keep it pretty aerated just by their travels.

I can tell you're enjoying this!

Wish I could get MY DH to add a little "Protein based accellerant to the pile- i.e. pee on the pile. I don't know why he gets so weird about that mercury vapor lamp just above the pile. LOLOL!

If they look like pinheads- they are probably mites! The only fault with WW is lack of scale!

Maggie

I had done a walk around my woodland garden a few days ago and was amazed to see the hostas leafing out with no deer damage. When dh came home I had him walk thru the gardens with me to see the spring blooms and things shooting up. I mentioned my surprise about the hostas as we walked thru the woodland garden he smiled and said he'd been marking his territory around the hostas!!! He's been peeing in my hosta bed so the deer will leave it alone. How sweet is that? LOL He loves me!

Lana

AAAAWWWWWW.....that reminds me, I need to encourage my DH to whiz in the gopher mound that showed up yesterday!

LOL, good thing the men can aim!

Lana

They'll never admit to that though.......

:~D LOL

we put pieces of cantalope in the blender with water and made a slush,
the worms liked it. jim

Maggie, Thanks for the link to happydranch! It's nice to actully see pictures as descriptions sometimes just don't do the trick. Couldn't id the some of the critters in my bin but the worms seem happy so I guess they're aren't harmful! We had the woodstove going downstairs until last week, so they aren't enjoying the 80 degree temps anymore! I think it's about 60 down there now. They still seem to be doing well.
Just a quick note on the Saanans(hope no-one minds the off-topic). I can remember one time we were bringing some goats to auction and on a quick decision we loaded Sandy onto the truck. It didn't last long as I sat on the front steps sobbing(even though it was my choice to put her there). My DH knew what my problem was without even asking! And off the truck she came! We had her for another 3 years and I never regretted it! Those goats seem to know how to get into your heart! :-) Sue

They do, I hated selling 'Ma' but had to trim down the herd and I was breeding Boers at the time. She had triplets her last kidding with me. She was getting old so probably didn't have too many years after that. I really missed her.

Lana

Well, I have my "pile" going... and Im trying not to be fixated about the ratio content. In my new diet, I get ALOT of greens.. and then I shove on an armful of those dried leaves I've mentioned. I've minded my beezwax... but Im dying to know if any worms have moved into teh neighborhood! I also need to go get them a big piece of cardboard(with holes cut into it so they can get to the goodies).. because I havent done that yet.
Ive never felt liek being a "voyeaur" (sp?) before. Give teh worms some privacy, or look in on em? huh- I guess teh pile would have to be turned Sometime anyhow, right? Turn it and place it atop some cardboard. Thats my plan.
They say we're looking at a hot dry season or 2 here in Georgia. Surely area worms would prefer cool new 'digs' with a supply or ready food and occassional moisture?
(omi! reminds me!.. will the soap from dishwater hurt worms?I could only use that for garden areas... noones ever mentione dit as a concern that Ive seen , tho...)

Nin

You mean my DH should whiz in my compost bin? Not gonna happen. Privacy issues....

Count me in as someone who wants as much info on this topic as possible.

Note, recently when I was searching for free worms, a woman contacted me and said she was overrun. At first she said she had no idea why and then it came out in conversation that she collects her household veggie/coffee/fruit/grain waste, mixes in the blender with a lil water and pours the slurry around her roses.

This worked wonders for her!

You can feed your worms just about anything except meat. Do not use manure from meat-eating animals, such as cats and dogs, etc. Don't add grease or oil either. Absolutely no bones.

NOTE: Buried the food under shredded newspaper.


Here's a list you can add to feed your worms. You're welcome to add your ingredients below posting....


Avocados
Apples (and apple peels)
Banana Peels
Biscuits
Bread
Cabbage
Cantalope
Coffee grounds
Corn Bread
Cream of Wheat
Cucumber
Egg Shells (grind/crushed to small pieces) contains calcium carbonate
Grapefruit peels
Grits (some soil and little sand)
Leaves
Lemon
Lettuce
Manure from horses, cows, rabbits are good.
Oatmeal
Orange Peels (not too much, it's acid)
Pineapple
Pineapple Rind
Potatoes
Tea leave (tea bags without staples)
Tomatoes
Turnip leaves
twigs (mulch if you can)
wood (no pretreated wood)

How much to feed them? Use the 2:1 ratio. If you have a 1 lbs of worms, feed 1/2 cup food slowly build gradually when your worm population growing.



This message was edited Apr 26, 2007 12:48 PM

This message was edited Apr 26, 2007 12:53 PM

This message was edited Apr 26, 2007 12:59 PM

carrot peels
celery peels
garlic peels
onion peels

new member and worm lover love my vermicompost my plants do too anyone still talking?

Watching, anyway----my plants love it, too!~

Hmmm, now that you mention it, it's time to check the lower trays on my Wriggly Wranch. I could probably sift them out now and add the tray back to the top for more kitchen scraps. I need a bigger worm composting system at home. We fill a 5 gallon bucket of peelings, stems etc each week. My worms take longer than that to comsume it all, so I'm alternating between feeding the worm bin and putting the scraps in a trench in my garden bed. The earthworms don't mind.

I do the same thing----alternate kitchen scraps in the worm bin and in my compost bins. Now that it's getting colder, the worms aren't as active, so more will probably go in compost. Sometimes I put some of my worm stuff in the regular compost---seems to break it down faster. I also periodically "seed" my regular compost with fishing worms.

forgive my ignorance what do you mean by seed your compost with worms?

Jim, I've slushed many things in the blender that would just stink up the compost like onion scraps, pepper scraps and carrot tops that like to keep growing.
Carol

field:
What I mean was that I occasionally buy a container or two of fishing worms from a bait shop, and sprinkle them into my regular compost (not my "official" worm bin). Seems to make the compost break down faster, and when I use it, it's pre-populated with worms for the garden.

The red wigglers that are in my vermicomposter, I've been told, won't live in the garden----they will only survive in the conditions that the worm bin provides.

Hey gang,
Just popping in with a quick question. I have a bag of some veggie peels breaking down in a can with one of those locks like on the ball canning jars. It's turning into a slurry on it's own, but I had it outside and have noticed it's teeming with some kinda maggots. Looks like that snake pile in the Indiana Jones movie...

My question is what do I do with this slurry now? If I throw it on the compost pile, the maggots might hatch (I'm not sure what kind these are, but they're certainly larger than regular old kitchen fly maggots...). Any suggestions? I guess if I had an old blender, that'd take care of that. EEEEEEEWWWW.. disgusting thought....

gymgirl, just dig a smal hole in your compost, pour the contents into the hole and quickly cover it up and keep your compost watered or mulched with straw to keep it moist in your climate.
Carol

You mean pour the slurry with the maggots into the whole? What about those maggots?

Yep, maggots and all. Just bugs, natural things, the world is full of them, their presence in the compost covered about 10 inches may or may not kill them, but they have to eat and excrete just like all the other creepy crawlies in your compost you must be aware of. They may survive and fly away, but in the great scheme of things they won't be a swarm or something out of a Hitchcock film.
Carol

Carol.

Girl, can we talk? I am NOT the squeemish, squealie, girlie type. But, I draw the line at maggots...Just something about 'em gives me the creepy crawlies..Still not screaming, and I can DO this -- I'd just rather NOT do this...I'll let you know how your prayers for me are working...

Linda

Gymgirl, let me give you another perspective: there are many WWII (and earlier) veterans who are alive today because of maggots. My mom was surgical nurse with the International Red Cross in a mobile surgical unit just off the front during that event. The only way to prevent a wounded soldier from dying of septicemia or gangrene was to pack the wound with maggots. These creatures that repulse so many humans have a job to do on this earth. They are helpful in field medicine in that the maggots only eat dead or decaying flesh. They can often do a better job cleaning the wound than a human hand and have saved many lives.

http://www.livescience.com/health/050419_maggots.html
http://curezone.com/art/read.asp?ID=103&db=5&C0=1
http://www.eastbournedownspct.nhs.uk/about/howwework/policies/clinical/documents/fullmaggotprotocol2.pdf

Besides, the worms are their buddies!

Garden mermaid , you took the words right out of my mouth! I don't know how sanitary that was, but I had just used my water pic. LOL LOL
Yep, I was just typing about the prevention of gangrene when I scrolled back up and there you were, explaining it, perfectly.
Carol

Yeah, guys. I understand about all those wonderful things God's creatures do for us. How-e-ver...I STILL do not necessarily LIKE maggots. Tolerate, yes. LIKE, no!

I'll be digging that hole this evening...

Compost pile update:

Do I get a prize for digging that hole and pouring in those huge maggots/larvae? 'Cause I did it! Actually, they seemed to have buried down into the slurry, so I couldn't see 'em while I was pouring them into that 'DEEP hole!

Another question concerning my coffee grinds and these HUGE creatures, which I don't think are fly maggots anymore cause they're too large. They look more like long, white, stretched out pill bugs (sorta), only bigger and longer. Anybody got an idea of what I'm hatching?

And, the garbage bags of compost I have are FILLED with these things. I emptied the bags of coffee grinds into 5-gallon buckets yesterday, and put lids on 'em. Pretty sure I'll find a teeming mass of something ugly next time I take a lid off....but will it be organic enough (and NOT anerobic) to move into the compost pile? Actually, I'm thinking I need to put these coffee grinds and filters into the BIG compost pile DH has way out back.

Need advice...Thanks!

IF IT WERE ME I'd go ahead and put them in his big pile. As close to the bottom as I could. They'll continue to do their work, they won't suffocate or roast, and you'll be benefitting the pile.

You go, Gymgirl!

Brig,
That wasn't exactly the answer I was looking for. More like, "as close to the bottom as I could. They'll DIE way down there!"

If it makes you happy, they probably won't survive down there like they would where you first find them. Does that help you, you little old maggot murderer you?

You could also just fling them out in the yard so the birds will get them. MUCH more satisfying to watch...

;}

With my luck, the birds would ignore them, and then what?

Speaking of critters and coffee grinds, I have several bags on the ground in the corner of my potting area. Saturday I began cleaning up the area for the winter, and went to move a bag. Well, it moved back and I jumped back. And out slithered a garden? snake, about 14-15" long, colorful and thin. It was striped, red, yellow, silver? I didn't stand there long enough to really get all the colors.

Anybody got any ideas about what kinda snake it was with those colors? And, I suspect, it likes the cool of the coffee grinds, as well as what the coffee grinds attract...