Worm composting....

[sslavo91]

I vermicompost. And I'm new with the whole raising chickens scene. As soon as my 9 yo son and I saw the post about feeding red wigglers to the chicks, we went straight to the bin and dug out a half dozen worms, and took them straight down to the shop where our 4 wk olds are kept. I wasn't sure if they would see them crawling around in the shavings, so I kept them on a white paper towel. They watched them with great curiosity for close to 5 mins, a few pecked at the little pieces of compost, some stepped right on top of them. Just for fun, I picked one up and dangled it in front of them, and they went crazy! They would grab it and then run away before another grabbed it from them! My son and I had so much fun!

Re: the composting in the house, I've been doing that for years. I'm careful to not overfeed my bin, and I don't usually have problems with fruit flies. Remember if you're adding yard waste, to not add any if it has been treated with weed killers or whatever.... which I don't imagine you're using if you have chickens roaming around... !

 

[2468Chickensrgr8]

This past August a friend of a friend set me up with some red wigglers I have the bin in the kitchen ...I love my worms !!!
i was wondering ....can you mix the worm "dirt' with indoor plant soil for house plants? i have some plants that need repotting.....thanks

 

[sslavo91]

Quote:
Oh yes! Mix it with your indoor plants! You can also make "compost tea", have you done that yet? Put some worm compost in your plant water bucket and fill it with water. Let it seep for a couple of days, then use it to water your plants.

 

[2468Chickensrgr8]

Fantastic !.....and thanks for the "tea" idea....I have done that with the outdoor composter for outside but I never thought of doing it for my indoor plants....going to do that this week .....Thanks again !

 

[linebacker]

I just traded a dozen quail eggs for a pound of red wigglers! I have been wanting to start worm composting for quite a while, and this deal just fell into place.

Brad

 

[2468Chickensrgr8]

Another addiction begins...hee heee

 

[ChickaD]

"As the Worm Turns" could be the name of our new worm adventures.

I'm so glad for the advice and encouragement.

 

[eggzettera]

Quote:
One of the main benefits to compost tea is to work into your soil beneficial microbes. If you do NOT uses the bubbler you will have anaerobic tea this is not good. You want AErobic tea for these beneficial microbes. So the lazy way may add "nutrients" but will add ANaerobic microbes (not beneficial) not the AErobic.....does that make sense?

Can you add chicken manure to the tea - yes. But other ingredients will need to be added.

Molasses - this is what the microbes feed on (like sugar when you a raising yeast) - a MUST

Compost - it is COMPOST tea - this will also have some "starter" (think of them as the yeast grains) microbes.

BUT - if you buy say bat gauno, seabird guano - etc - these products have been sterlized for smell so you want to buy & use them for the minerals/trace element....but these products have NO alive microbes.


COMPOST TEAS VS. COMPOST EXTRACTS

How do compost teas differ from compost extracts or compost leachates?

Compost leachate—the dark-colored solution that leaches out of the bottom of the compost pile—will most likely be rich in soluble nutrients; but in the early stage of composting it may also contain pathogens. It would be viewed as a pollution source if allowed to run off-site. Compost leachate needs further bioremediation and is not suitable or recommended as a foliar spray.

Compost extract is made from compost suspended in a barrel of water for 7 to 14 days, usually soaking in a burlap sack. This centuries-old technique yields a liquid fertilizer with soluble nutrients.

Compost tea, in modern terminology, is a compost extract brewed and aerated with the addition of a microbial food source. (Examples of microbial food sources: molasses, kelp powder, and fish powder. Examples of microbial catalysts: humic acid, yucca extract, and rock dust.) The compost-tea brewing technique extracts and grows populations of beneficial microorganisms.

Compost teas are distinguished from compost extracts both in method of production and in the way they are used. Teas are actively brewed with microbial food and catalyst sources added to the solution, and a sump pump bubbles and aerates the solution, supplying plenty of much-needed oxygen. The aim of the brewing process is to extract beneficial microbes from the compost itself, followed by growing these populations of microbes during the 24- to 36-hour brew period. The compost provides the source of microbes, and the microbial food and catalyst amendments promote the growth and multiplication of microbes in the tea.

 

[eggzettera]

Forgot to mention in my post that you start off with DEchlorinated water. Chlorine is a great sterilizer but a bad fertilizer (actually its bad for the microbes but that doesn't rhyme). Just let the water sit out for a day, for the chlorine to evaporate.

Also, when you make the tea its really concentrated, so you want to dilute with DEchlorinated H2O if you went the aerobic route.

 

[sslavo91]

Quote:
Holy man... that (all of it) is way more information that what I've ever found while "vermi-composting surfing". So, first things first... what's a Bubbler?

Re: all the other stuff... do you have a website to refer me to?