WORMS ANYONE?:-~)

[Kikiriki]

Unless you have an op

The newspapers will work just fine; like I said, they love it. I bought a couple of established bins last year that were only fed newspaper and a small amount of kitchen waste. The castings that came out of both bins was excellent. The person who started them threw whole sections of newspapers in there - he didn't even tear or shred them. The worms would congregate between the pages by the dozens. I mainly do newspaper, coffee grounds (I let them set in a bucket in the garage for a week or so to get them past the 'hot' stage), tea bags, fruit and vegetable waste, every once in awhile a bit of bread, the 'dust' from the bottom of the chicken feed bags, horse manure (once past the hot stage) - in my outside/garage bins only, clippings/dead leaves from my house plants, collected leaves and plants pulled from the garden (in the fall), and whatever else happens to look like it will work in there. I haven't tried chicken poo yet - I plan on using that for my raised beds this year - but I've read that it should only be used in small amounts after it's been dried/aged.

 

I was told not to use fresh chicken poo in either the garden or in my worm buckets. Let it compost for at least six months before you mix it into the soil.

unless you have an open bed, I would not use chicken poo: mine was a year old and it caused a major die off. The poo had no oder until it absorbed moisture in the worm beds, then it stunk like ammonia, plus the urine salts do not break down easily.

I will never add chicken poo again, no matter how old it is!

 

[gaitngirl]

Thanks again for the help in starting my worms. I'm supposed to get them sometime this week. My grandson wants to start some so I will have 2 bins going. When I keep nightcrawlers I always shredded sundays newspaper and changed the bedding. From what I'm reading I won't have to change bedding with the red wigglers, just keep adding food, then change the bin.

You don't need to change the bedding - it will be processed and become castings. When you add new food put it near the corners and leave areas for the worms to retreat to their bedding should it get too 'hot', or whatnot. Add new bedding on a regular basis, too, as the old is broken down. When the bin is ready you can use pumpkin, watermelon, or any melon/squash to attract the worms to one area. Just half it and put it into the bin a day or two before you are ready to harvest the castings. Harvest day - just scoop that section out and put it into a new bin or container. Collect the castings - you can sort for cocoons and babies if you want (it would be a fun project for your grandson - I use a cement mixing bin and a comfy chair and good lighting). I store the castings for a little while with a damp newspaper on top (don't let the castings dry out too much as they will harden and lose their beneficial microbes) and do a second sort before using the castings. I often find several dozen babies that hatched from cocoons I missed and put them back into the working bin.

 

[sane cat lady]

i love my worm bin (a 35 gallon tote)

 

[kortmom]

I am going to start worm towers. I am starting with two 8x4 square foot vegetable planting beds and figure two or three pvc pipe towers per bed should be sufficient. Does this sound like a good number? I would prefer two per bed. I dont want to bite off more than I can keep up with. How many worms per pvc pipe should I add to sustain an 8x4 foot bed if I used two pvc pipes? My husband is hating the idea of this project. He just asked me why I can't just plant a normal vegetable garden like everyone else does. I told him that this was fun and that obviously he was no fun, lol.

 

[gaitngirl]

Welcome kortmom. You might find this article interesting: http://milkwood.net/2010/10/12/how-to-make-a-worm-tower/

vermicomposter.com has quite a bit of info and some good pics of various worm/garden towers. I have a bit too much on my plate this spring and summer to add another project but I want to do a keyhole garden or two with worms next spring.

 

[3forfree]

first nice gentle rain this spring, so I went outside to see if there was any crawlers out. boy was there. I got these in about 10 minutes. They'll make good walleye bait.

 

[kortmom]

I have another few questions. I'm a newbie. If I build worm towers for my raised beds will the worms live through winter in freezing temps? i am in Massachusetts. if they will live through winter would it be okay to let my chickens (also a chicken newbie) clean up my garden beds for me in the fall or will they wipe out my entire population of worms? My thinking right now is they will probably not survive winter, so I can let my chickens go to town on my beds before winter and then I will have to buy new worms each spring to start over in towers. This sounds expensive. Is this what everyone is doing?

 

[Kikiriki]

I have another few questions. I'm a newbie. If I build worm towers for my raised beds will the worms live through winter in freezing temps? i am in Massachusetts. if they will live through winter would it be okay to let my chickens (also a chicken newbie) clean up my garden beds for me in the fall or will they wipe out my entire population of worms? My thinking right now is they will probably not survive winter, so I can let my chickens go to town on my beds before winter and then I will have to buy new worms each spring to start over in towers. This sounds expensive. Is this what everyone is doing?

I would make a giant compost pile all around the tower and over the top, too. If you then cover it with black plastic, it will insulate the worms and they actually can survive: if they do not survive, they will have been making cocoons all summer that will hatch out when temps warm up. You can also collect as many worms as possible to keep inside in the winter by using an onion bag filled with a worm favorite like melon rinds. I had an old large styrofoam cooler that I started my worms in and it is very good for keeping the temperature moderated. I did have a problem with a rodent (got into the patio) trying to get into it, but it never succeeded. I also found I needed an additional container under it so I could let it drain better by raising it. I made a rather large hole and stuffed a sponge into it so the worms could not exit: excess moisture no longer a problem...

Conversely, I have been thinking about how to use a reusable heating pack since my new bins wil be hanging bags. We do get cold here in FL (nothing like up north!) so the insulating leaf matter will have to go inside the bags and a small heat source will keep the worms more active. The idea works for summer heat, as well: refill an old water bottle, put in the freezer, and put into the top of the bin to keep it cooler.

I found my african nightcrawlers that somehow got into my earthboxes had not only survived the winter, but grown really huge! I was shocked when I found them in there...

 

[Kikiriki]

PS i bet you could collect a lot of Fall leaves to surround the tower...

 

[kortmom]

Klkiriki, I will do as you suggested by building up compost and leaves arround the tower and covering it with a tarp and see how it works. thank you for your advice. Also, I am thinking since most of the worms congregate inside the tower it will be safe to let my chickens clean up my beds at the end of the season without eating the majority of my worms. Does that sound reasonable?