Vermiculture

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Comment by Chris Bocchino on June 14, 2009 at 12:49am

Well my worm bin is going well. Thus far I have added about 25lbs of food scraps to the bin. They seem to make quick work of it all. Oh I also used the collected water that drained out of it for the first tiem today. I filtered it and put it in a sprayer. Sprayed my entire garden as well as some other shrubs abd trees that I have growing. There is more left over do I am going to dilute it and add it to some of the garden at the roots. Ill post some photos tomorrow if I remember.............Chris

Comment by Pema on June 2, 2009 at 3:16pm

I recently attended 2 workshops and have just purchased 3 clear plastic 27 qt boxes that will partially fit one inside the other to make a worm 'condo'. The top two boxes I'll spray paint the outside black. 1/8" holes 4" apart on the bottom of the black boxes (bottom box is to collect drainage). Then in 10 days I'm going to visit a friend who will gift me with a pound of red worms. Never thought I'd be excited about worms. I have saved partially rotted kitchen scraps in my freezer for them and have shredded paper from the office. Will let you all know how it goes. The 'condo' will go in my backyard under the mango tree where it's shady all day; a must in hot Maui.

Comment by Kay Robbins on June 2, 2009 at 1:57pm

No, we are actually making it and it cost $10. it is probably nothing more than a plastic bins we drill holes in but I am grateful that we have the opportunity to learn.

Comment by Joy Williams on June 2, 2009 at 1:27pm

Terrific Kay! I did the same thing with our county. Double check though they may be giving you a worm bin.

Comment by Kay Robbins on June 2, 2009 at 1:07pm

It looks like I am meant to start using vermiculture. our county extension office is offering a series of classes. Tomorrow I will be making my own rain barrel and next week I will be making a worm bin. Get ready for lots of questions.

Comment by Andrea on June 1, 2009 at 5:47pm

After we were settled in our new house "in town" in December over a year ago, and the ground froze early, I decided it was time to explore vermiculture. Our compost bin was well established, we'd brought along half a bin from our old place as starter, but in winter things slow down, especially as we didn't have a manure source to heat things up.Outdoors here we use a black plastic bin to discourage rodents and racoons.Because of space we haven't added another yet. We accumulate a lot of veggie scraps, coffee grounds etc so I invested in a worm tower and red wigglers to put in the basement.( Had plenty of worms in my compost but being winter they were not available.) . So our winter needs for composting are taken care of by the worms now. As Joy mentioned the worms eat the decaying stuff not the fresh, and it has been interesting to see what else shows up...mites , fruit flies, colembola, etc mostly because they are a natural part of natures process of breakdown of substance. Some because of an imbalance..ie fruit flies, and some peculiar critters I have yet to identify.Leaves added for bedding seem to encourage brown mites which I was told irritate the worms, i also add shredded paper and cardboard for bedding. The worm castings are wonderful to add to houseplants in winter in my experience, as well a tea made from them. Doesn't really call for daily attention and we put it outdoors in the shade last summer. There is a drain at the bottom to take off moisture accummulated in the decomposition..this is not the same as the tea made from castings though.
As to types of worms my friend from Scotland has a great book on raising worms on a large scale for the fishing trade.Never thought of that....We do feed some to the chickens though!

Comment by Ian on June 1, 2009 at 3:38pm

I just have a large ceramic pot sitting on the gound, actually it's an old planter. The top is removeable and I then throw as much compost in as I can manage.

When we set it up several months ago, I primed it with a handful of "red wrigglers" but since then it has looked after itself.

I alos operate three large traditional compost piles which are about 1 metre (3ft 6") cube.

Comment by Joy Williams on June 1, 2009 at 2:27pm

Red wigglers won't survive in the regular soil. They are composting worms.

Comment by Phillip on June 1, 2009 at 8:54am

IF -- you are composting and the temperatures hit the 130F+ you will have odor. I do not mind, but I am a farm kid so I am used to much worse. My pile smells like good stuff a comin' but that is my opinion. I really would not want to have the worm culture in the house. Worms of all kinds do migrate to conditions that they are looking for. The "red Wriggler" is a marketing term for one type that will show up in your pile if the conditions are right. The small thin worms are manure or composting worms, that are found in the warmer parts of your compost pile. Night crawlers will only be present in the cooler part or if you have a slower (no heat) compost pile. I like to get my pile as hot as I can, 130F or higher. That will kill weed seed, and speed up the process.
I just can't imagine NOT having a compost pile and all the benefits it brings.

Comment by Thomas Roy Lantis Sr on June 1, 2009 at 8:16am

Our compost bin had an odor. It was slightly musty, like a celar in the days of my youth. It isn't bad like rotting food, but some people don't like it. I guess it is the same thing as having a cat litter box. You can't really cover the smell.

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