Owner: Worm Bin Composting URL:http://wormbincomposting.blogspot.com Join Date: Sat, 19 Aug 2006 12:56:33 -0500 Rating:1 Site Description: Worm Bin Composting is how to handle your organic wastes the way Nature intended. Worm Bin Composting can also be a way for you to create your own high quality, organic soil amendment for you to use in your garden, potted plants, and seed starting. You Site statistics:Click here
Autumn Works! 2006-10-13 20:30:00 Once the cooler weather starts to arrive, working in the bin begins anew. We have spent the hot summer months trying to keep the worms fed and the bins oxygenated without causing the environment the worms call home to over-heat and stress the worms.
The work I did in the bins during September caused a heat spike of 15 degrees:
For this reason I waited to work my bins until the temperature had dropped and likewise I will wait for the temperature to drop again before I continue working the bins. This is all relative to the daily/nightly temperatures reached this time of year in my area. Once the temp comes down I will remove more product and add fresh bedding. This process will be repeated as many times as possible before winter sets in so that my beds are as full of fresh composting material as possible. With the onset of the cold winter months I want the bins to be producing as much of their own heat as possible. This is as good a scenario for the worms as it is for my power bil Read more:Autumn
, Works
See What Your Workers Can Do! 2006-09-13 08:25:00 The workers are of course the worms. It never ceases to amaze me what they can do in a very short period of time when the conditions are right. These worms eat and eat and eat constantly. They don't stop, except then they are mating. If you ever saw this you would know why. If I can ever get a picture of that one I will share it with you.
Anyway, let me show you what I mean.
Here they are, just beneath the surface of the bedding material. As long as the material has enough moisture content and it is dark enough, this is where they like to be. I have just brushed the top of the bed with my hand to expose these worms.
Here I have added shredded newspaper to the bin. I have been using manure all summer because it has been so hot and the manure was well composted. This meant that the bedding wouldn't add to the heat already building up in the bin. But now the bins are starting to cool down, back into the 70's and a nice layer of shredded newspaper is an appreciated change for t Read more:Workers
Your Soil is Teaming with Life 2006-08-20 18:04:00 If a healthy soil is full of death, it is also full of life: worms, fungi, microorganisms of all kinds ... Given only the health of the soil, nothing that dies is dead for very long.- Wendell Berry, The Unsettling of America, 1977******************************"Teaming With Microbes: A Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web"Sometimes scientists can talk over the layman's head and not even realize that the message is not being conveyed. This book is written in a very understandable language, that even a simple worm farmer like myself could understand and relate to. A must read for anyone who wants to learn more about the life producing your food.Smart gardeners understand that soil is alive and what is in the soil is what supports plant life. Healthy soil is exploding with life - beyond the worms and insects we can see with the naked eye - there are a multitude of bacteria, fungi, and other microbial forms of life vital to the soil food web that sustains healthy plant life. Resorting to
What I Do When It's Too Hot! 2006-08-20 07:22:00 Well, since that last notification of a posting to my blog was bogus I figured I had better sit down and have a little chat with you all, and since it has been hot, hot, hot here all summer long I guess it would be good to share with you what I do with the worm bins when it is hot.
Hot and dry will kill the worms way before cold and wet will. And since by the very nature of composting you are creating heat you need to use a great deal of caution when the ambient temperature raises to the point it's uncomfortable for the average human. Granted some of us "like it hot", I'm not one of them and neither are the worms.
Once the bin temperatures get into the nineties you need to start frettin' about losing worms. I usually know I have lost worm mass when my "tea" buckets fill up almost over night. Worms contain a lot of moisture and when they die from over-heating that moisture is released and ends up in my tea buckets. Boo Hoo!
One of the best ways to keep your bins cool when the tempera
New Web Site In The Works! 2006-08-14 05:12:00
www.vermiculturenorthwest.com
New website shows you exactly how I build my small 2 person worm bin, talks about the value of real brewed worm tea, worming with kindergarteners and how to proceed with a school project at the high school level. This site is devoted to worms, worm bin composting, and
worm bin composting by-products. I will talk about castings, food stock, bedding material, and step by step how to.
Mother Earth's Farm will become an organic gardening site. There will be more information on organic fertilizers, composters, conventional composting, pests and pest control, gardening helpers.
For additional gardening tips you can check out Market Monthly News. This is a newsletter I write for the Kootenai County Farmers Market.
The Market is a place to find many treasures. Stop and see us if you are in the neighborhood. Stop by our website and get some ideas for starting your own Farmer's Market.
A lot goes into farming worms, gardening organical Read more:Works
Worm Bin Composting | Maintaining the worm bin 2006-07-06 02:03:00
Keeping the worms happy in the heat of summer
can be more of a challenge than that of winter!
As we move into the heat of summer, working the worm bin becomes a very delicate balance of keeping the bin aerated, moist, and fed. You want as little active composting going on as possible while still providing the worms with adequate nurishment. When the temperatures outside are in the nineties and climbing this can be a challenge.
I try to wait until the material in the bed has been worked very well by the worms. When I turn the bedding material, I will be incorporating air into the mix which will stimulate composting of any material that has yet to break down. In the picture below you can see the difference between the material that the worms have worked and that which they have not around the edges.
At the time of this working of the bins the temperatures here have been in the nineties. The bin I turned was reading a temperature of 81. The day after I turned it the temps went Read more:Maintaining
Harvesting a Worm Bin 2006-05-28 01:04:00 HARVESTING A WORM BIN FOR CASTINGS
Harvesting a worm bin for worms and harvesting for castings are two different things. If you are not growing worms as a commercial operator (as I'm assuming most if not all of you are not) then harvesting worms is as simple as taking material off the top of the worm bin which will be full of worms and sharing them.
However, if you are harvesting castings, which pretty much anyone growing worms will do at some point, then the process as I do it is revealed below.
Photo 1 shows the bin before I get started. Along the sides you can see the lines of where the product started in November when I move as much product from the bottom of my bins to one end to cure. The material continues to compost and dry. As the material finishes composting the volume decreases. Here is a shot of what the material looks like that I am harvesting from the worm bin.
On the right is the material I start with and on the left the finished product. Along with the l
New Podcast; As The Worms Turn 2008-03-06 10:15:00 Hello everybody,My blogging and website work is getting spread so thin there is not time to do it all like I'd like to.I have a new podcast. You see I have been playing around with my camcorder and learning how to put together movies. I have a couple out on the web, like youtube, etc. But I'm really happy with my podcast. It's really like a video blog. I'm putting an embedded player over in the side bar. Check it out.The winter here was tough. The bins froze and I have been working on bringing them out of it.The podcast is really brand new with only one video, but so many people ask about worming in the colder regions that I though this would be a good place to start.So go there now and take a look. The first one is a little rough around the edges as I work my way through the learning curv Read more:Podcast
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Frozen bedding still has worms... 2008-02-22 14:31:00 Winter still has me in its' grip. Knee high snow and freezing at night. Daytime nice but is it enough?Took a walk out there yesterday, gingerly walking on the surface of the snow. The bedding is frosty, no worms to be seen. But what's it like down in the bin? No way to know till I can get my hands in there and dig around. The compost thermometer reads 28 degrees. It inserts and removes easily.I decided to turn off the heat to my bins because I have one bin that has been without heat for two winters now and that bin has been the happiest of them all come spring. Yet this winter is like one we haven't seen since 1968. Go figure. I'll just have to wait and see.Wait and see. BubbleShare: Share photos - Find great Clip Art Images. Read more:Frozen
Mini Worm Bins 2008-01-01 22:54:00 How small is too small?First let me say, the bigger the worm bin the more forgiving it is when something goes wrong. But still, there is much to be desired with a smaller bin.Obviously they are going to take less time to care for, but I think my most favorite aspect of a smaller bin is how close you can get to the worms.I have mentioned before that I have been using smaller bins to hold my worms while they wait for shipment. This has worked out pretty good. I am enjoying being up close with my worms and getting a good, daily look at what they are doing. I have to admit that often time my bigger bins are really neglected. But as I said, the bigger bins are more forgiving.I missed getting into my smaller bins one night and the next day the bedding had gotten all soggy and stinky. Amazing, o
USDA PROPOSES RULE UNDERMINING ORGANICS AND SMALL FARMS 2007-11-30 15:06:00 Hi,I thought this might be of interest to you. It's from the Organic Consumers Association-------USDA PROPOSES RULE UNDERMINING ORGANICS AND SMALL FARMS The USDA is accepting public comments until December 3 on a new proposed rule that would force small farms growing green leafy vegetables, such as spinach and lettuce, to put into place industrial-style sterilization measures that reduce biodiversity and soil fertility. The proposal follows in the wake of the USDA's recent controversial crackdown on raw almonds, continued interference with raw milk production, and bans on the sale of locally produced organic meat directly to consumers. The proposed rules basically cover up the fact that e-coli 0157H contamination in lettuce and spinach crops comes from feedlot or industrial livestock-conta
The Importance Of Keeping Records On Your Worm Bin 2007-11-20 01:21:00 If you're like me you always think you'll remember, but you know we never do. I have four bins and while I go out every night and feed each one, once a week or so I do open a bin up and turn the material, harvest a few worms, and put down food stock and fresh bedding. It happened again tonight. I went out to turn a bin and I couldn't remember for sure which one I had worked on last. I think I skipped one and so I'll have to go back, but it's a prime example why you need to keep a record book to write down what you're doing to what. I also don't remember when the last time I was out there to turn a bin.The worms are going to be able to survive being skipped, but if something were to take a turn, either good or bad, I wouldn't know what to attribute it to because I have no record of what I d Read more:Records
Worms Like Food Waste 2007-11-13 00:52:00 Well, the weather is trying to change. The weather man has been trying to predict snow, and while the temperatures are definitely colder, the white stuff has still to make an appearance. And that's fine with me.The wind has been blowing, HARD! But I didn't let that keep me from getting out and turning a worm bin.The worm population is really looking good. I am always so relieved to see the bins bounce back after being neglected. They are plump and moist and looking pretty happy.I have now turned all four bins and I am back at #1 bin. Tonight I just turned the material in on itself. If you remember, last time I turned the bin I took all the fresh bedding off the top and turned the material underneath. This time I have turned the fresh material into the bedding in hopes of getting a Read more:Worms
Wormn Wednesday Was Wonderful 2007-11-08 21:37:00 This is a sampling of what I use for my carbon material on my bins. Large or small, I layer shredded newspaper, leaves and manure with my food waste to create a homey environment for my worms. They love it. In the winter I mix it up more. In the summer not so much. The more you mix it up the more heat you produce. Good in the winter, not so good in the summer. Today was a rainy day with the temps in the 40's. The worms like it when it rains. They seem to sense that it's safe to come out and they were all out chowin' down big time. Had to go out early and spread some chow and water lightly. When the worms are real active sometimes I have to feed twice a day. Better to feed more often than to put down too much for them to eat in a day. As the weather gets colder, and these inbetween days, so Read more:Wednesday
, Wonderful
What's With The Worms Tuesday 2007-11-06 22:42:00 So here is one of my bins, for those who don't know. I have four of these 4X8 foot fiberglas bins. I have them covered with hardware cloth to keep out mice. One spring I broke my ankle and I wasn't able to get out to work on the worms(I did try it and almost regretted the effort). The mice moved in and built nests to raise their young. It was awful to try and get rid of them. I discovered that the worms really liked the air circulation they got from the insulation being up on the hardware cloth instead of being right down on the bedding. Today was another nice day. The sun was again shining with the air being a touch cool, reminding me of the time of year it is. The night was comfortable as I carried my watering can out to check on the worms. The worms in the bed I turned last night aren't Read more:Worms
, Tuesday
Plans for the future 2007-11-05 17:53:00 Hey,I'm working on moving my blog onto my own hosted domain. Will let you all know when that happens.For now I am going to be blogging on my day to day activities working in my various worm bins. Hopefully, this will give you an overall feeling for worm bin composting, how to do it, and how much work it really intails.I will take a blog or two to set the stage on how I have my system set up, pictures and all that. This is the door into the worm shed.I have 4 4x8 foot fiberglas bins that I have set up in an old shed I use to use for firewood. It is not insulated but it is enclosed to protect the worms (and me) from the elements.I have been fairly regular in taking care of the worm bins since the beginning of September and I am really amazed at how well the worms have come back. In September
"Weed it and Weep" Found On AACT Yahoo Group 2007-11-05 14:02:00 NYTNovember 4, 2007Op-Ed ContributorWeed It and ReapBy MICHAEL POLLANBerkeley, Calif. FOR Americans who have been looking to Congress to reform the food system, these past few weeks have been, well, the best of times and the worst of times. A new politics has sprouted up around the farm bill, traditionally a parochial piece of legislation thrashed out in private between the various agricultural interests (wheat growers versus corn growers; meatpackers versus ranchers) without a whole lot of input or attention from mere eaters. Not this year. The eaters have spoken, much to the consternation of farm-state legislators who have fought hard - and at least so far with success - to preserve the status quo. Americans have begun to ask why the farm bill is subsidizing high-fructose corn syrup and Read more:Yahoo
, Group
Fruit Flies Are Common In The Worm Bin 2007-09-28 22:27:00 Drosophila melanogaster (from the Greek for black-bellied dew-lover) is commonly known as the fruit fly.The life cycle of the fruit fly depends on the temperature of the environment the fruit fly is inhabiting. A worm bin is a perfect environment for the fruit fly as the temperature is ideal and there is a ready made food source. The shortest development time (egg to adult), 7 days, is achieved at 28 °C or 82 °F. Ideal temperatures for the fruit fly is 25 °C or 77 °F and development is 8.5 days. Females lay some 400 eggs (embryos), about five at a time, into rotting fruit, with the eggs hatching after 12-15 hours. The resulting larvae grow and molt, all the while feeding on the microorganisms that decompose the fruit as well as on the sugar in the fruit. Everything about your worm bin Read more:Fruit
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Take Action or "Raw" or "Organic Almonds Will Be No More 2007-08-23 16:54:00 I have been reading about this in the organic news alerts I get for a while now. Unless we, the people this legislation will effect, take action now politics will win!! This is a post I read on a compost tea forum I belong to. Use the link provided to let the USDA know how you feel."Under pressure from industrial agriculture lobbyists, the USDA has quietly approved a new regulation that will effectively end distribution of raw almonds, while putting many smaller almond farmers out of business. The regulation is scheduled to go into effect on September 1st, unless thousands of consumers take action now. The rule requires pasteurization of almonds, including organic, yet allows those same almonds to continue to be labeled as "raw". Nutritionists point out that raw, organic almonds are far s Read more:Action
, Organic
More Heat Issues 2007-07-11 13:16:00 Thur 100° 63°Fri 102° 63°Sat 102° 61°While things have been busy here on the farm, the issues that keep me that way must be shared. The issue is HEAT!!! As you can see the temps are soaring and the shade has been stripped from my worm shed by a recent storm.Remember, I have told you that your worms will die faster from being hot and dry than from being cold and wet. But there is more to the picture than that.As the temperature rises, the top layer of bedding is harder to keep moist as the moisture evaporates. The delicate balance of moisture in your bedding becomes harder to maintain as you add water to try and keep the top layer moist. Unfortunately, your attempts to keep the top layer moist are creating a wet and soggy condition deeper in the bed. This is serious, as your worms nee Read more:Issues
Getting My Product to Market 2007-06-26 08:04:00 Spring and Summer Are My Time For Harvest The worm bins have come through winter thriving and now are providing me with many pounds of beautiful, black, rich castings and compost - and the real work begins.Tending the bins:FeedingWateringTurningAdding fresh beddingAll of this is a piece of cake compared to the process of harvesting the finished material out of the bins. Since the worms are top feeders, and all the new material and feed is constantly being added to the top of the bin...all of the finished material is located at the bottom of the bin. This means that in order to get to it all the unfinished material on top must be moved for the finished material, which is full of the castings, to be accessed.In my bigger 4X8' bins the process is made easier by providing a space at one end o Read more:Market
Busy Time for Worm Bin Composting 2007-05-31 23:17:00 Now is the time of year when worm bin composting keeps you busy. The gardening season is at hand and those of us who worm bin compost to use the by-product have our hands full. Not only do we have the garden to get ready, seeds to plant, plants to transplant...now is the time we are harvesting the worm bin of it's valuable soil amendment. Not only that but the worms are active now to and require more food, water, and turning- a delicate balance which must be maintained in the heat of the coming season.Personally I have been busy getting ready for our local farmers market. This is where I sell the bulk of my worm castings and organic tomato food. Customers come back year after year to replenish their supply of my black gold.MotherEarth'sFarm / VermiCulture Northwest
Worm Bin Pictures 2007-04-20 10:51:00 There are many different ways to build your own worm bin. The final decision will depend on your own preferences, life -style and capabilities.Here you see a bin split in the middle with an oven rack, a black pipe with holes drilled in it for air and the bottom has no drainage holes.This person appears to be single, living in an apartment.Click Here to go see the whole project. The wormer does a very good job of explaining his bin, feeding cycle and harvest methods. He experimented with different solutions to his particular problems until he came up with a satisfactory method to compost with worms in his customized situation.This wormer mentions using shredded paper and corrugated cardboard for bedding. In his situation the cardboard persisted longer than the paper. He mentions being surpr Read more:Pictures
Build Your Own Worm Bin 2007-04-13 20:50:00 I've seen where a lot of people are looking for how to build a worm bin.I thought perhaps I could help by providing some pictures of a bin I built in a week-end.I have the plan available and you can request a free copy by clicking the link in the right sidebar.It's easy to build a worm bin out of a plastic tote. Choose your size and color, drill your holes and you have a worm bin.But maybe you want your bin to be a little more earthy. Or maybe a little bigger.Your typical tote (especially if you buy one already made into a bin) will be big enough for 1 or 2 people. To handle the waste of a family you will need a bigger bin.A 1x2x3 bin is perfect for a larger family. And it is made of wood so it has a more earthy feeling.Here are pictures of a 1x2x3 bin that I built in a weekend with no spe Read more:Build
All Worms Are Not Created Equal 2007-04-11 08:17:00 I've heard it many times before. People want to buy worms to put in their gardens. But it doesn't work that way.There are soil dwellers and there are composting worms. They are not the same.I just had a customer the other day order a pound of worms. Once she got them she emailed me and indicated she had put them in the soil. I wrote her back and said, "Please tell me you did your homework and that you did not put your composting worms in the soil." Her response was, "I did not do my homework and put them in the dirt....Next time I will read the web site."Soil dwellers are burrowers. They burrow a deep hole in the soil and attach themselves then stretch out to the surface to search for organic matter dragging a piece down into the burrow to eat. Soil dwellers spend more time burrowing than Read more:Worms
, Equal
As The Worm Bin Turns 2007-03-24 15:52:00 I have visited many forums talking about worm bin composting and I constantly see the question being asked, “Do I need to turn my worm bin?” Most of the time the advice I see given is, “No, the worms do the turning…”I have to set the record straight here. In my 9+ years of worm bin composting my bins have been through every experience from the best to the worst. My worms tell me that even though they don’t like being disturbed; they much prefer an environment that is loose and well aerated to that which is compact and dense.Yes, I will agree that the worms do move through the bedding stirring it up, but you have to realize they are taking a very coarse material and breaking it down into a much finer material. In doing so the material is going to settle and become compacted. The
Be Creative With Your Unique Situation 2007-03-13 22:45:00 I have always said that there are as many ways to worm bin compost as there are people worm bin composting. Always let your worms have the final say. If they are happy they will let you know. But you really need to pay close attention, because if they aren't happy bad things can happen fast.Some day I hope to have the means to put together my own video showing how I worm bin compost. But until that day comes, I am on the look out for what other people are doing. Well, I found this video I thought I'd share with you. I think I'll try it out for myself. The information is basic and doesn't get into the details of the day to day. But check out my e-course and you'll get what you need.METRO-WORM-CONDOA short how to do it yourself video about worm composting in an urban environment. This video
Learn to Worm 2007-03-07 11:43:00 Bin Compost...Are you looking to start a worm bin? If so you are probably looking for information to help you get started. If that is the case, then listen up.I have finished the second writing of my book "WORM BIN COMPOSTING: Nature's Way of Replenishing the Earth." A good book is never really done. Such if the case with "WORM BIN COMPOSTING..." I will continue to add information as I rework the book, and new information as I discover it will also be added. Of course, the price will go up as I spend more time and resources gathering information to add to this already valuable resource.. The book covers all the "how to" information you will need to start your own worm bin. Plus it discusses all the other critters you will find in a healthy bin.Like this one: If you would be interested in p
Are Worms Vegetarians? 2007-02-05 22:55:00 Worms will eat your garbage - They will eat your manures (stay away from domesticated animal manures like dog and cat), they will eat shredded paper (none of the slick stuff), they will eat your leaves and grass, they will eat your cardboard, they will eat your saw dust (wood shavings), and they will eat your food waste. In particular they love - coffee grounds, cardboard, melon rinds, and all sorts of "sh_t."Manures mixed with wood shavings is a great combination. Melon rinds are great if you have a mite infestation.Shredded paper and leaves are a great layer to add after you layer on food waste. I really mix these things up in the winter to get some good composting action going for the colder temps. In the heat of summer you need to keep things simple to produce as little heat as possibl Read more:Worms
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