I've got WORMS

I'm sorry but what do you mean by 'tote' I don't know that word I'm thinking of a tote bag?

You can use a tote(
http://www.rubbermaid.com/Category/Pages/SubCategoryLanding.aspx?SubCatId=Roughneck&CatName=Storage ) or a bucket. If you are able to go to Youtube you can search worm farm there are a lot of videos of people using simple methods for raising worms and harvesting their castings. Should you start if your worms are trying to get out leave the top open and the lights on. Worms do not like light and will stay in the ground. You should also cover the soil with a piece of wet card board or burlap to hold in moisture and allow the worms to come to the top of the soil to feed.

Let me know if I can help,

peter
 
Well I just have something like this http://growingallthings.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/CompostBin.jpg will the worms escape down the bottom? I just plan on chucking the worms on top, it's very full, and they can work their way down. It's dark and warm.

perfect!

If you go to you tube and look at designs keep it simple. Air holes are good drain holes not need unless you flood the medium(SOIL) Remember keep it simple and you will see what you need to change as you go along. It will not stink, unless you over feed or put meat in it......veggies/ fruits are good meat bad. Bannana peals apple cores pieces of letteus cabbage ....... if you give them too much fruit they get lazy. They like cornmeal and bread.......they eat everything.

peter
 
I just harvested 4 bins .......... Which amounts preparing buckets (looking for a better method) with shredded paper and cardboard soaked and squeezed to remove excess water for bedding. Then I pour each one on a large table with plastic on it. I make 4 individual piles it is very important the light on the table is bright. The worms do not like the light and will go to the center of the piles. Then I proceed to remove casting until I pick the ball of worm from the center and place them on a screen and sift the rest of the casings off. Then I place the worms in their new home. This is a terrible method! I need to find a better one this takes way to much time. A good thing that I discovered was I have a whole lot more worms than I did 2+ months ago. I now have 10 buckets with 500 plus worms in each. There were a lot of very small worms I found many cocoons and eggs........THIS IS GOOD STUFF! Just need a better method for harvesting.

peter
 
Sounds complicated?
Ive seen can o worm bins which apparently are customed designed to harvest the vermicast from below, the worms eat their way up, google it, they are pretty expensive tho. A box of tiger worms cost 30 bucks here.
 
to be perfect, I don't think you actually need a compost bin. what my parents do in their garden is simply throw organic plant source ( none cooked) waste straight onto their vegetable garden bed, and they simply break down on their own, no problem!

and if you really want, you can simply mix in the organic waste into the prepared garden bed before you plant, if you are not comfortable with leaving them exposed.

but with plant source ( non cooked) waste, you don't actually need a compost bin or worms.......

If your desire is to produce worm castings worms are a must ..Lanolin's issue is bad soil and no space.. Letting things rot can attract a lot of undesirable scavengers ... My garden is 35' x 75'plus fruit trees and bushes, worm compost is the best organic fertilizer there is. The tea made from the compost when sprayed on the plants is not only fertilizer but also kills insects and protects from disease.
In the last 3 months I have gone from 1500 worms to close to 10,000. I presently have about 60 lbs of castings. In 2 weeks that will be tripled. By January I will have enough to take care of my garden.

It is amazing after billions of dollars in research to better produce environment and food to grow things God all ready had it perfect!
What an awesome God we have!


peter
 
I saw worm tea bags at the garden centre today. I was tempted to buy them, but was with a friend and she scoffed and said was a scam. ?! So ended up buying Yates thrive instead. (I know it works, and is a short term solution, but have veges and flowers now, so...am using that for time being. It gets results).
Anyway, what do you think of worm tea bags? you just brew them up in water and use the liquid as fertiliser for soil. There are no worms in it, think it's just dried castings.
If go back to the garden centre, should I buy them? Only $9 a bag...not sure how long it will last though.
the thrive cost $15 but that is good for up to 50 watering cans and lasts for about 2 years.
I don't really have enough space to do trenching and can't really dig the soil that deep anyway, plus have chickens and cats. I do throw stuff on beds directly like banana peels, used tea leaves, crushed eggshells..I haven't done much in the way of mulch though.
I can get free soil from the refuse station..but not sure if it's got weed seeds in it. It might have worms, haven't checked it out yet.
I also could brew comfrey tea, but my comfrey hasn't got enough leaves yet.
Apparently seaweed is good fertiliser, but haven't harvested any and don't live near the beach.
 
also in autumn i plan to grow a green manure crop once the peas and beans are harvested and dig that in...I've got mustard.
I guess if already had rich soil I wouldn't be so zealous about gardening and maybe take it for granted? but then I think..it be so much cheaper. I'm not that rich. Just seems unfair. I have to do more work than rich people who live on fertile soil. I try not to be envious and covet...or dream..is it sinful to want something better than what you already have?
 
I watched a guy on youtube talking about His worm farm. He talked about worm tea and how he made it and whey the process was so important. He said that worm castings have a lot of living microbes that do not survive heat. He also said the life of the tea if made correctly only has a 3 month shelf life. I will post a link and maybe he can give you some information that will be helpful. Pay attention to the reason why heat and age make a difference. Worm castings contain a lot of living microbes.




peter
 
oh gosh it seems I'm waiting forever for my worms and it doesn't look as easy as thought it would be. I'm not going to farm them just want to have some in my garden. Although the chickens will eat them.

I'm glad I have a fellow gardener to ask advice online. Its good to get tips. Thanks for all your help and sharing your passion.
 
oh gosh it seems I'm waiting forever for my worms and it doesn't look as easy as thought it would be. I'm not going to farm them just want to have some in my garden. Although the chickens will eat them.

I'm glad I have a fellow gardener to ask advice online. Its good to get tips. Thanks for all your help and sharing your passion.
THE AFRICANS ARE HERE! I bought about 500 African night crawlers these worms are the stuff for composting. The red wigglers are great but these things are off the hook. Red wigglers eat half their body weight every day and if you keep them happy they stay aggressive both composting and reproducing. The African night crawlers eat one and a half times their body weight. Sounds like a lot huh? A red worm gets 3-4 inches one pound is about a thousand worms 3 months to maturity. African night crawlers get 7-10 inches about three hundred worms are a pound mature in 5 weeks. The pros with the red wigglers is they deal with cold 40 degrees f and warm temps 85 f well. The Africans start dying at 60f degrees and function at their best at 75-85 f so for the winter they are real needy and close care will have to be taken. Did I tell you? THE AFRICANS ARE HERE!
I need to take pictures.
 
THE AFRICANS ARE HERE! I bought about 500 African night crawlers these worms are the stuff for composting. The red wigglers are great but these things are off the hook. Red wigglers eat half their body weight every day and if you keep them happy they stay aggressive both composting and reproducing. The African night crawlers eat one and a half times their body weight. Sounds like a lot huh? A red worm gets 3-4 inches one pound is about a thousand worms 3 months to maturity. African night crawlers get 7-10 inches about three hundred worms are a pound mature in 5 weeks. The pros with the red wigglers is they deal with cold 40 degrees f and warm temps 85 f well. The Africans start dying at 60f degrees and function at their best at 75-85 f so for the winter they are real needy and close care will have to be taken. Did I tell you? THE AFRICANS ARE HERE!
I need to take pictures.
Yes sir pics please :)
 
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