Hi, just tought this could help a few people. Didn't find any thread on this (just tell me if there's already one...). WORM COMPOSTING: It is basically composting faster and better with the help of worms. You probably already know what is compost, so I won't go far explaining basics for that. But, if you ever had the great idea of helping the planet by being green and making your own compost, you probably did as I did & found out it takes a lot of time and sometimes your bin is full before your compost is ready to use... I found pretty much all my infos and bought worms there: Worm Composting Canada or http://www.allthingsorganic.com/ If you already have compost: Find yourself some Worms ! Worms: Red Wigglers worms are the most commonly used species. They just love to eat everything that's decomposing. They are the specie that eats the most, reprocuce fast so you only need to start with only a few worms (about 1 pound for a small plastic bin) and after 6 months, they will be everywhere. Bin: How to make it yourself: Cheap and Easy Worm Bin! I didn't do the linked page but I used the same tutorial to make my first bin. Today I want to build a bigger one cause we have a big family and we're already saturating our small bin. I want to make a bigger bin out of 4 or 6" hollow concrete blocks glued together (with PL premium). I'll put my bin on 24 X 24" cheap concrete slabs with a geotextile underneath. I want to make it around 2' X 6' and 2' high. I live on the 45 North parallel and we have very hard winters so I'll probably built a second external wall out of wood and put a layer of foam + hay or insulating material (6" thick). With the heat from decomposing matter inside, it will be enough. Pics to come... BENEFITS : - You get to be green !!! - You get the best natural compost there is : Worm castings ! - Better live, active soil ! - It is free Natural Bio nutrients ! The Worms Saves Time: Let The Worm Factory ® do the work for you! Instead of spending time turning piles of compost yourself and removing worms by hand, the multi-tray system separates the worms from the compost so you don’t have to. Also, because the worms continually eat through your kitchen scraps and junk mail, nutrient-rich compost is produced at a faster rate than traditional ways of composting. This allows you to bring rich dark compost to your plants and gardens at a faster rate. The Worms Produces the Best Compost: If you are a gardener, you know how your plants and gardens appreciate natural, nutrient-rich compost. To get the most desirable compost for your plants and gardens is through the use of worms. The worms and bacteria inside them break down and add enzymes to your kitchen scraps and junk mail. Other forms of composting work, but The Worm Factory ® creates the kind of compost your plants and gardens will use and thrive off of. Live active Soil: You won't get only worms in your bin. your compost will be alive ! You'll be able to check with only a magnifying glass that there's a lot of small micro-organisms that help decomposing too. (check for more info: Compost - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ) Your compost will be full of live bacteria just like yogourt. When making Tea compost, they will thrive in millions ! Making Worm Compost Tea: You'll need to take compost from the bottom of your bin and remove worms... I put the compost in geotextile and I make a tea pouch with wire to close it. 1 gallon of compost for 10 gal. of water. I use a plastic garbage can to make more at a time. I use wire to hang my compost tea pouch inside the water garbage. At the bottom, put an air nozzle collected to a simple aquarium bubbler and start it. It will aerate (cause bacteries need oxygen to thrive) and mix your tea. Add a little bit of Blackstrap molasses in there so the bacteria have something to eat (sugar). I put around 25ml for a full garbage... If you check my grow, you'll see I also add a little bit of Micro Plus Micorrhiza Fungi for Bonsai Soil and Houseplants (you can find some on eBay). Micorrhiza soil booster is a cocktail blend of ECTO and ENDOMYCORRHIZA fungi that are VERY useful when transplanting pines and other bonsai. Michorrhiza are beneficial fungi that help the plants to utilize nutrients better, thereby accelerating growth and reducing shock from transplant. Once established, the thread like fungi also help to increase water retention and nutrient absorption. 1/3 of a cup contains approximaetly 2 million spores and MICRO NUTRIENTS. Let it be like that for 48 hours and it is going to be ready. Use as foliar spray, or just water your plants during grow ! Hope this helps !!! Ask if you have more questions ! I'll try to add more infos
Feeding Your Little Waste Managers! Redworms will happily consume just about any decomposing food and other organic waste. They are big eaters, and will surprise you at their speed in turning last month's pizza into fertilizer. What Not To Feed Your Worms There are several types of food waste that should not be fed to redworms. These include: meat dairy products and very fatty foods. It's not so much that the worms won't appreciate them, rather that these foods tend to produce a stink while decomposing. So, until you're a seasoned vermicomposter, avoid feeding these foods. A Menu For Your Worms Nearly all other food scraps are fine to feed your worms. Here are just some of "what's on the menu": fruit peels plate scrapings moldy bread pizza crust a bit of cake and ice cream refrigerator leftovers watermelon rinds popcorn ... and just about anything else you don't eat Tip #1 - avoid feeding more than a few citrus fruit peels at one time. Citrus peels contain a very harsh chemical (remember the last time you accidentally got a squirt in the eye?) Worms will leave these peels alone until they have softened via bacterial action, and are more tasty. Tip #2 - Very salty foods should be added in small amounts, spread out. In a concentrated form, they could burn the worms' skin. Did You Know ? Worms get their nutrition from the microorganisms they eat, and not particularly from the food waste. It's true. Worms won't even begin to nibble on fresh organic matter. Instead they'll wait until lots of tasty microbes have begun to grow on its surface.
Helping worms rerpoduce : I read somewhere that cutting a potato in 2 and putting them face down on the top of the compost makes good nesting place for worms. I tried this method and worms did lay some eggs there and I saw lots of small juvenile worms! you don't have to do that, they will lay their eggs in soil anyway, but you risk never seing them and destroying them when playing in your bin or losing them when making tea. It is more to give your worms a nice place to get it on and make babies ! ;P But be careful with potatoes: Other Examples of Worm Food Fruit: apples, pears, banana peels, strawberries, peaches and all melons Vegetables: beans, cabbage, celery, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, all greens, corn, corncobs and squash Cereals and grains: oatmeal, pasta, rice, non–sugared breakfast cereals, corn meal, pancakes Miscellaneous: coffee filter paper, tea bags, eggshells, dead flowers Other food/bedding: newspaper (no shiny or coated paper), cardboard, paperboard, paper egg cartons, brown leaves Use Caution When Adding These Breads — can attract red mites Potato skins, onions, garlic, ginger — get consumed slowly and can cause odors Coffee grounds — too many will make the bin acidic Do Not Feed Meat, poultry, fish, dairy — protein attracts rodents Potato chips, candy, oils — worms do not like junk food and these attract ants Oranges, lemons, limes — citrus has a chemical substance (limonene) that is toxic to worms Definite No–No's in a Worm Bin Non–biodegradable materials that do not belong in your bin include plastic, rubber bands, sponges, aluminum foil, glass, and dog or cat feces. *** Worms love coffee grounds and if you use paper filters, you can put it directly in your bin, they love it !!! ***
Here's some pics of the Build ! *** My bin is outside at the mercy of the elements (rain) for the moment. Next year, I plan on building a greenhouse and my bin will be inside protected... But rain won't be able to get in when I'm done anyway... Dimensions: 42" X 62" X 24" high (inside bin opening is 30" X 50") 1- I made a slab with geotextile underneath so the worms can't escape and other pests can't get in. Don't forget that your bin must be drainable at the bottom (all organic matter decomposing produces a lost of excess moisture and water...), if not, your compost will get water logged. In a plastic bin setup, you collect this excess liquid at the bottom. ***Be carefull ! Tea compost is not the liquid you get on the bottom bin of your setup if you have a dual plastic bin setup ! It can be dangerous to your plants, just put it back in your compost if it's not too humid, the worms will process it... *** 2- I glued the first row of 6" hollow concrete blocks with PL Premium glue. I glued the whole bottom inside the bin to keep worms and other organisms to crawl underneath... I glued other rows too so everything doesn't move ! 3- I painted the whole inside with rubberized ashphalt paint (like gravel guard). This is the part I'm not proud of because it's bad for nature to shoot paint with a spray can but it's necessary evil ... I tought about it and I didn't want moss, mold, humidity, etc., setting inside my bin as concrete is a porous material. Just think of old concrete full of green moss and it's the same thing as a house fundation painted black, moisture will not set and stay in the concrete... It also seals the cracks between the blocks to keep worms in and other pests out... 4- Since we have harsh winters, I will insulate my bin. I put Polyurethane foam to close the opening at the top of the hollow blocks. It will aslo help to avoid pests, insects getting in there... 5- I made the cover out of 3/4" plywood painted with same paint to protect and seal it from humidity. But I'm not finished... When I'm done, it will not have cost me 200$ and I'll have a big Compost bin to produce FREE Compost ! Worms also reproduce like rabbits and when I'll have too much, I'll donate some worms to friends but I paid 45$ for a pound of worms, so you could sell some... *** More pics to come ***
I'm done... Just missing some paint and foam... I installed a pulley system so it's easy to open for my kids too... I'll insulate more later... After winter, I hope my bin will be inside a beautiful Greenhouse ! Next project with a rainwater collecting and watering system...
LINK =====»»»» Home Uncle Jim's Worm farm... I'm ordering more worms to help start my big compost bin just before winter... I'll order a Combo-Compost Mix of 500 reds wrigglers + 250 supers reds worms for 39,95$ - 10% coupon & Free shipping... I'll tell you more when I receive them probably next week... With coupons for savings !!! Uncle Jim's Worm Farm Coupon Codes: Get $7 Off w/ September 2012 Coupons, Promo Codes
Well, Uncle Jim is sorry but made me pay to tell me after they can't ship to Canada but their system allows it ??? Waited a few days for refund... Bummer... But "Jim" was kind and answered all my messages quickly and explained... If you're in the States, you can order from them, it won't be a problem ! I found a seller on eBay... I'll get the worms next week... My bin is 2/3 full of hay, paper, cardboard, kitchen scraps, dead leaves, cow & sheep aged manure from a local farm and I added the soil from my pots, summer grow (the soil was very rich at first and I added Bio nutrients all summer, so I'll re-use it next grow)... It's been sitting and decomposing for a month now ! Yummy for the worms !