I had to tweak my methods a bit to get it to work correctly. I thought it would be as simple as raking the bottom and it would just trickle down without any extra effort, but I found out that being a little more hands on is never a bad thing. I put in a sliding plywood "bottom" just under the bedding bars, and that holds in the castings until I want them, and if bridging ever becomes a problem I'll just poke it periodically with a piece of rebar until it starts trickling again. As with most things, its more important how you work with equipment than the equipment itself haha I'll see if I can get some pictures to explain the plywood bottom thing once I get home. Waiting in the parking lot fir the lil lady to get done at the waxing place, yayyyy
Headed down yet another rabbit hole... going to try my hands at bokashi composting in an effort to pre-breakdown my kitchen scraps for use in the worm bin. I generally have a TON of kitchen scraps (more than I could add directly to my bin but less than whats needed for a thermophilic pile), so this method could possibly be a decent way for me to streamline the composting process without having bottlenecking screw me up. I heard bokashi "pre-compost" is quite acidic though... so I'll probably have to raise up the ph with some OSF prior to giving it to my noodles. Any thoughts?
That’s a common strategy that works good for lots of folks. Bokashi bucket first, then worm bin. A good sprinkle of osf when adding the bokashi processed food to the bin is perfect. I think your going to like it. Cheers Os
We'll see how it works, I'll be sure to keep you guys posted! It'll be a long process though, I'm going to diy my own LABS to create my own bokashi bran, build some bokashi buckets and THEN start the composting. Journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step That actually leads me to another curiosity as well... bokashi bran is essentially bran meal that's been moistend with LABS and a weak molasses/water solution, cultured and dried. Knowing this, it may be possible to do the same with my mealworm bedding (organic chick starter) for some stellar probiotic frass! I mean, they give bokashi bran to chickens and horses for digestive health... why not mealworms? Holy hell I really am getting into the weeds at this point lol
I’ve found a few small slugs in my work bins. These are indoor ones that I used leaf mold from outside as part of the bedding and I suspect this is how they arrived. mare they something to be concerned with? I’ve been feeding a lot of trim from my plants lately so I suspect they’re well fed lol
I 2nd this question. I seen one of the grey/black stripe slugs in the tray bin outside. I didn’t bother with moving it out.
I would pick em out and smash em. On the rare occasion I have found them in my tote I store compost in for making castings throughout the winter, they didn’t multiply and just died and disappeared. Cheers Os
If I was a slug I'm not sure I'd ever want to reproduce... Slugs are hermaphrodites, having both female and male reproductive organs. Once a slug has located a mate, they encircle each other and sperm is exchanged through their protruded genitalia. ... Apophallation allows the slugs to separate themselves by one or both of the slugs chewing off the other's or its own penis.
No wonder they are so hard to kill! I will sleep better at night, knowing that any slug I don’t kill, will probably have his Dick chewed off! Nurturing nature has finally paid off for me. I have attracted a bunch of Dark-eyed Juncos to the yard. They hunt the slugs! It’s pretty neat to watch. They hunt everything on the ground. They sit on the little foot high fences around my garden beds and just “scope for game”. I’m sure I loose a few worms too, but there are plenty to go around. I’m doing everything I can to make the Juncos feel at home and become permanent yard residents! Cheers Os
Nature is so cool that way. There's always a natural predator to our garden pests. I posted a picture of a parasitic wasp yesterday over in the Organic lounge. I'm not sure anyone actually knew that's what is was though.
Those parasitic wasps are my friends as well. I’ve read they really like Yarrow, so I try and keep some growing here and there. They are really intersecting to watch visit all my flowers. Cheers Os
I didn’t know that. All I could think of is not wanting to be stung by it. I had a hell of a motorcycle wreck once when one went down my shirt on my way to baseball practice. Wasp and bike tore my ass up.
I bet that hurt, I've only had one in my helmet once and got stung on the side of my face.That was before I started using windshields. My girlfriend always gets the bugs and bee's on the bike now. They go over my head because of the windshield and right in her face as she sits up higher. I always carry benadryl in the saddlebags.
I gave bikes up years ago after running into a ditch and a yard without losing it but I was able to realize that I drank way too much for a bike. I’m
I haven't drank alcohol in over 5 years. I don't get high when I'm out on the bike either. Need great reflexes for all the distracted drivers on the road trying to kill us. I lose friends every year that ride drunk and or high.