Also, what about old dried beans? We recently retired a bean-bin that was like an indoor sandbox for the kids. I was thinking about boiling the beans briefly so that they won't sprout...

I don't know about the jam - personally I would rather eat it or bake with it. I love my worms, but not that much.

As for the beans, yes, definitely boil them first. I put a bowl full of beans that had fermented on me into my compost tumbler, and now I have a huge amount of bean plants in my garden. There are many reasons for it - My compost wasn't finished, and it wasn't heating up properly. But, I will be much more careful in the future. I'm spending hours transplanting my bean plants!

Jennifer

Definitely boil the beans. Don't know if freezing would work or not, but it would be easier than boiling. I once put a bunch of old birdseed in my bin, and it created quite a mess as it sprouted day after day after day.

If you are putting the jam in, do it a little at a time to see how it goes. Or, easier would be to dig a hole in the garden and bury it all at once, mixing with the soil. You must have a ton of beans, and you might want to bury some of them too in addition to the worm bins.

Just my 2 cents. Let us know how it goes.

I don't think sugar is good for them. . .Rats, I read it somewhere but can't find the link.