I have not tried seaweed because I have no access to it. If you have easy access to seaweed I think it would be great in a bin. It might act bit like cabbage and be stinky.

I've fed my herd chopped kelp. It was not popular with the squirm. Eventually, as all compostable materials do, it disappeared.

I would bury it in the garden.

Good luck

Pete

It might be a bit like avocado skins. It did not rot quickly on the beach. I have read of people raking it up. A quick dunk should get most of the salt. I think sea plants have something that does not let the salt into their cells. But that is not my area of expertise. Actually I have no area of expertise.

Wow .......really?? Nobody out there has tried old eel grass for worm bin bedding? Some of you people must be from the wet coast (oops.... I mean the west coast) where you have access to some local beaches. C'mon..... fess-up.
Harry

Close to beaches is prime real estate. Sorry, I'm not in that class. (

Did you miss Petes post? He said eventually it went away but was no favorite dish.

Seems I have read that it does add to the compost pile so certainly no waste of time in gathering it if it is available to you.

Wonder about algae, I mean I know it would be good for compost but is there any convenient means of growing and harvesting? Have seen some work done on growing for biofuel.

This post was edited by Nexev on Mon, Jan 26, 15 at 0:18

hi Nevex,
I read the post that Pete left for me,but he mentioned kelp not eel grass, they are very different. Kelp has the very long 3-5" wide blades with the big air bladder at one end. It's slippery like a cooked lasagna noodle. Eel grass on the other hand is very much like regular grass. Has blades only about 1/4" wide and is much slower to break down. I think kelp has very little in terms of structure and so breaks down easily......not something I would use for bedding. Heard it makes great fertilizer if left to decompose in a sealed(smells bad) container for a number of weeks.
Hank

Nexev: "Wonder about algae... is there any convenient means of growing and harvesting?" For me there is. My local aquarist pulls the stuff by the handful, Java Moss, algae and water plants, squeezes then out and I toss them into the bin.

My bad Hank, did not know they were so different. Does it wash up on shore in large clumps the way kelp does? As I mention with the kelp if it is readily available I would at minimum be adding it to the compost pile, dont imagine it could hurt to add some to the worms.

Equinox, thats what I am wondering. Could a plastic 30 gallon trash can, polycarbonate lid and an airstone bubbler grow an appreciable amount of algae?

Algae is cultured in either open or closed systems. An open system would not only use water to evaporation but I would be concerned about mosquitoes, those could be handled with minnows I suppose which would further enrich the system. The closed system would cut down the water use and limit the availability of water surface to insects.

Did a very little searching around for information though did not find much, guessing since there are so many folks trying and sharing about different ideas on sustainability this means there hasnt been much luck or usefulness in raising algae for organic material. To me it does seem interesting though and the possibility is there for the right setup so I will certainly keep my eyes open.

I only use it because it is local... local like 10 feet away, and it is a waste product from that system.

I don't know about algae but a 30 gallon system can quickly grow duck weed for... ducks and chickens. Would need to find some type of multiple uses for the system.

I would think you would be going for surface area with depth much beyond a couple inches being not needed for this specific process. I would also used a ruffled bottom to increase surface area for algae to live on. But I would think there would be way better uses for it than a worm bed. It would be too valuable for vermicomposting unless you had too much at certain times of the year.

Nexev (or should I say Harry),
Yes, the eel grass washes up to the high tide line and often forms an almost continuous tangle running along huge stretches of the beach. I've never tried to compost it but I know that when it has dried out a bit it makes for a very long lasting mulch and will almost appear unchanged after sitting for months. For that reason I'd like to try it as worm bedding because I suspect it would maintain terrific air movement. Just wonder how the worms would like it?
Kelp, although much less common(best after winter storms) on my local beaches, is supposed to contain many micro-nutrients that would benefit a garden. I'll have to give it (kelp) a try some time in both a compost and a worm bin.
Harry