READ Applehof: Worms Eat My Garbage

Do you have access to horse manure & the straw/sawdust/shavings that come with it. ? If so use that. Put some pureed food scraps in it. Let it Live for a week or so before you add worms. If not, put the food in whatever you will use for bedding: shredded paper , cardboard , coir. Give it a rest.

Add worms per Applehof, Bentley. & Us:

Quoted from Red Worm Composting:

1) The âÂÂx lb of worms per sq ftâ approach �" the idea here is that you stock a certain quantity of worms per square ft of your binâÂÂs upper surface area. An example of this can be found in Mary AppelhofâÂÂs âÂÂWorms Eat My Garbageâ �" she recommends one pound of worms for every 4 sq ft of bin space. So a bin thatâÂÂs 2ÃÂ2 would be stocked with 1 lb of worms.

End Quote

IF, as is said, a worm can eat half its weight per day, calculate the weight of the food to the weight of the worms. IMO it would be a good idea to start with half that then add more when it is gone. GET( aged, cooled, composted ) HORSE MANURE if you possibly can. Because it is both carbon and nitrogen, it is both bedding and food , and Significantly reduces all the risks of beginners.

Read about a hundred posts on this forum.
Scan the titles. Look for what you need to know.
There is a search box at the bottom of the titles page.
Scuttlebutt is Google's algorithm functions better than the Garden Web search function. But give this one a try first.

awesome TY for the reply. I was able to get a used Can-o-Worms off craigslist for $30 in very good shape. Ill def look into that book, i wonder if its avail on Kindle. Based off those numbers looks like i should start off with right at a pound. My aunt has a horse so i may be able to get some of that as a starter. Any rec on where best place to get redwigglers is? There is a local person i can go get them from in San Antonio but from the prices i have seen online they want $35 for a pound and that seems expensive.

If your aunt has a pile of older horse manure, it should have worms in it and you can just collect them. No need to buy.

Interesting, redwigglers live in horse manure?

Wigglers are indeed a manure worm. With the deal you got on the COW and the horse manure hookup you are set to start makin loads of worms but wigglers probably are not the for letting loose in the garden. The Eisenia Hortensis or European Night Crawlers are a similar worm in habit but from all I have gathered they are slightly more tolerable of bothering them, temperature swings and physical environment.

That doesnt mean the wigglers would not be great for the COW to use it for making castings to then use in the garden and who knows? If your garden is rich in organic material they might just take up residence there also and do a little tilling for you.

Glad to hear of the start of your journey especially since you will be sharing it with your daughter. Best of luck on success so you can enjoy the fruits of your labor together.

Nexev, plus one on your great post.

Nexev, Your statement about hortensis (Euros) being more tolerant than fetida (red wigglers) seems opposite of what I have read. Both are great worms. Fetida might be better in a COW .

Here is a quote from the linked 2-part article:
"The real big disadvantages to the Euro are its slower reproduction, shorter life span, lack of upwards migration, and sensitivity to environmental conditions. The red wiggler worm will happily keep composting in very high temperatures and even survive compost piles going through minor heat up by moving to the edges. The euro however would likely be killed by these conditions. The euro is in high demand for fishing and this keeps the price much higher than that of the red wiggler. This is likely one of the major keys to its lower usage in compost."

Good luck and happy wormin'

Pete

Here is a link that might be useful: fetida vrs hortensis

This post was edited by mendopete on Sun, Dec 21, 14 at 12:10

That's what the majority of what I have read say, Reds better for Bins (COW) and NightCrawlers better for in the garden Bed. I hope that's correct.

Yes and no nacskins, yes in the nightcrawlers are generally more of a soil worm. Nightcrawlers make permanent burrows and are quite sensitive to having them disturbed.

Euros are nightcrawler in name only. Species wise they are related to the wigglers only larger. They also do not make permanent burrows instead constantly tunneling through soil.

Pete, I have read both ways from different sources and since I dont have experience with wigglers cannot comment on the difference IME only from the accumulative impression I get from reading and the short experience to this point with EH. Everyone does seem agree that they are slower breeders than wigglers but I figure with the additional size per worm they probably make up for it in terms of total mass.

Thanks for the link, I see it says composting dont live in dirt... well it might not be their favorite place but I can assure you that they do and I would imagine wigglers do too. Obviously this would not mean dirt devoid of any organic matter as pretty much nothing lives in that. The author also pointed out what I mentioned above as far as the EH being more suitable for the garden. Also found it interesting that they mentioned while there are fewer per hatch they lay more eggs. Had not seen this before.

Nacskins, welcome to the forum. Good job getting your daughter (and you!) into gardening and vermicomposting. Your COW (can-o-worms) sounds like a great buy. A pound of worms will be fine I think. Fewer is ok also. Patience is important.
Any worms found in manure are likely the kind you want. I like to look after rains. Finding or buying worms locally is a good idea.
Horse manure is great for worms, but not necessary. kitchen scraps and some type of carbon bedding (I like shredded cardboard) are commonly used.

Nexev, I wish your place was down the road from me. I would come over with some cold beverages and a bucket of worms to trade for some jumbo Euros. We could sit in your sunshine and discuss all things wormy! Maybe we could find a cow to feed some apples to. I really enjoy your posts. Keep 'em coming!

Thank you to all. Is there such a thing as a worm exchange? something to get people like myself going. Gonna have to save a while to get sending money on worms due to tight budgeting. If not i think once i get my farm going i will offer "extra" worms to others looking to start. Thoughts? suggestions?

Sorry double post

This post was edited by nacskins on Sun, Dec 21, 14 at 18:43

nacskins - How/what I feed can be found in the post titled "verd feed preprocessing" below on the forum main page. It's worth reading for ideas on different approaches. The following is what I've found to be very productive in setting up a new bin:

I begin two weeks before I transfer my worms (or you get your first order of worms) to the new bin. I add a 1" layer of moistened, shredded cardboard/paper along with some cardboard egg carton chunks that have been soaked in a bucket of water for 24 hours. These carton chunks help with air flow pockets as well as moisture and carbon content. I then spread a thin layer of my food concoction that has been aged a few days over one half of the bin. Thin is the operative word. Over feeding is a big mistake to avoid. Feeding on only one half of the bin is done so if the food goes bad for any reason the worm herd (verd) can escape to the other half of the bin. That is very important for the health and wellbeing of your verd. I then repeat these steps (bedding layer over entire bin and food layer over same half of the bin as before) a total of three times. On each layer I recommend sprinkling a small amount of existing vermicompost (if it's not your very first bin) to jumpstart the microbial community along with a dusting of ground up egg shells so the worms will have plenty of grit for their gizzards. Then I cover the bin and let set for 1-2 weeks so the habitat can be well established. The worms are then added to the bin and a 2" layer of dry, shredded paper/cardboard is added over the top to help keep the worms at home in their new bin.

I then leave the worms alone for a week - no feeding. The first time I feed will be in one of the corners on the non-food side of the bin. Second feeding is in the other non-food corner. Note: I would start out with a pound of worms (~1000) so you have enough in your hurd to handle the food in the initial bin set up.

Since the habitat is so well established with plenty of readily available food and bedding I have had no trouble with worms trying to make a break for it (knock on wood). Hope this helps.

Thank you, i did read that and many many others lol. Been reading a lot which is what lead me here. i found this link " http://www.byhomestead.com/ " to be very informative. Prob listed on here a few times but i have read so many threads that cant remember which one its on. Im wondering is there is a Worm exchange, similar to the seed exchange. Is there a way to safely ship the worm cocoon? if there is i will be gad to do so for others after i get my herd going, and maybe start a "cocoon" exchange / adobt a newbie thread.

Great newbie starter read: www/rco.on.ca/factsheet/fs_e05.html

Upload this, read, follow the advice, thank me later with some thriving worm bins.

chuckiebtoo

Moderation, Diversity, Patience

for not-so-newbies: check it out too and refer newbie peeps to it

chuckiebtoo, the link seems go go to Google. Please test the link by clicking on it to see if it goes to where you want it to go. I clicked on the first google link as I think there is where you wanted us to go to. Maybe a dot after the www . I have certainly copied addys that do not do what I thought they would in pasting them.

Very nice, short but to the point booklet. I like the way they set up the troubleshooting section. Thanks for the link cb2!

Here is a link that might be useful: Vermicomposting booklet

"Thoughts? suggestions?" Many vermicomposters accidentally kill their first worms. Starting with found worms in horse manure is good. Dividing the worms into two bins helps keep a population alive one dies. Dead worms smell bad. The number one reason why most worm bins fail is failure to add bedding. The bins do great for three months and then the bad thing happens. If we had a FAQ and each poster got to add one sentence. My sentence would be to add torn up cardboard egg cartons and shredded paper towel tubes. Corrugated or non printed on cardboard if you got it. Failed bins typically are full of kitchen scraps and totally devoid of absorbant, not slick, cardboard and bedding. Magazine pages, office paper, junk mail, although used by some can be recycled other higher use ways. A household normally has enough other materials that are more absorbent and fluffy such as grey, absorbent, unslick shirt cardboard to wow a worm bin with. I'd use cereal boxes if I had no other better bedding materials raining down on me.

Appreciate that Pete and I do think we could tip a few in the discussion of the minions toiling tirelessly for us.

Have to agree with the sentiment on bedding expressed by many above. Tough to imagine you could ever have too much bedding as it holds moisture while holding the flood at bay and it is also food in the end as the bacteria consume it in turn becoming food.

I have been using cardboard. The easiest way for me is to soak it then tear into about 5 or 6" pieces which are balled up and tucked into the new layer. This creates a very porous structure for good air flow.

Nexev, can't believe you post about worms in the middle of the night ;-) You're worse than all of us ;-)

Welcome nakskins ! Congrats for starting gardening and vermicomposting ! And save your hard earned money, try and find manure heaps. When you drive to go here or there, keep an eye on the roadside to notice horses. Stop and ask for the manure piles. They're overcrowded with free worms. Try to search for them when it's quite cold, because when it's warm they're swift as hell and as soon as you're starting to dig they hear you and go to hide as far as they can. But they're slower when it's cold. Of course if it's freezing they might be dead ;-)

As for those worms not being able to survive outside, I've been pulling some hated bermuda grass lately, and there were worms caught in the stolons. I think they were EF, or small Euros, but I didn't keep them out in the light for too long so I can't be sure. From what I observe in my now very cold garden, with freezing temperatures every morning, the worms survive quite well. As soon as the sun raises the temperatures, the worms on the southern side of the compost piles become quite active. When I raise the straw to have a look, they disappear very fast.

As for loving wet corrugated cardboard, I put some at different levels in my sort of lasagna beds to kill the bermuda grass. But I guess I'll have to find another strategy because the worms love it so much that this compostable fence disappears too fast to prevent an invasion of bermuda grass :-(