BajaBlanca
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Location: La Bocana, BCS
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COMPOSTING #3 composting with worms
Unfortunately, I did not get photos of this part - my camera ran out of juice....
1. get a box with slats
2. fill 3/4 full with dry sawdust or kindling or dried branches/leaves
3. water this VERY WELL
4. add a layer of dirt - add worms to it
5. add organic matter, leaving 3 inches with none, along all edges
6. cover with dirt
7. wet down. make sure this is always damp. keep away from sun
8. cover with loose branches
* always put the food in different parts of the box. first in top left (for example) then in bottom left, then in top right and so on.
* this is the fastest way to compost but many of us were NOT comfortable with the worms ...... yuck.
* always wet down to keep moist or worms will die. Do not overwater or they will drown LOL
* the liquid that comes out the bottom is called liquid hummus and it is excellent fertilizer, one can have a bottom dish to collect. I guess this is
actually sold in stores and is liquid gold.
* when you are ready to get some dirt for plants, don't water/add organic matter to that little portion and that will be the part that you use for
planting/fertilizing. she didn't say for how long (or at least I didn't write it down) ... I am going to guess at least a week ??
Adriana said that any type of container could be used for this as long as it had excellent drainage and air vents. so if using plastic, she said to
cut air holes in the sides, bottom.
* one cannot use pine needles or branches nor eucayptus leaves or branches. ever. they have a resin that will kill the worms. also, be sure that any
sawdust or what have you has not been treated with chemicals.
and there you have it !
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bajachris
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Registered: 3-29-2009
Location: San Diego, San Juanico, San Andres
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Check out ITunes North Carolina State University free on line lectures on Premaculture. There are about 20 lectures from 2010 on turning your yard
into a productive place. Lecture 15 is about worm composting, by a woman named Rhonda. Worms must be red wigglers. She says to take a bin. Drill
small air holes along top side, not on top. Worms like it dark. Take shredded paper and put in a bucket of water for 15 minutes. Wring out water and
fluff up and place in bin. Add only one handful of dirt. These worms do not like much soil. Add food scraps under their bed of paper. Do not add
oranges because they change the pH of soil. Veggies and fruit finely chopped will do better. Sounds like a great way to use all those veggies that
have to be thrown away. The vermicompost makes plants disease resistant and grow larger.
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Mulegena
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Where do we get worms in Baja?
Seriously.
c-ckroaches we got. Worms not so much.
"Raise your words, not your voice. It's rain that grows flowers, not thunder." ~Rumi
"It's the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." ~ Aristotle
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BajaBlanca
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Location: La Bocana, BCS
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Mulegena - do you have plants that are doing well ?? prolly some worms in ther .... you can always come and get some of my dirt. I got plenty of worms
in my plants. when I happen to unfortunately see one, I spend months not repotting....I really don't appreciate seeing them but I love what they do !
thanks Chris for all that information. I forgot to mention that Adriana did say to NOT put too much orange peel as it makes for too much acidity which
the worms don't like.
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Mulegena
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Thanks, Blanca
I may well make a worm-run your way-- or send some with someone coming to visit Issy the osprey.
Our land has old-growth, long-neglected fruit trees which have already responded to being watered and cleaned up a bit. We have a long way to go
before they're back up and throwing fruit at us again like in the old days when Ricardo was a child playing amongst them.
Worms are great and indicate healthy soil. I doubt there are many, if any, present at the moment. They probably high-tailed it years ago.
No worries with worms. I played with 'em as a kid.
A couple of roaches in a compost pile is ok, too; they aerate the soil. That being said, I really really really don't like 'em. Creepy. Give me a worm
any day.
"Raise your words, not your voice. It's rain that grows flowers, not thunder." ~Rumi
"It's the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." ~ Aristotle
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Paulina
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Blanca,
You might want to order the book, "Worms Eat My Garbage" by Mary Appelhof. You can get it off of Amazon. It is simply written for your students and
will teach them everythting they need to know regarding setting up and maintaining a worm composting system.
I have had a worm bin in my classroom every year. The children love it as do our plants. Citrus is a no no as well as meat and dairy products. The
worms LOVE watermelon. Put a piece on the top, rind down and the next day all that will be left is a thin sheet of green. They gobble it up. We called
the liquid that comes out of the bottom "worm tea". It is excellent for watering your house plants.
The book will teach you about how much to feed, how to rotate your bin and very easy ways to cultivate the castings.
Have fun with this project. Remember to keep them cool in the summer.
P>*)))>{
\"Well behaved women rarely make history.\" Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
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BajaBlanca
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great ! thanks for the tip !
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Mulegena
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Yes, and keeping worms cool in the summer is near-impossible here in Mulege I'd guess. I imagine they'd hot-compost!
A few years ago Blanca went the mile for a friend and sent a huge amount of crickets down with Les. They did the two-day trip south with Les just
fine. I came over and enjoyed the day in the cool Pacific breeze and picked 'em up, took the little jumpers back to Mulege.
They were kept with a friend in his air-conditioned house. Those crickets just couldn't handle it here. They all expired within 2 weeks, and none
reproduced. The animals for which they were intended as food eventually died, too.
"Raise your words, not your voice. It's rain that grows flowers, not thunder." ~Rumi
"It's the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." ~ Aristotle
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