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As they used to say on WKRP
"Red Wigglers......
The Cadillac of Worms"
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While being a member of
the Solid Waste Resource Advisory Committee (otherwise know SWRAC), I asked the
committee if worm bins really worked. A gentleman in the audience informed me he
has a couple of kgs and would give me some to tryout...................... Well
I'm about to find out the Wonderful World of Worms!! |
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Interesting Facts:
Earthworms can be fed all forms of food waste, kitchen waste, yard & garden
waste (plant and root material ).
Waste can be of any organic matter. They love coconut shells, vegetable waste,
fruit waste, wood, egg shells, nails, hair, leaves, tea leaves and soiled cotton
tissues.
Generally speaking, 1Kg (2 lbs.) of earthworms will recycle 1/2Kg (1 lb.) of
organic waste in 24 hours. In absolutely ideal conditions of comfort and ground
up, moist food, the herd will recycle their own weight in wastes every 24 hours.
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The Worm Journal
April 6th
I had the bin delivered to City Hall to the surprise of the staff. Elated with
the arrival of my "Little Buddies", I explained to the support staff
that I was going to try out the worm bin as a means of composting with in my
apartment.
I took the bin home and dumped the compost that had been in my small green bin
into the worm bin and covered the food waste with the shredded paper to keep the
worms cool. Hopefully I will have found the cure to my pet peeves: Fruit Flies
and Odours.
April 9th
During the weekend I added more food waste to the worm bin. Since I am the only
one using it at the moment, I feel a little guilty that I'm not providing enough
food waste to the red Wigglers .
April 15th
Well the Wigglers were give a treat. I receive a fruit basket from my
parents for Easter, the loose grapes were soggy so I gave them to the Wigglers.
I left the top off for a half hour as a odour test. They passed with flying
colours!
April 21st
Added more shredded paper to the bin. The Wigglers are eating up all the
food waste and still no odour! They really seem to like tomatoes!
April 27th
Added more food waste ( salad - lettuce, carrots etc.....) Added more paper
too. Still no smell! Showed it to a few friends, they could believe worms were
in my apartment. As I was adding the new waste, with gloves on my hands, I noted
that the bins waste is starting to generate heat. This is a good sign! It means
the waste is starting to breakdown and the worms are doing their job.
May 1st
Added more food waste (old nachos, bread, lettuce and more paper.) Still no
smell! I have been promoting the use of worms to my friends and residents and
the all are impressed with the results.
May 10th
Still no smell! Cleaned out my fridge and gave the worms a few tomatoes and
spaghetti. Added more shredded paper and things are going fine.
May 23rd
Getting ready to go to a conference and a needed break... Fed the worms lots
of stuff such as corn husks and old food waste (spaghetti). I hope they will be
ok for 11 days.............. ps still no smell!
June 3rd
Back from the Conference and just checked my worms Their doing great and
still no smell! Need to add more paper!
June 21st
It's The beginning of summer and my worms are doing great and still no
smell! Added more paper and noticed that the corn cobs and the husks are
gone....I added them before I left for the conference. I also notice the little
guys are multiplying!
June 28th
Had my friend Terry over to do a "smell" test. My little buddies
passed with flying colours... I'm going to clean out the fridge tomorrow for
them as a treat!
July 10th
Check out the worms last week their doing great. Added more shredded paper
over the newest food waste. They will be dining on hamburger buns, strawberry
hulls and assorted veggies. Still no flies or odour!
Summer Break on reporting..... things are going great!
Oct 21st
Well my little buddies are still going strong.... in fact they have
quadrupled! I had the Daily New here today taking pictures of the kit... I'll
post the article when its on line.
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From the Daily News
If you’re fed up with green-bin fruit flies and
odour problems, worm composting may be the answer. Worm composting advocate
Halifax Downtown Councillor Dawn Sloane says she’s sold on the idea.
“I love my worm composter. This summer,
compared to problems I’ve had other summers with fruit flies, has been
awesome,” Sloane said yesterday.
In April, Sloane got about 200 red wiggler worms
and started keeping an online “worm journal” to let people know how it was
going. After inviting friends over for odour tests, Sloane said she’s
convinced it works.
Feeding on everything from stale nachos to
spaghetti, the worms thrived and began to convert food waste into humus, a
nutrient-rich soil conditioner. Worms can be fed kitchen and yard waste, but not
meat and dairy products. Eating as much as half their weight in 24 hours, the
worms can make humus quickly.
“At the beginning I felt guilty because I didn’t
think they were getting enough food, so I used to pop popcorn for them, but now
I know they’re getting enough,” she said.
A self-described environmentalist, Sloane said
worm composting has drastically reduced her green bin waste and provides good
soil for her garden.
Halifax solid waste director Brian Smith said
yesterday worm composting complements the city’s green-bin program. Since
worms cannot withstand the cold, it’s especially good for people in apartments
or townhouses, or any place where space is at a premium, Smith said.
The city will promote the use of worm composting
in newsletters and Web sites.
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Composting With Red Wiggler Worms
Why Compost?
Recycling the organic waste of a household into compost allows us to return
badly
needed organic matter to the soil. In this way, we participate in nature's
cycle, and cut down on garbage going into burgeoning landfills.
Why Compost With Worms?
Worm composting is a method for recycling food waste into a rich, dark,
earth-smelling soil conditioner. The great advantage of worm composting is that
this can be done indoors and outdoors, thus allowing year round composting. It
also provides apartment dwellers with a means of composting. In a nutshell, worm
compost is made in a container filled with moistened bedding and red worms. Add
your food waste for a period of time, and the worms and micro-organisms will
eventually convert the entire contents into rich compost.
The following information is based on the experiences of a network of worm
composters linked to City Farmer, Vancouver, and the excellent and practical
book: Worms Eat My Garbage by Mary Appelhof.
To buy directly on-line search for: Worms Eat My Garbage: How to Set up &
Maintain a Worm Composting System Worms Eat My Garbage: How to Set up &
Maintain a Worm Composting System. This brief introduction to worm composting is
only a basic guide, and while we have tried to include all the necessary
information to get you and your worms started, we recommend that you also read
the book - it is full of useful and fascinating details about this process. You
can also make a visit to one of the Compost Demonstration Gardens in the
Greater Vancouver to see worm compost bins actively working, and talk to
experienced staff. Call the Compost Hotline, (604) 736-2250.
What Do I Need To Get Started?
A. Container
We use wood and plastic containers. Either build or buy, or use your imagination
and recycle something like an old dresser drawer, trunk, or discarded barrel. We
prefer wood because it is more absorbent and a better insulator for the worms.
We use plastic containers but find that the compost tends to get quite wet.
Experiment and find out what works for you and your worms.
Guide To Size Of Container
In Worms Eat My Garbage, Mary Appelhof suggests weighing your household food
waste for one week (in pounds), and then provide one square foot of surface area
per pound. The container depth should be between eight and twelve inches.
Options to one large (and heavy) box are a number of smaller containers for
easier lifting and moving and more choice of location. The book illustrates a
variety of containers.
Depending on the size of the container, drill 8 to 12 holes (1/4 - l/2 inches)
in the bottom for aeration and drainage. A plastic bin may need more drainage -
if contents get too wet, drill more holes. Raise the bin on bricks or wooden
blocks, and place a tray underneath to capture excess liquid which can be used
as liquid plant fertilizer.
The bin needs a cover to conserve moisture and provide darkness for the worms.
If the bin is indoors, a sheet of dark plastic or burlap sacking placed loosely
on top of the bedding is sufficient as a cover. For outdoor bins, a solid lid is
preferable, to keep out unwanted scavengers and rain. Like us, worms need air to
live, so be sure to have your bin sufficiently ventilated.
B. Bedding
It is necessary to provide a damp bedding for the worms to live in, and to bury
food waste in. Suitable bedding materials are shredded newspaper and cardboard,
shredded fall leaves, chopped up straw and other dead plants, seaweed, sawdust,
peat moss, compost and aged manure. Try to vary the bedding in the bin as
much as possible, to provide more nutrients for the worms, and to create a
richer compost. Add a couple of handfuls of sand or soil to provide necessary
grit for the worm's digestion of food.
It is very important to moisten the dry bedding materials before putting them in
the bin, so that the overall moisture level is like a wrung-out sponge. The bin
should be about three-quarters full of moistened bedding. Lift the bedding
gently to create air spaces which help to control odours, and give freer
movement to the worms.
C. Worms
The two types of earthworm best suited to worm composting are the red worms:
Eisenia foetida (commonly known as red wiggler, brandling, or manure worm) and
Lumbricus rubellus They are often found in aged manure and compost heaps. Please
do not use dew-worms (large size worms found in soil and compost) as they are
not likely to survive.
Where To Get Your Worms?
If you feel adventurous, find a horse stable or farmer with a manure pile and
collect a bagful of manure with worms. Check your own or a friend's compost bin
for worms. You can also purchase worms. Call the Compost Hotline for more
details on local (British Columbia) sources of red worms.
How Many Worms Do I Need?
Mary Appelhof suggests that the correct ratio of worms to food waste should be:
for one pound per day of food waste, use two pounds of worms (roughly 2000). If
you are unable to get this many worms to start with, reduce the amount of food
waste accordingly while the population steadily increases.
What Do I Feed My Worms?
You can compost food scraps such as fruit and vegetable peels, pulverized egg
shells, tea bags and coffee grounds. It is advisable not to compost meats, dairy
products, oily foods, and grains because of problems with smells, flies, and
rodents. No glass. plastic or tin foil, please.
To avoid fly and smell problems, always bury the food waste by pulling aside
some of the bedding, dumping the waste, and then cover it up with the bedding
again. Bury successive loads in different locations in the bin.
Where Should I Locate My Worm Bin?
Worm bins can be used indoors all year round, and outdoors during the milder
months. The advantage of mobile bins is that they can be moved when weather
conditions change. Indoors, basements are excellent locations (warm, dark
and dry), but any spare space can be utilized, so long as temperatures are
between 40-80 degrees F. We know dedicated worm composters who have convenient
kitchen counter worm bins. Outdoors, bins can be kept in sheds and garages, on
patios and balconies, or in the yard. They should be kept out of hot sun and
heavy rain. If
temperatures drop below 40 degrees F., bins should either be moved indoors, or
well insulated outdoors.
How Do I Maintain My Bin?
If you have the correct ratio of surface area to worms to food scraps, there is
little to do, other than adding food, until about two and a half months have
passed. By then, there should be little or no original bedding visible in the
bin, and the contents will be brown and earthy looking worm castings. The
contents will have substantially decreased in bulk too.
It is important to separate the worms from the finished compost, otherwise the
worms will begin to die. There are several ways to do this. and you can discover
which is best for you. The quickest is to simply move the finished compost over
to one side of the bin, place new bedding in the space created, and put food
waste in the new
bedding. The worms will gradually move over and the finished compost can be
skimmed off as needed.
If you have the time or want to use all the compost, you can dump the entire
contents of the bin onto a large plastic sheet and separate the worms manually.
Most children love to help with this process and you can turn it into a fun
lesson about worms for them. Watch out for the tiny. lemon-shaped worm cocoons
which contain between two and twenty baby worms! By separating the worms from
the compost, you save more worms for your next bin. Mix a little of the finished
compost in with the new bedding of the next bin, and store the rest in plastic
bags for use as required.
Where Do I Use My Compost?
The compost can be mixed with potting soil and used for houseplants and patio
containers. It is an excellent mulch (spread in a layer on top of the soil) for
potted plants. If it is screened, it can be added for potting mixes for
seedlings, and finely sprinkled on a lawn as a conditioner. lt can be used
directly in the garden, either dug into the soil or used as a mulch.
Common Problems And Solutions
The most common problem is unpleasant, strong odours which are caused by lack of
oxygen in the compost due to overloading with food waste so that the food sits
around too long, and the bin contents become too wet. The solution is to stop
adding food waste until the worms and micro-organisms have broken down what food
is in there, and to gently stir up the entire contents to allow more air in.
Check the drainage holes to make sure they are not blocked. Drill more holes if
necessary. Worms will drown if their surroundings become too wet.
Worms have been known to crawl out of the bedding and onto the sides and lid if
conditions are wrong for them. If the moisture level seems alright, the bedding
may be too acidic. This can happen if you add a lot of citrus peels and other
acidic foods. Adjust by adding a little garden lime and cutting down on acidic
wastes.
Fruit flies can be an occasional nuisance. Discourage them by always burying the
food waste and not overloading. Keep a plastic sheet or piece of old carpet or
sacking on the surface of the compost in the bin. If flies are still persistent,
move the bin to a location where flies will not be bothersome. A few friendly
spiders nearby will help control fly problems!
By GiIIian Elcock and Josie Martens
(C) Copyright: City Farmer 1995
Sunday, March 3, 2002 The Halifax Herald Limited
Wriggling into Vermiculture
Couple to hold session to educate participants about worm composing
By Kelly Shiers / Staff Reporter
Glenn Munroe was the kind of squeamish kid who didn't like bugs and would likely
run from a worm.
He grew up to be a man who keeps thousands of reddish-brown, squirming
creatures in his kitchen and in insulated containers in his backyard, carefully
feeding them the family's leftovers that will ultimately become compost.
"The thing I think that's so neat about them is they break down organic
matter very quickly and turn it into something that's really, really good for
your plants," he said.
"It's wonderful stuff."
Mr. Munroe and his wife, Phyllis Lasky, are beginning a non-profit organization
to educate people about the value of worm composting.
They will be discussing the composting Wednesday at a free workshop
sponsored by Halifax Regional Municipality, beginning at 6:30 p.m. at Saint
Andrews Recreational Centre, 6955 Bayers Road.
From previous workshops, Mr. Munroe said he knows certain questions are
always on people's minds.
"They ask whether they get out of the container - that's one of the first
concerns.
And they ask whether there's an odour."
For the record, the answer is no to both questions.
Worm composting actually requires very little effort, he said.
"Worms have been doing what they do for a long, long time," he said.
"But in
terms of people harnessing that, the big break came about 30 years ago."
At that time, an American woman wrote a book called Worms Eat My Garbage,
instantly reaching an audience that had never heard of this kind of waste
management.
Mr. Munroe said the thin worms - unlike those found in most backyards - are
non-burrowing and measured and sold by the pound, with about a thousand of
the little guys in each pound. It is possible to harvest your own if you don't
mind
digging through the most likely source of these special crawlers - a farmer's
manure pile.
A family of four would probably require three or four pounds, he said.
While some people keep the worms in lidded containers in their homes, others
opt for larger, outside containers that are insulated against freezing
temperatures.
Each worm bed requires moist, shredded paper or peat moss for the worms to
live in, he said.
And while compost can be made within a couple of months, the process can be
made even speedier by shredding the decaying waste, he said.
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From More Information: |
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The nice
people of new.ground@ns.sympatico.ca
have supplied my buddies. Contact them for more info! |
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Eco-Efficiency Centre - A great group situated in Burnside Industrial
Park! |
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