fourmares
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A Protected Species Earthworm
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Found a great source of worm food - 2006/09/19 15:01
There is nothing like a big bin full of worms to make you realize that you don't eat enough veggies... My worm population is growing by leaps and bounds and I just can't provide enough food for them (although I suppose they could live on just the horse poop...) So I had a brilliant idea... I went to the juice bar at the grocery store and asked them what they do with all their scraps, and if I could have some. They gave me a huge trashbag full of ground up fruit and veggies! I don't know if other parts of the country are like California, where we have a juice bar or a Jamba Juice on practically every corner... but if you have a juice bar nearby it could be a potential food source.
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Worm Police
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A Mature Breeder Earthworm
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Re:Found a great source of worm food - 2006/09/21 14:00
Hi fourmares,
Yes, finding worm food can be quite a challenge when your population grows. Here in Washington State, there seems to a Star Bucks on every corner, plus other private coffee kiosks. I am feeding 12 bins, and start a new bin periodically to sell, on what waste I produce, plus the coffee grounds. Occasional donations from friends help too. Donations, like wind fall apples, expired and stale dried food (cold cereals, pasta products, stale moldy bread) from kitchen cabinets. I also grow zucchini and pumpkins for my worms too. The zucchini is the summer food, the pumpkins are the winter food. I produce enough pumpkins for our own use for pies and bread, and the rest is chopped up for the worms as needed through the winter months, as when its colder they eat less.
Your worm population will remain stable, if you don't spilt them. Theoretically, I could have a hundred bins by now, if I kept splitting, and dividing them, but without a constant steady supply of an abundant food source, I just keep them at 10 to 12 bins. The base food for my worms right now is paper, and composted grass clippings and coffee grounds. The rest is made up of kitchen waste.
Isn't this fun?
Connie
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fourmares
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A Protected Species Earthworm
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Re:Found a great source of worm food - 2006/09/21 14:21
I don't want a stable population. My goal is to increase the population to be able to eventually process all the horse manure that comes out of my stalls. (14 horses) For that I need about a ton of worms! I started with 3 pounds. I will probably buy some more worms in the spring... otherwise, at optimal breeding capacity I'm looking at 3 years or so. When I open the top pf my current bin I can finally see worms making a run for it and diving back into the bedding, so I'm guessing that I'm getting near capacity and need to make another bin and split the current one. I'm concerned about loosing alot of my babies when I do the splitting because my bedding is dark and they might blend in. I do want to harvest some castings while I am at it.
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Worm Police
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A Mature Breeder Earthworm
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Re:Found a great source of worm food - 2006/09/21 15:21
Hi fourmares,
Its been my experience, that my bins can be divided by 3 or even 4 with no hitches, I divide the top 2/3rd's of the bin by 2, as that is still mostly food and bedding, depending on what you are using for bins, the bottom one third of the bin is mostly cast, but still contains a lot of worms and egg capsules, I put that into storage, and extract the remaining worms with mesh bags full of food, the worms will naturally follow the food into the bags, about every 2 weeks empty mesh bag into a new bin, and repeat until you have the cast nearly worm free. I do this with my garbage can worm bins, I also crochet thin hay twine to custom make my own bags for worm extraction, I can make them any size I want. But that thin plastic hay twine doesn't rot, perfect for making bags and other barn items you may need. So far I have made scrubby scour pads, and even made a cargo net for my pick up, its nice not to throw it away. I get the twine from my horsy friends, as I no longer have a horse anymore. Good sources for bags are the cheap laundry bags from the dollar store, and the mesh bags that fruit and produce come in at the fruit stand or grocery store. They are happy to give those bags away, as they are generally dispose of in the trash.
But if you divided your worms every 3 to four months, not worrying about cast, pretty soon you will have a fairly large population for processing your horse manure.
Have you checked old piles of horse manure for wild worms? Those will work for you too. Go out into the horse pasture after a rain, and poke around manure piles in the field, you may fine worms in them as well.
Connie
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jlance
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A Protected Species Earthworm
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Re:Found a great source of worm food - 2006/09/21 18:02
Hi fourmares
here some good info on horse manure scroll down to about the middle theres a chart.
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/PUBS/LIVESTK/01224.html
John
heal the earth with worm farming.
John Lance Indain Valley,virginia |
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Mrs. Raps
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A Fertile Cocoon
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Re:Found a great source of worm food - 2006/09/22 12:42
I ask my parents to save scraps of food also. They did it for a few weeks and I had more then I could manage. They can't do it all the time because freezer space is limited but their glad to help out when the can. They save their eggshells for me too.
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fourmares
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A Protected Species Earthworm
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Re:Found a great source of worm food - 2006/09/22 16:42
Thanks Jlance, I'm pretty sure that I've seen that articel before. Probably how I knew that I need about a ton of worms... actually I need about 2500 pounds of worms, but who's counting...
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WormMainea
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A Protected Species Earthworm
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Re:Found a great source of worm food - 2006/09/26 17:42
I'm doing a demonstartion project of that CSu method at my brother's farm. I'll let you all know how it develops. My bucket of worms seemed quite small compared to the 200+ linear feet of horse manure in the windrow, but they do multiply....
WormMainea.com |
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pixelphotographer
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A Hatchling Earthworm
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Re:Found a great source of worm food - 2006/10/11 20:19
worm police said it right i can take one worm bin and split it into 3 or 4 most times. they reproduce at a very fast rate. I tell first time vermicomposters to have at least 5 beds ready.
one for the worms and 4 more waiting for the first harvest.
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wellsworms
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A Protected Species Earthworm
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Re:Found a great source of worm food - 2006/10/13 09:14
can you make winrows right on the ground the worms can then go away from the heat
FEED IT TO THE WORMS
WELLS,vermont
jerry walker 2008 |
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