Worm Digest - Re:Coffee grounds Card board

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Leonard
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A Hatchling Earthworm

Posts: 13

Coffee grounds Card board - 2008/02/14 19:05 I have my first bin going and doing well since the first of December. I am three weeks away from my first harvest of worms.

My ruber made bin has 3 square feet of surface area. I plan to use the same for all my bins.
In the end. I would like to harvest 120 lbs. of vermi compost a year. Best guess. How many bins I need?

My first bin will take care of my kitchen scraps. My second bin I want to set up to vermicompost coffee grounds and card board. These are two things that I have been bringing home from work to put in the garden. No extra gas or side trips involved.

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gnosnhoj

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A Protected Species Earthworm

Posts: 544

Re:Coffee grounds Card board - 2008/02/15 19:01 Leonard wrote:
I would like to harvest 120 lbs. of vermi compost a year. Best guess. How many bins I need?Not an easy answer, Leonard. Perception of "vc" could be anything from damp newspaper with some worm poop on it to a finely screened product which is almost all worm castings. Your bin environment will determine what your herd produces, and your observations should guide your harvest, not the calendar. What are you looking to do with it?
My first bin will take care of my kitchen scraps. My second bin I want to set up to vermicompost coffee grounds and card board.For experimentation purposes, I'd be interested in your results. For vc production, I'd mix all that and feed your bins equally as they get through it.
When I harvest my indoor bins (1ea 50g & 18g) roundabout every 4 months, I get ~16-18g of 1/4" screened vc, at ~80%/20% castings/bedding (just eyeballing). I just weighed the results of my last harvest while I was writing this; right about 60# in a solid (no air holes besides the manufactured ones under the handles) 18g bin and no additional moisture added. It's still good & moist. I haven't dug in to check for young'uns. Reckon I might oughta do that this weekend.

. Y'all have fun, whatever you're doing.
Gary
Hopkinsville, KY

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Leonard
User

A Hatchling Earthworm

Posts: 13

Re:Coffee grounds Card board - 2008/02/15 19:13 When I make compost the normal way. The volume reduces to about one third of the original mass.

Should I get about 120 pounds of vermicompost per 360 pounds of food eaten If the moisture content is about the same going in as it is going out?

If that is the case. I should get all the vermi compost I need out of 2 bins. Then I could mix the coffee grounds and cardboard with my kitchen scraps And have lots of grounds left over to put in the regular compost. Then Just do a third bin with grounds and cardbourd just for kicks.

What are you looking to do with it?

I wan't it to mix into the planting holes when I plant tomatoes and peppers. I use 120 pounds of composted manure now. I just want to switch to vermicompost.

Post edited by: Leonard, at: 2008/02/15 19:23

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greenbum
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A Hatchling Earthworm

Posts: 18

Re:Coffee grounds Card board - 2008/02/15 22:09 I'm fairly new to this myself, I've been researchi9ng for awhile, but your numbers sound a little off to me. I would aim higher than that. Not like you can't spread a little extra on your lawn or give it away or something if you have left overs.

Here's why I think your numbers are off...

1. You're comparing aerobic composting to vermicomposting. You probably won't add the worms to your plantings but you will add all the little micro organisms.

1a. Some of the food that goes into the worms is going to be used as 'fuel' to keep them growing, going, and reproducing.

2. You're not accounting for moisture. I like good, dry, screened castings for a finished product. So there is moisture in the food you add and there is moisture that should be evaporated out of the finished product...

Maybe if you figure out what percentage of the stuff your adding is H2O and then account for that weight and your numbers will be closer.

So if I was you I would go with one more bin or maybe even two over your estimate and see what you get. You can always find a place for the extras.

If you are seriously keeping track of this I'd like to know what your results are.

What I'm trying to figure out is the volume or area of bin required to consume all the waste we make here.

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Paratrooper

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A Mature Breeder Earthworm

Posts: 83

Re:Coffee grounds Card board - 2008/02/19 23:42 Sounds more like an experiment in cause and effect . You haven't mentioned if you intend to purchase more worms or just let nature supply you with more and more . In that case you will just have to keep harvesting and wait until you achieve your goal of 120 pounds a year . At that point you have several options . Keep growing and sell excess castings , start selling excess worms , give excess worms to friends that have shown an interest in vc , you get the drift . I met a couple of PHD's a few months ago that done agonizing research on metal detectors .I helped them out and noticed a flaw in their conversion of data to information . It would seem that their degrees were NOT in math so they had to settle for "just asking around". The same seems to show itself in the world of vc . Different strokes for different folks seems to be the rule . What works well for some works only marginally for others .There seems to be no "magic bullet" for all unless you are looking for a place to start . What I mean by that is it seems that a bedding of newspaper and coffee grounds will support a population of worms . You keep them fed , make new bins and keep harvesting . You might achieve a level of worms where some being lost to experimentation would be considered acceptable . The results might just launch you to better production levels thanks to things learned through trial and error . Not to mention the chance of becoming (be still my trembling heart) a worm guru . You just might find a more streamlined method with minimal effort and maximun results . No wasted motion and everything has a purpose . I would think that a persons food taste would also have a bearing . Some eat more of some stuff than others so their "garbage" differs . The results would have to take into consideration just what waste is available . I drink coffee and get the paper every day . We eat salad every night so there is lettuce each day . Not to mention that on my part time run I pick up produce in CA and AZ so there are large amounts of greens available . I mean REALLY large amounts . Just last night in Yuma the trash barrel next to the door I was loading at had 2 40# boxes of brocolli that were not in the weight range for shipping . (Wasteful huh ?) . I could probably (conservative estimate) grab 50# of assorted greens a week with NO problem . Others don't have that advantage so they must get their food from other sources . The original objective of worms was to reduce the amount of garbage . With some it has become a means of compost production with sales in mind . Either of the compost or the veggies grown .I would think that if you defined your objective matched with your resources at hand you would do a bit better in forcasting . The time that you are willing to invest will have a bearing as well .

Post edited by: Paratrooper, at: 2008/02/19 23:44 Tom
Kingman Arizona

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jlance
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A Protected Species Earthworm

Posts: 125

Re:Coffee grounds Card board - 2008/02/20 08:57 Tom Well said heal the earth with worm farming.
John Lance Indain Valley,virginia

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jlance
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A Protected Species Earthworm

Posts: 125

Re:Coffee grounds Card board - 2008/02/20 09:05 Leonard
I get about 45lb from 18g tote so you might go with four bins you will want more vc to try in flower pots and such
john heal the earth with worm farming.
John Lance Indain Valley,virginia

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Leonard
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A Hatchling Earthworm

Posts: 13

Re:Coffee grounds Card board - 2008/02/20 18:12 Sounds more like an experiment in cause and effect . You haven't mentioned if you intend to purchase more worms or just let nature supply you with more and more .

Paratrooper

I have my first bin going and doing well since the first of December. I am three weeks away from my first harvest of worms.
Leonard

I get about 45lb from 18g tote so you might go with four bins you will want more vc to try in flower pots and such

john

That sounds about right. I think my bin is 18 gallons.

It might take a while to get 3 bins working well but it will be worth the wait.

As far as food goes coffee grounds and cardboard will not be all I have. The neighbors cow jumps the fence and donates a pile on ocasion. He hauls in bread that is to old for the old bread store. If he hits the pot hole just right I get from 2 to 6 loves of old bread too.

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Leonard
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A Hatchling Earthworm

Posts: 13

Re:Coffee grounds Card board - 2008/10/28 10:46 Well it has been about a year now since i started this bin.

Turns out it was a 30 gallon tote. I have harvested 3 35 ponnd cat litter buckets full of compost. It was not as finished as it could have been. I can only guess that they each weighed 30 pounds.

I decided to just feed on one side for a while and wait for the worms to move over. That does not work so well if the old compost is not finnished.I moved a lot of worms into the garden. I will start to feed on one side for a longer time before harvest from now on.

I think I will add another bin this year.I should get better than 90 pounds per bin now that I have more worms. Next year I am going to feed each bin on one side then harvest one bucket fron one bin each month. That should be 2 months of feeding each bin on one side before harvest. About 180 lbs per bin. I guess I need to convert my bucket to cubic feet.

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