glowery
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A Protected Species Earthworm
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Just getting started - 2006/04/03 10:05
Hi all,
Well I am just about to get started in this whole worm thang. Admittedly with all of the reading I have done in different places I still feel like I don't know a lot. I keep worrying that I will do something wrong and kill the worms, hence the reason I have not ordered my worms yet.
I have spoken with Bob Ingram on the phone and he can attest that I am a woman of many questions ha ha ha (Bob to refresh your memory, I am the woman from Lebanon, MO)
I guess I just need to jump in and ask the questions I have now so maybe I will feel a bit more at ease.
I have purchased a couple of plastic totes to keep the first batch of worms in. This is probabaly how I will continue to raise them. The totes are 18 gallon and will be drilled with many 1/8 inch holes, top bottom and sides for ventalation. They will be kept in a stall in our olde barn. When winter hits again we plan on lining the stall walls with the blue styrofoam insulation to keep the temps above freezing.
Now on with the questions:
I had read that you need one square foot of space per pound of worms. In that ratio one tote could hold five pounds of worms, but when you think of how many worms will be there (Lord willing and the creeks don't rise) will there be too many worms in the totes in 3 or 4 months when it is time to harvest and divide the worms? Should I divide the 5 pounds of worms between the 2 totes when I first get them?
For bedding I have an end roll of news print paper I am going to tear in strips, I have plenty of horse manure , and I have some leaves that have been through a shedder. Is it okay to use the shredded leaves?
I have read on here you can use paper that has been through a shredder, but do you have to worry if there has been any colored ink used on this paper? One of my daughters said she could provide me with all of the shredded paper from her office (they are strip shredders)but I am worried about the ink.
Bob had told me if I had good bedding when my worms arrived I should not have to worry about fedding them for a couple of weeks after I get them. This is where my concern starts;
I worry I won't feed them enough or that I will overfeed them. With just my husband and I, there are not a lot of food scraps on a daily basis. Since we have the horses, I have lots of manure I can feed, but do they need more. Bob said I could supplement that with cornmeal, but how much? How do you decide how much food to put in a bin?
With summer on the way I will do mostly top feeding so heat will not be created. Is that the right thing to do?
When do I add more paper for bedding?
If I sound like I am confused, there is a reason for that; I AM!
Glenda
Glenda
I always wanted to be somebody; I guess I should have been more specific. |
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