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My first compost bin

Submitted by Aviad on Wed, 07/01/2009 - 19:21
in

Today I went to buy red worms for our compost bin.  One bag of 1,000 worms cost me nearly 30 bucks. The worms seem to be nice, though pretty shy...  I unpacked them into the ready-in-advance soil and of they went into a warm, dark and moisten world, the underground.

I was told that red worms do not like bread, so I am currently

doing a small test with the worms and feeding them few different types of vegetables and of course, a piece of bread.  As you can see from the pictures, it's a race against time (in worm terms).

Enjoy the pictures :-)

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The worms went underground
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Comments

Jalapeno and onions

Submitted by Joel (not verified) on Mon, 09/28/2009 - 13:15.

We eat a lot of spicy food at home and have lots of onions, jalapeno pepper parts in an almost all vegetarian diet... I have a compost pile now but with a lot of jalapeno and onions and I'm about to receive my vermiposting supplies and start raising my new red friends...

Does anyone have experience with onions or jalapenos with their red wiggler worms?

We probably dropped some of

Submitted by AltGlobe on Mon, 10/05/2009 - 19:03.

We probably dropped some of these guys into our compost and I do not think there was an issue with them. Did you find other answer elsewhere?

 

carbon

Submitted by C Robb Worthington on Wed, 09/16/2009 - 08:53.

I used to cut up egg cartons to add to my wormery. This addition of carbon helped keep the composting process ticking over and reduced the sliminess of the end product. Don't forget to use the liquid that drains off in your garden, mixed 10 to one or so with water. Excellent fertilizer!

 

That sounds like a good idea

Submitted by AltGlobe on Mon, 10/05/2009 - 19:28.

That sounds like a good idea and I am going to put the first one in to see how its working. I was absent for a month and the bin looks like a mess now with an unknown caterpillars dwelling in the bin and some small eggs that I have no idea what they are yet. I sent an email to Bently from Red Worm Composting and hope I will get an answer. Will share here if I get any. If anyone has an idea what these creatures are, feel free to drop a comment here. Thanks!


 

I wish I found this article

Submitted by Aviad on Sat, 08/15/2009 - 14:45.

I wish I found this article before...
Great tips of what NOT to put in your compost bin.
http://lighterfootstep.com/2009/07/30-things-you-should-never-compost-or-recycle/ 

With further reading... I found this article, which contradicts some of the above list's items.
http://weblife.org/humanure/chapter3_11.html


Now I can understand why some people say that some foods are not to be composted in your garden bin. It seems to me that it depends on how far you want to go with your bin's temperature. More protains and fat = higher temperature, different insects. 

 

That's funny how we need

Submitted by cristele on Sun, 08/16/2009 - 16:01.

That's funny how we need scientific proofs for common sense. Basically, if your compost bin is cleaned around (= no scrap hanging out, perfectly scealed bin) it's allright. You shouldn't worry about what exactly eats your scrap: worms or other insects, in the end it will all turn into good soil. If you have raccoons around, avoid things that would attract them. you know they can be clever or find an accidental way to get in if it really smells good. emmm...that's it! :-)

 

I just got a link from a

Submitted by AltGlobe on Tue, 07/07/2009 - 00:02.

I just got a link from a friend that can be really helpful for others who live in the Bay Area, as far as when to plant what in your garden.
Check it out:
http://www.oaklandnet.com/parks/programs/communitygardening_planting_gui...

 

Guys, I *needed to know*. So

Submitted by cristele on Thu, 07/02/2009 - 14:57.

Guys, I *needed to know*.
So here is the explanation on why no citrus and no meat

"What Not To Feed Your Worms
* meat
* dairy products and
* very fatty foods.
It's not so much that the worms won't appreciate them, rather that these foods tend to produce a stink while decomposing. So, until you're a seasoned vermicomposter, avoid feeding these foods."
So You CAN put meat. Just put your worm composter away from your noise! Nature *smells*. sometimes it's bad, sometimes it's good. And it depends for who...Ask my dog which one is her favorite smell; I dont think think is freshly blowned roses :-P

"Nearly all other food scraps are fine to feed your worms:
* fruit peels
* plate scrapings
* moldy bread
* pizza crust
* a bit of cake and ice cream
* refrigerator leftovers
* watermelon rinds
* popcorn
* ... and just about anything else you don't eat

Tip #1 - avoid feeding more than a few citrus fruit peels at one time. Citrus peels contain a very harsh chemical (remember the last time you accidentally got a squirt in the eye?) Worms will leave these peels alone until they have softened via bacterial action, and are more tasty.

Tip #2 - Very salty foods should be added in small amounts, spread out. In a concentrated form, they could burn the worms' skin.
Did You Know??

Worms get their nutrition from the microorganisms they eat, and not particularly from the food waste. It's true. Worms won't even begin to nibble on fresh organic matter. Instead they'll wait until lots of tasty microbes have begun to grow on its surface."

Read here: http://www.allthingsorganic.com/How_To/05.asp

 

so Aviad, your experience

Submitted by cristele on Thu, 07/02/2009 - 15:01.

so Aviad, your experience will not work because the worms are waiting for this fresh food to rot..

 

Well... I guess they will

Submitted by Aviad on Thu, 07/02/2009 - 15:37.

Well... I guess they will need to wait now until something gets rotten. Awesome information btw.

 

In the small book that comes

Submitted by cristele on Thu, 07/02/2009 - 12:45.

In the small book that comes with the compost bin, they say you CAN give them scraps of oranges and lemons, they will process it *after* processing everything else. But you can definitely do it. I don't remember them saying anything wrong about bread, but they don't talk about meat at all -maybe they are vegeterians and they didnt even think about it? :-)

 

I think it's deeper than

Submitted by Aviad on Thu, 07/02/2009 - 14:20.

I think it's deeper than that. The neighbor we had was extremely against bread and he had an extensive experience with farming and composting.

 

I love they way the vegies

Submitted by Cosima on Thu, 07/02/2009 - 05:48.

I love they way the vegies are sooooo neatly placed - every compost bin i ever had looked, well like a compost bin - scraps everywhere!!!!!

 

right... they are so neatly

Submitted by Aviad on Thu, 07/02/2009 - 09:38.

right... they are so neatly placed because I am trying to see, before pouring all the scraps, what they like to eat and what not, so I will be able to know how to separate the scraps later. As I wrote on the blog itself, I was told that bread is not good for them, neither meat. Did you ever hear about types of scraps for compost bin?

 

its a very good plan, and one

Submitted by Cosima on Thu, 07/02/2009 - 11:03.

its a very good plan, and one which shows a lot of care for your new wormy helpers. I also never put meat in the compost and try to avoid putting citrus scraps in, as far as I know they pretty much munch on everything else - Let us know what their preferred meal is!

 

Will do! Citrus looks like

Submitted by Aviad on Thu, 07/02/2009 - 11:07.

Will do! Citrus looks like something you want to avoid since it has such a strong oil, but I could not understand why bread or meat.

 

Just want to tell you, that

Submitted by Tzvika (not verified) on Thu, 07/02/2009 - 02:58.

Just want to tell you, that you have a big Dash from Maya Cochva (her son and my daughter are in the same pre-school.
so i see her from time to time.

Thank you Tzvika! Do the kids

Submitted by Aviad on Thu, 07/02/2009 - 09:27.

Thank you Tzvika! Do the kids learn how to compost at school? I know that my nephew, who is going to the democratic school, have a class about sustainability and composting is one of their lessons. Please say hello from me back.

 

Re: My First Compose Bin

Submitted by Dentists Corpus Christi (not verified) on Wed, 07/01/2009 - 22:59.

This is a very interesting post. Worms may be slimy and icky, but they help in our ecosystem and we should not take them for granted. I am amazed that you can buy worms just for 30 bucks. So cool.

That's with no shipment...

Submitted by Aviad on Wed, 07/15/2009 - 13:42.

That's with no shipment...

 

My First Compost Bin.

Submitted by Wanagiyata on Tue, 07/07/2009 - 09:29.

Worms aren't only ecological, but they also have spiritual connotations, being... transformation, regeneration, growth, healing...so very apt when being used in compost.

Wanagiyata 

Well, I had to drive half an

Submitted by Aviad on Thu, 07/02/2009 - 09:35.

Well, I had to drive half an hour each side to get these worms. There are not too many businesses selling them around here from what I found in my short research. From the ones I called, 30 bucks for 1 pound was the average...

 

Very nice! We still have not

Submitted by Karen_E on Wed, 07/01/2009 - 19:31.

Very nice! We still have not started a compost bin, so you are way ahead of us... I like the size of your container, it looks like something that would fit on our small balcony. Where did you get it?

 

I just went to the Ace's

Submitted by Aviad on Thu, 07/02/2009 - 09:31.

I just went to the Ace's nursery next to my house, here in Oakland...

 

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