getting rid of worm bin

It's not that it doesn't work -- it works GREAT. I just don't want a worm bin in my pantry anymore. What I think I'll do, once it gets a little bit cooler, is dump them in the compost pile. Any advice, suggestions, etc., about the proper way to do this? Should I just dump them on top? Bury them underneath? Or start a new pile? Or dig little ditches in garden areas and just put them in the ground? I do want to do what's best for the worms, I'd just rather put my compostables in the compost pile instead of keeping up with the bin.

I'll harvest the worm poop first, of course!

Thanks in advance!

Ann

Just on top and soon cause they like to go below the compost when it starts to cool and get deep below the frost line. Oops you are in TX so on top and they will go nuts.

Seen any robins lately? If you dump the worms on top, they'll probably congregate at your compost pile. We'd have birds lined up on the fence watching as we sifted through the compost, pulling out the worms to toss back in.

Do you not want a worm bin at all, or just not one in the pantry? Could you move it to the garage?

I cover my compost pile with plastic and the birds just drool. they cannot get under it. You may need some weight on it.

Will do, Sofer. And, yeah, it will be quite a while before it freezes over down here...

I'm not going to get rid of the bin -- I may start it up again. My garage gets WAY too hot and stuffy. I'm just taking care of so many things right now, the most economical thing for me to do time-wise is stick to just the compost pile. It works the best, anyway.

Geez, that makes it sound like the worms are so very demanding, rattling their little tin cups against the walls... But if a few days go by and I can't even remember whether I've put food in there, then I've taken on too much. And they won't meow and remind me,

The pile is a cube made of pallets, and is covered with some big cardboard, so the birds would have a hard time getting to them. Between the builders and the hurricane, there aren't many nesting places right now. A few mockingbirds and pigeons and sparrows.

Worms are very easy to deal with. I just put manure, grass clippins, and dry leaves in layers on the ground and water regularly. When I turn the pile there are always worms. Don't know where they come from, but they can find your compost no matter what. I doubt that robins could make a very significant dent in a worm population from a bin as long as there is something for them to crawl under. I once knewf a woman who ordered special red wigglers for her compost pile. But they didn't look any different than the ones we had in our soil. As long as you have water, organic matter, and air, you don't have to worry about worms.

Ya sure you betcha PJ. Worms are free in compost on the ground and more plentiful than any purchase. We cane pole fisherman know that.

I don't know about all this advice...aren't those special worms? I would send them off where you send unwanted chipmunks -- the park.

Think about it: If they will consume whatever you've been putting in the bin, EVERYTHING you've been putting in the bin, why wouldn't they chow down on your plant roots & flower bulbs? You think a steady diet of dead leaves and grass clippings (or whatever organic matter is in your soil) is more delicious than baby dahlia tubers, lily bulblets, and basil roots? That just doesn't make sense.

I'm sorry, but those worms are not normal worms and I would never put them in my garden...yeah, yeah, I know you all think the opposite. Tear me apart, but my 2c worth: I do not trust those worms!

Suzy

Illoquin, I fear just the opposite. Those worms have been domesticated. They never had to work a day in their lives to put food on the table, err, off the table. It's been handed to them on a silver platter (or at least a plate). They never had to watch over their shoulders for predators. They haven't had to learn to hold their breath until they make it up for air in a bad rain storm. It's a hard, hard world out there. Their chances of survival being cast from the lap of luxury into the beady gaze of a hungary robin or worse are very poor.

Don't do it, brigadilly. Contact a Worm Rescue and see if they can't be rehomed or fostered until the right family comes along.

Hmmm... maybe I should check the Texas Penal Code for a cruelty to worms statute... abandoning them to nature... hmmm... sounds like a felony to me...

Worms eat what's rotting, not what's growing. Just like they're "finding out" that maggots eat dead tissue and leave the live stuff alone. But if I find they're eating my squash from the bottom up, I'll be sure and post it.

They'll only eat your squash from the bottom up if the squash is rotting first!
Interesting that you see the connection with the maggots. My mom was a surgical nurse with a mobile army surgical hospital just off the front during WWII. She had told us about packing the wounds with maggots to keep them clean. Their pharmacist grew them in a bin so that they would have a clean supply. There was no way of knowing how long it would take for the wounded soldiers to be transported back to a regular hosptial and no certainty as to how often the bandages could be changed. Those maggots often made the difference between the soldier dying of gangrene or sepsis or pulling through.

Not sure we truly apprecitate all that Mother Nature's wigglies do for us.

Yes, I've apologized to the Universe for every time I've said "eeewwwwwwwww..." Maybe I can get a plenary indulgence, because I'm sure I'll say it again...

garden mermaid, I love worms, I'm the first one to admit it,.......but packing bandages with maggots......wow, that corsses over to the gross side. But like you said, it did the trick. Yuck

Life is messy sometimes. Try to see the bigger picture when faced with a truly " yuck" moment. It will help keep your stomach down.

Ain't it the truth?

I liberated them yesterday. I think they sort of panicked, but when I went out to the compost pile this morning, they all seem to have wormed their way down to the bottom.

I planted 11 rose bushes yesterday, and had a handful of worm poop for each hole. I hope the roses will be as happy about that as I am. A few worms and worm eggs in each handful. Hopefully the rose bed out front will be amazing eventually. You sure find out things you don't want to know about soil quality when you dig deep into it.