Won't be long, the weather is becomming less depressing, and I have worked out some inter frustrations in the compost bins, and WOW! where did I get all those worms.Talk about working 1st. day for a penney, 2nd. for two, ect. ect.thats growing worms, they multiply like worms.I have so many new areas that I have made the lasagna beds in, and they are RIPE, to be turned.I am getting excited as I look foward to my retirement at the end of march, and I have almost bought the seed companies out.I hope to have perienials all over the place that welcome the hummers, and butterflies.I,m so "giddy", the only thing that I AM sure of is I am not the father of Anna Nichole's babby. Mike
SPRING-PLANTING GETTING DIRTY!!!
Yea!!! I got dirty today also mike.
Your worms are making me jealous, what is the best thing I can throw in to the clay to lure them my way?
Congrats on your upcomming retirement, and the fact that your NOT a new daddy.
Hope to meet you at the roundup,
Chris
You may be interested in how I came about vericomposting, and how its working today.Back in May, of 04, I had to have my knee replaced,and I gave DW all the instructions as to how to rotate the "hot"compost, from bin to bin, and add the kitchen scraps to the hottest spot, and, of coarse, look after me.Well, I gave her more than one would want, unless you are a compost nut, that really gets into it.I had a real bad time with rehab, and learning to walk from my new position.You see, I was walking on the out side of my shoe,actually on the leather part.DW, had more to do than she could, so rather than let me know anything, she hid the kitchen scraps in the cool side of the pile, by burring them, and that caused the worms, from far, and wide to come and dine.After reading about vericompost, it like Mary Applehoff said, keep food scraps under the pile, and worms will come, and they did, but I still take credit for everything, wright? Its the american way. Mike
Mike,
I would like to start worm composting in a bin, but don't want to introduce non native earth worms. My soil is so sandy that I have a hard time finding the critters. Could I beg a start of your wormy compost at the round up to seed (or should I say egg) my set up?
Beth
Beth, I don't use anything but native worms(they came on their own), and they decompose leaves, and chipped up greenery, usually privet, that I run through the schreader, and I have a new batch every 3 Mos., I don't know about anyone else, but I have never turned out compost like that.I also give them my kitchen scraps, and the best investment I have ever made, was 2, 5Gal. buckets, with twist on/off tops, that I got from the local janitorial supply, in whitch I have made an agreement with the local coffee shop, and switch the buckets three times a week, and that adds up to 15gal of coffee grounds per week.With what I have going now is 3 bins, the size of a small picup truck, that regenerates every 3Mos.That is a long way from where I started, and have never bought a worm. To answer your question, yes, I'll be happy to get you a start, and if you give them what they need, you too can be turning out A-1 compost.
Mike, do you seriously mean all kinds of kitchen scraps, lasagna, oatmeal, morning cereal, half a sandwich, coldcuts past their time,cheese, always pasta, old bread? Hmmmmm.... maybe everything I put down the disposal?
chris
I am sooo glad to hear that worms are a good thing! (Honestly, I wasn't quite sure.....can you tell I'm new at gardening?)
I had purchased this book on Georgia gardening and was surprised that I was supposed to have used my yard leaves to start a compost 6 months ago. The book said that "homemade" compost was better than the store bought stuff. So.......being the eager novice that I am, I went to the very back corner of my yard...behind the trees where no one ever rakes......(and also where I dump what would go in the disposal if I had one). Lo and behold, there was the thickest, blackest and wormiest dirt that I have ever seen. There were so many worms that I stopped trying to toss them out......
My kids LOVED it! (They are ready to go fishing.)
One question....was I supposed to put the worms in the garden with the black dirt? I really hope I was, cause I hate to have to get them out!
TJ
NOOOOO....quick , go get the worms OUT!!! Then put them in a box and ship them to me, I will get rid of them for you.
LOL, sorry couldnt resist. Yes worms are very good for your compost pile and your garden, sounds like you have some good composting happening. You will have a wonderful garden.
Chris
LOL!!!!! That was almost mean! You should have seen me jump up....I'm glad I turned around to finish reading your post!
TJ
Chris, the ONLY food scrapes for worms; is non dairy,no garlic, or onions, and of coarse, no meats, except fish.That fish is also lobster shells, shrimp and you can even "clean your catch of fish in the compost.I have learned to keep the balance of things in the compost where the compost smells clean. and fresh for the garden, and the PH stays around 6-7 balance.What did I ever do before compost???Bought a lot of fertilize, and watched it get "flushed" in the soil.BTW, they,(the worms) need sand, and poor coarse dirt for their little gizzards, to break down the solids. Mike
TJ, Sorry, I just couldnt let that one go, The beginning of spring puts me in a weird mood. :)
chris
TJ, you really want the worms. Among other things, they loosen, aerate, and turn the soil in your flower beds or veggie garden for you without disturbing the plant roots. On the other hand, grubs and cutworms I always toss out into the street for the mocking birds. They will sit in the dogwoods and wait to see if I am going to produce tidbits for them.
And yes, I do know that they need sand, but I am gardening in what was, basically, a Cretaceous Era beach that just doesn't hold enough moisture and humus to attract them. The one thing I can say about my soil is that it has perfect, sharp drainage. LOL
After gardening here for 6 years I am finally beginning to dig up a few earth worms when I set out new plants. I had been looking into vermicompost but could not find a source for local worms. I did not want to turn loose bait worms.
Beth
somewhere among all these threads i remember someone suggesting a trip to bear creek (a real working worm farm) to bring back worm castings for the roundup,that might be a good start for getting worms also.By the way Mike if you'll remind me tomorrow at the party I still have your worm book and would like to get it back to you,also you never mentioned here about the layer of shredded paper you put down to help draw worms. Or are you keeping secrets here?
To be the king on the mountian is always cool, but in my case it was a slip, because I know that not every one has the ability to pick up paper shreads from various offices,(veterans admin being the best, because they are so small, and so many), and be able to do this with integrity, and have the time.This being the case with me, I do have the advantage, but for those who can get the shreaded paper, it is a head start to put down the shreads first, because they so rapidly become part of the soil.I also want to mention that in the compost piles,the worms are safe from the birds,because the birds can't hear the movement,therefore they are safe, but in the lasgana beds the robins make hay, but lets not be gready, they only get the fat ones.
Beth, your soil is quite unique, and it is not for a lazy person, there are ways of working it to your advantage.I too had a real challenge with wash away and gullies, one on each side of the property, but what takes things away, will bring them to you, and I have made an ohio delta, out of a gully,on that concept.Please forgive the rambling. Mike
I believe a DG (Donna, gapeahen) member will be bringing worm castings to the GA RU on 5/19/07. I've spoken with the farm owner, and he can also send worms at around $12 a pound. His worms are red wigglers. Go to the GA RU thread and let Donna know if you are coming and see if you can place an order!
Catherine
mqiq77 - make friends with a fisherman (person)!! When my ex and I used to fill our stringers with panfish in the spring we would filet them for freezing in wax half gallon milk containers. But...we would throw all the other parts into a trash bag in the freezer and thaw them out to till into the vegetable garden in the spring. My neighbor used to joke that we should have known better than to try to grow fish in a garden, but the results were amazing - we had more produce than we could manage at times. (p.s. the smell only lasts a short time - LOL)
I have a question about worms, and I wonder if I've made a grave mistake. I bought a container of worms from a bait shop to put in my garden. They were called "red wigglers", which I believed to be native, but they are HUGE! Bigger than the redworms I'm accustomed to.
This was several years ago. I was digging a hole to plant a paw paw tree a week or so ago, and encountered one of these hideously large worms.
Have I done a good thing, or a bad thing with these worms?
Thanks to all!
The Idea of putting fish in the garden goes so far back, that I would hasard to guess, whitch civalization started it.The american Indian used the idea a lot, some tribes, more than others, the Celts used it, (women),and I'm sure its been around.I might take up fishing, since I'm retireing at the end of this Mo., and what doesn't go into freezer bags, will go into the compost.This, by the way, is the ONLY meat for the compost pile.
As for the "large red wigglers", they are a breed to them selves, and I think they will mix with natives, I know the "night crawlers" are large, and they won't stay in the compost pile, due to their nature.The fishing varities, as I understand it, will and if they won't inter breed, then at least will co-habitat, and that makes for more castings. Mike