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Composting with Worms – Epi-3495

The Survival Podcast Posted on by

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:51:41 — 32.0MB)

Today we discuss vermicomposting and some of the myths that end up making success for many difficult. We will explain the process and how it is more about microbes than worms themselves, how to get started right, various bin options and more.

Join Me Today to Discuss…

  • What is worm composting and why not just toss food scraps into the garden
  • When we feed worms what is actually happening, because they are mostly not eating it
    • Microbes begin decomposing the food
    • Microbes multiply and concentrate around the food
    • Worms feed on microbes, their waste products and some of the decomposed food remains
  • What does this mean to proper start up of a new bin
    • Go slow at first
    • Inoculation with mature compost or other worm bin material is a great idea
    • When people say “worms will eat half their weight per day” the better term is process not eat
  • What are the biggest reasons that people have worms die or do poorly
    • Michale Jordan’s famous “you put them in a box” speech about bees applies here
      • Location, location, location
    • Far too wet
    • Too much food – often kicks off thermophilic composting (worm oven)
    • To dry – not as common
    • Bad air flow – USUALLY STILL ABOUT being too wet
    • Environment is too cold or too hot
    • Pesticide residue
    • Insufficient carbon bedding
    • Infestations – ants are the worse offenders but gnats, BSL, etc. can be problematic
    • Ammonia built up – almost always improper feeding
    • Over feeding one thing – everything has toxins of some level, the poison is the does
  • Worm big styles and options
    • The Urban Worm Bag and what is great about it and not so great – link
    • Home built tub style bins – I like two side set ups for this using hardware cloth
    • Large scale out door systems – not what we are really doing today
    • Commerical multi tray systems like the Vevor Worm Bin – link
    • In bed worm towers
    • A bit on harvesting castings
  • Set up of a new bin
    • Add a carbon based bedding like coco coir, paper, etc.
    • Add some active compost if you have it
    • Introduce worms – often this is done with compost from another bin, etc.
    • Feed slowly at first
    • Add carbon when you add food, food first carbon on top
    • Cover it, a mat or something similar is best directly on the bedding and food
    • Do not feed until the vast majority of the last feeding is gone
    • In time you will find a schedule and set of procedures that work for you
  • What to feed and not feed
    • Most uncooked vegetative waste
    • No or very little citrus or onions or anything that is slow to decay
    • Dry leaves are good for bedding but don’t do much moisture absorption
    • Paper towel waste is fine but what is on it
    • No oils, fats, animal products including no dairy
    • Nothing with lots of preservatives
    • No grass
    • Coffee grinds are great but in my experience are slower than some other things
  • Things I do most don’t or at least many don’t know about
    • I put in about 1tsp of kelp meal per feeding
    • I also include some biochar when I feed
    • I put in greensand or rock dust as grit vs. plain cheap sand
    • I just crumble egg shells in my hand, they disappear so I figure all is well
    • I often use some mats of string algae from my ponds
    • I also often feed small amounts of azolla and duck weed (SMALL AMOUNTS)
    • Put food in different sectors each time you feed
    • Fish flake feed is consumed almost as fast as you give it to them (population grows fast)
    • Chop food to smaller sizes to have it consumed more quickly (surface area)
    • Always keep a carbon barrier on top – eliminates a lot of fruit fly issues
    • Roly-polies, spring tails, etc. are welcome in my bins
  • Using finished worm castings/compost
    • Just spread it around your plants and move along
    • Add it to compost, beginning yes, but especially once mature and aging
    • As teas or extracts
  • If you don’t use it swiftly make sure to store it moist, cool and able to breathe
  • Most of what you buy in stores is 100% total garbage, not when made but by the time you get it
  • Remember anyone can do this, it deals with your waste and produces true black gold
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Comments

Composting with Worms – Epi-3495 — 2 Comments

  1. Good job avoiding the real 80s worm catching technique. It was dangerous but damn it worked. They’d jump out of the ground and we jumped a few times too.

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