Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Section One: Chapter 10 Side Trip: Vermicomposting "Eat Worms"!




Enjoy shell fish? Oysters? Bottom feeding Urchin roe? Escargot?

Why not hearty, meaty Earthworms?!

Ok! OK! so I'm a "Weird" cuisine nutt!

Really, as all cold-blood creatures seem to incur some people's idea of culinary delight. earth worms do have their place.  But that's actually not the "Eat Worms" part of the title meaning!

Let's eat the magnificent food plants and fruits nourished to perfection by the lowly earth worm! Successful natural gardeners have and encourage with good feeding programs, soil loaded with healthy, voracious earth worms. Usually big fat ones!

Let's step out of that scene and into the one where our little garden friends have their own kingdom and specific employment producing abundant wealth and rich plant nutrition 24/7/365!

It's truly rewarding for earth worm farmers, vermicomposters, to have a productive, healthy "farm" of happy, soil-producing earth worms! Let's take a tour of some of the many ways these farmers "farm" their worms.


Three Bin Worm Transfer System

I put this one on top since to me it makes the best and easiest method to farm worms for soil production with least labor and good worm health.

This simple, easy worm farming method is posted on YouTube. It does work, and for a small scale farm it does well. It fails to deliver for heavy, larger scale worm farming, though

Provide three bins with 1/4 inch mesh hardware cloth bottoms. The worms and food go into the first bin. As the feed is added to the top and the worms process it leaving casting at the bottom of the active material, the bin fills up.

When the bin is going over the top, place feed in the second bin and push it snugly down on the top of the filled first bin. As the worms finish the feed at the top of bin 1, they work their way up into bin 2.

Leave bin 2 on bin 1 for considerable time, adding new feed for a couple of weeks until the feed in bin 1 is completely consumed. All the worms should have migrated up into bin 2 in this time.

Remove bin 2 and transfer any remaining worms in bin 1 to bin 2.

You now have a completed binful of nutrient-dense worm castings. Follow through with bin 3. By the time bin 1 content is used, use it again for the worms.


There are any number of methods used successfully, and not successfully by vermicomposters. The failed ones fall into essentially one, maybe two categories. The most common failure is containers unsuited to worm life. The other is neglect.

The best vermicomposting to my way of thinking is the least labor intensive and best habitat for the worms. The best system is right on the ground! Use a grow bed!

Or, make a plywood sided bottomless container that sits on the ground. If you want to make casting tea, sit the bin on a catchment, such as a piece of black plastic on slightly sloping soil with a hole in the ground where a bucket or jug catches the water runoff at one corner. Just be sure to make the slope angled sown enough to ensure excellent water drain. Worms drown in water-logged feed!

An alternative that must be protected from Winter freeze is a hardware cloth bottom bin sitting with the bottom a few inches above the plastic catchment. The bin sides need some insulation in Winter, too.

The ideal worm farm is simply on the ground. Add the feed mix of a 1/4 part compost and a generous amount of fine sand to the top of this worm bed. Turn the older feed over before adding the new, and turn that in too. As the feed is consumed the worms migrate up into new feed, leaving a solid bed of castings. When you need castings to fertilize with, remove the active layer over the amount of castings you need and there you now have a wealth of nutrient-dense worm castings without much labor at all!

One very important part of worm farming is adequate water. On the ground where water can drain off well, you won't drown your critters, even with over watering. Learn to observe the worms' preferred water amount when you add feed and turn the active layer. The worms should be lively, clumped together in tight knots of worms where the feed is thickest, and moving about freely. Too much water and their movement is away to drier material, and the wet stuff turns nasty.

Too dry and the worms' activity is sluggish, and they may begin dying. The odor is of rotting flesh.



To Worm, Or Not To Worm

Natural gardening is so simple and fun that to me it is common sense to include worm farming. They are found everywhere healthy plants are, including pots and planters in and outside. For apartment farmers, there's plenty of opportunity to farm worms. Just use the top part of pots and planters to maintain a healthy little farm of happy, well-fed worms.

Or add a pot dedicated to worm farming.

The odor is a factor that requires monitoring, so only feed indoor worms with feed that has very little odor, Coffee grounds, lettuce, corrugated cardboard, paper, fresh vegetables, spoiled fruit juice, and small amounts of cooked vegetables. Be sure to sprinkle ample fine sand in their feed. Keep watered adequately.

To maintain sweet, earthy odor and worm health, keep a fairly thick layer of course material over the active feed layer. It maintains moisture and keeps the worms a bit cooler than the usual indoor temperature we people prefer. Adequate water maintains the cool by evaporation.

Harvest pot worm castings fairly often. Scoop up the worms and feed from the top and set aside. Take along a little of the finished castings to keep most of the new egg sacks. Now remove the castings and let dry to a fairly crumbly dryness. Store in a cloth covered pail or wood box to allow air for the soil microbes to breathe. It will turn nasty and smelly quickly without good aeration.

Another storage is to place in a jug and add 2 times the volume in water. Lett stand indefinitely and use the water for a nutrient feed for plants. It is very rich, so be careful to use just a little per feeding.

For outdoor, larger vermicomposting projects, add the castings to grow beds, new soil, pots and planter soil mix, make tea with it, top and side dress plants and trees, berries and flower beds, and share with neighbors!

Neighbors may be a great source of feed for larger worm farming.

Of course, there is a lucrative market for worm castings. Go to market!

Start a local vermicomposting group. The library and gardening groups may have gardeners and worm farming guides handy. Start a local MeetUp group for worm farming.

If you are near a farm, perhaps there is an arrangement for a small space to operate a little larger worm farm, perhaps with a group of gardeners.


A note about chickens and earth worms, slugs, snails and any wild creature they eat. Out in the wild birds and other small creatures can be infested with parasites and diseases. Obviously, not all wild creatures are infested. Many small animal health practitioners see a host of diseased and parasite-infested animals, and get all emotional and recommend protection without regard to animal nutrition.

Commercial animal feed manufacturers simply do not produce nutrient-filled feeds. Doing so will cast more, and all commercial feed companies compete for the very cheapest price. The odd part is that not all wild creatures are diseased or parasite-infested!

That fact is overlooked by animal medication sales people, who assume every animal is affected!

The fact is that full nutrition for animals gives them key nutrients that repel parasites and disease! Just as plants and people repel disease and parasites with full nutrition, our small animals do the same.

However, feeding earth worms to chickens where the earth worms are in any contact with wild creatures exposes the chickens to both parasites and disease. One point to always remember is that where there is no disease in the animal population, even with rodents, there just is no disease carried by the creatures.

That said, there is little to no control over contact with diseased animals out in the wild. Provide healthy soil and plants for your animals to feed on and watch for any sign of unhealthy creature or situation. Act immediately for any suspected parasite or disease. The more nutrient-complete your feed is, the less likely anything serious will develop.










Section One: The "Dirt" Part

  • Chapter 1: To Be Decided Later . . .
  • Chapter 2: Raw Material to Produce Nutrient-dense Soil With
  • Chapter 3: Did We Forget To Plan Ahead For Use of Our Soil?
  • Chapter 4: Let's Build It!
  • Chapter 5: Making Certain It "Works"!
  • Chapter 6: Working Pile Maintenance
  • Chapter 7: Harvesting Our New Soil!
  • Chapter 8: Storing and Placing New Soil
  • Chapter 9: Prepping The New & Refurbished Grow Bed
  • Chapter 10: Side Trip: Vermicomposting "Eat Worms"!
  • Chapter 11: Redundance! Too Much Raw Material for Next Build!
  • Chapter 12: Ready? Let's Do This Again!
  • Chapter 13: More Uses for Our Soil!
  • Section One Appendix



Section Two: The "2" Part

·       The "2" Part Introduction
·       Chapter 1: Plants Need the Same Nutrients for Their Health As You!
·       Chapter 2: Let's Begin @ the Start! Planning the Garden You Want
·       Chapter 3: Before Grow Season Plant Propagation; Or Not
·       Chapter 4: Prepping Your New Season Grow Bed(s)
·       Chapter 5: Setting out Early Starts and Seed Planting
·       Chapter 6: Fast Track Healthy Plant Action
·       Chapter 7: Healthy Producing Plants First Need This
·       Chapter 8: Between Planting & Producing Food Plant Care
·       Chapter 9: Betcha Ya Didn't Think About This Mid-Summer!
·       Chapter 10: See Why We Made Careful Plans For Maximum Harvest?
·       Chapter 11: Summer Season End
·       Chapter 12: Fall Harvest
·       Chapter 13: Fall & Winter Planting
·       Chapter 14: Season Wrap & Planning Next Year's Soil & Garden
·       Section Two Appendix


Section Three: The Last Part, er, Cuisine Part

·       Section Three Introduction
·       Chapter One: Why Did We Forget To Do This Part B4 Planting?
·       Chapter Two: Fresh Garden Food Cuisine: Who Can Match?
·       Chapter Three: We Did It! What All This Fresh Food! -Preserving
·       Chapter Four: Sideways Glance; Compare Nutrients In Garden v.s. Store Food
·       Chapter Five: Creating Cuisine Awesome Requires This; Planning
·       Chapter Six: Now! Let's Create Awesome!
·       Chapter Seven: Why Hide Awesome When You Can Do This, Instead?
·       Chapter Eight: Hey! It's Chapter 8!
·       Chapter Nine: This Ain't No Engine # 9!
·       Chapter Ten: Lost References; aka, Old Recipes For Fresh Garden Super Taste!
·       Chapter Eleven: Let's Do This Again! Cuising Roundup Rodeo!
·       Chapter Twelve: Now! Let's Plan Next Year's Cuisine Garden!
·       Section Three Appendix



Interspersed Activities List


Section One: The "Dirt" Part

  • Chapter 1: To Be Decided Later . . .
  1. Taking Stock - Make a notebook with two+ pages for each chapter in this guide. On the first and second page write the name of the chapter activities. Reserve the rest of the space for chapter notes.
  2. Taking Stock: Find or make space(s) to build the compost pile and the finished soil storage area. Note: Be careful to read and follow guides in the chapter! Note 2: At the sight of the compost pile, allow space to put(Stage) raw materials as they arrive so they are ready and close to the pile to save work.
  • Chapter 2: Raw Material to Produce Nutrient-dense Soil With
  1. Gauge how much volume of new soil your growing beds need for one season. Multiply this amount by 4 to see how much raw material is needed.
  2. Let's make an inventory list for the usable raw materials available, where each is located, and if applicable, when available.
  • Chapter 3: Did We Forget To Plan Ahead For Use of Our Soil?
  1. List the plants to be grown in your new soil. Beside each plant name note the soil and environment it best grows in. This can be numbers or letters that are cross referenced to short details for each type of environment and soil. Be sure to make sure the desired plants have their preferred spot available! There's no substitute for 8 hours of full sun!
  2. Determine the type of soil each plant needs and where to obtain the necessary materials.
  • Chapter 4: Let's Build It!
  1. First things, first! If not done already, make sure there is enough of each type of raw material for building each part of the pile. If there is enough first layer material but too little second or third, either wait or place the first layer then wait and collect the next layer material. The build can take all the time necessary to build as material becomes available. However, be sure to follow the "recipe" as it is key for success!
  2. Reread the building guide. Note any differences the pile you are building requires. 
  • Chapter 5: Making Certain It "Works"!
  1. Good Job building! Now, sit back and relax, just a bit. You deserve it! We need the simple temperature gauging tool mentioned in the chapter. Any sturdy metal rod will do. Plastic and fiberglass resist heat so it's best to stick to metal. Remember, the thicker the rod the longer it requires to heat up to the temperature of the pile. Also, the rod will cool the material it touches, so a second placement for thicker rods will be necessary for accurate sense of actual heat.
  2. Two things are "musts" for good decomposing activity: A. The right moisture. B. The right air flow.

    To make the pile wet enough, add water to the pile at about the half-built point, then over the top of the finished pile. Watch the bottom of the pile to tell when the water penetrates the entire pile. We'll call this the "first" watering.

    The second requirement for good success: When the pile is built, cover the top and sides with 1 to 2 inches of sand, sod, or other fine material that will benefit plant health. Do not cover with anything that blocks air or water!
  • Chapter 6: Working Pile Maintenance
  1. After the pile gets hot, in about 5 to 8 days for one with lots of green grass, use the metal temperature gauge rod to check on moisture inside the pile. The heat and air flow are constantly drying the pile. Add small amounts of water and check to be sure it penetrates down to dry spots.
  2. About every three days check the pile heat in several places. The pile with evenly-distributed materials will produce even heat over the whole pile. To increase heat, stand on top and pack it down hard as possible. Once the process is going well, the pile will slowly compress from its own weight. This is the main reason for using small branch material layers that maintain air flow as the pile settles.
  • Chapter 7: Harvesting Our New Soil!
  1. After 12 to 15 days, gauge the internal heat. If it's still well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, allow several more days time, and check again. At 15 days, and the pile is visibly decomposed, dig into a spot for a foot or so to check the material, Black or very dark brown from original green marks complete process. For original "brown" material, black or dark brown AND very water-saturated appearance is a good sign. If the pile dried some, there may be a coating of white fungus. This is a beneficial life form that helps reduce plant material to its nutrient level.
  2. At about 100 degrees F, and the material is visibly soft, dark brown, and well composted, it's ready to filter out the branch material and larger particles that need more breakdown. However, this larger material is fine for filling planting holes for trees. It is well into the decomposing and tree roots love decaying woody material.

    For vegetable beds and plant pots, rake, fork or screen out these larger pieces. Have a spot to shelter or cover the finished soil, if it is to wait before filling grow beds and pots. Rain leaches nutrients out.
  • Chapter 8: Storing and Placing New Soil
  1. Let's step back a minute to take stock of what we've accomplished to this point.

    On your Notes' Worksheet for this chapter list major highlights of your great progress! At this stage you deserve a big pat on the back! Congratulations!

    Now, what's to do with that beautiful pile of nutrient-dense soil you just made? Think of all the possibilities! Matter of fact, Brainstorm a bit and go over your garden plans. Go to YouTube and other video venues to look for and observe new ideas!
  2. Take awhile to dig into possibilities? Always good to be open to change!

    With firmer goals for how to use this great stuff, go do it! First, though, a plan and map might help?
  • Chapter 9: Prepping The New & Refurbished Grow Bed
  1. I hope you decided on something new to add or change up your garden! In any case, now the plan, and map? are in hand, let's go out and get started. For former grow beds, the soil needs turning. Likely earth worms in it are starving, so let's feed them first. As you turn the soil, lift every other fork(or shovel) out and place kitchen wastes, lawn clippings, old half rotted leaves and yard wastes, and, yes! corrugated cardboard(Torn to small pieces) near the bottom of the bed. Water thoroughly.

    Do the same for a new bed - first adding a layer of worm feed at the bottom. The More the better, if it's fairly course. Finer particle feed needs mixing with the bottom layer of new soil so it keeps from matting into a smelly mass.

    The soil should be level with the top of an 8" side grow bed. It settles during the season. Especially so for root crops.
  2. Believe, or don't, your new soil is going to run short of nitrogen quick! Most nitrogen in the new pile was used for decomposition. Get urea, if available. It's the most nitrogen for the buck at 46% available nitrogen. Just add it to the side of new plants or seedlings. For seed planting, wait to add nitrogen till the second to 6th week after germination, then side dress along the side, or between rows. It's really amazing to watch those plants leap up!

    During the 6th to 8th week, again side dress nitrogen. Cover it with an inch of soil and water in well. Careful! The tender roots die in direct contact to urea!
  • Chapter 10: Side Trip: Vermicomposting "Eat Worms"!
  1. OK, OK! Don't Eat worms! This activity begins with searching on YouTube, or getting books at the library, or Amazon, about vermicomposting. There's even a website named "vermicomposting"!

    The things you learn will amaze you! Actually, the feeding, care and working earth worms for soil production is easy. Like all livestock these little critters need habitat, feed, water and nutrition to remain healthy. Yes, they can get diseases and die rapidly, but not if we do common sense care.

    Make notes from what you learn, and see if vermicomposting in any part of the garden will work.
  2. Ready to start worm farming? Great! Grab a piece of paper and pencil. Go out and scope out the available garden space that seems suitable. Read this chapter for the specific requirements. Have them?

    Decide how much feed you have available every week of the year. The size of worm bin is determined by this amount. Find a ready source of any earth worm available. Red Wrigglers are popular, but not necessary. Find a farm with a muddy barnyard and you've got manure worms, a hardy species that loves rotting stuff!

    Tear up enough corrugated cardboard to make a three to five inch covering on the bottom of the bin, followed by fine sand for digestion grit, then a layer of earthy soil mixed with the feed you have on hand. Water until sopping wet. The porous base of the bin allows excess water to drain. Spread the worms over the surface. Add a layer of feed then sprinkle with fine sand, then a layer of cardboard, then just soil about an inch thick to prevent drying.

    After four days, use a fork to dig into the bin and turn a forkful over. There should be a lot of happy, wriggling worms! If not, but all looks  good, just wait a week and repeat. If not by then, look for dry matter, feed too rotted and clumped, or worms migrated to another part. The bottom layer of cardboard allows water through, but the worms will not wiggle out before they feast on all that delicious cardboard!
  • Chapter 11: Redundance! Too Much Raw Material for Next Build!
  1. Often I find that people I request to bring their kitchen wastes, yard debris and all the raw material I have from the garden amounts to quite a bit more than there is room for the pile! Not to worry! Just build the next pile to the size it should be, and left overs can wait for the next build. Just add a bit less to the staging area, or if it's near season's end, take it all, and there's enough for an additional Fall pile build.
  2. During Winter, find and bring "brown" material to the staging area, Half rotted is great! In the late Winter, up to very early Spring, make your first build of the new year. Be ready for another pile as people and you generate Spring cleaning material. Make a list of suppliers and some idea of quantity expected from each. It's better to say "No" before they arrive with too much!
  • Chapter 12: Ready? Let's Do This Again!
  1. This is a bit redundant! I include this chapter to point out that producing good soil is a continual activity limited only by the time you give to it. Doing it for several years, or cycles, gives you a handle on making it work best for how you need it to fit with you gardening. I do caution, however, go slowly! It's easy to burn out doing too much too soon! The lifting and moving is WORK! It's time consuming, too. Enjoy it rather than endure it!
  2. Let's take a break here. Grab that notepad and go over the entire cycle. Update notes and make new ones that tailor this activity to your own gardening.

    You may find it helpful here to peek into the next section. it is focused on the plants. This soil production is all about that, so be smart and peek!

    Make notes, too!
  • Chapter 13: More Uses for Our Soil!
  1. Yup, yup. There's many uses for this soil! Sell it! Fill pots. share with the neighbor! Donate it, and then your new skill set to a community garden. Go to a local garden group and teach them! Make their soil!
  2. This activity is searching for ways to use your soil. Since we covered vermicomposting too, search ways to use that soil. Learn how to add it to the soil you produce, too. Then go share all this with the neighbor!
  • Section One Appendix



Section Two: The "2" Part

·       The "2" Part Introduction
·       Chapter 1: Plants Need the Same Nutrients for Their Health As You!
·       Chapter 2: Let's Begin @ the Start! Planning the Garden You Want
·       Chapter 3: Before Grow Season Plant Propagation; Or Not
·       Chapter 4: Prepping Your New Season Grow Bed(s)
·       Chapter 5: Setting out Early Starts and Seed Planting
·       Chapter 6: Fast Track Healthy Plant Action
·       Chapter 7: Healthy Producing Plants First Need This
·       Chapter 8: Between Planting & Producing Food Plant Care
·       Chapter 9: Betcha Ya Didn't Think About This Mid-Summer!
·       Chapter 10: See Why We Made Careful Plans For Maximum Harvest?
·       Chapter 11: Summer Season End
·       Chapter 12: Fall Harvest
·       Chapter 13: Fall & Winter Planting
·       Chapter 14: Season Wrap & Planning Next Year's Soil & Garden
·       Section Two Appendix


Section Three: The Last Part, er, Cuisine Part

·       Section Three Introduction
·       Chapter One: Why Did We Forget To Do This Part B4 Planting?
·       Chapter Two: Fresh Garden Food Cuisine: Who Can Match?
·       Chapter Three: We Did It! What All This Fresh Food! -Preserving
·       Chapter Four: Sideways Glance; Compare Nutrients In Garden v.s. Store Food
·       Chapter Five: Creating Cuisine Awesome Requires This; Planning
·       Chapter Six: Now! Let's Create Awesome!
·       Chapter Seven: Why Hide Awesome When You Can Do This, Instead?
·       Chapter Eight: Hey! It's Chapter 8!
·       Chapter Nine: This Ain't No Engine # 9!
·       Chapter Ten: Lost References; aka, Old Recipes For Fresh Garden Super Taste!
·       Chapter Eleven: Let's Do This Again! Cuising Roundup Rodeo!
·       Chapter Twelve: Now! Let's Plan Next Year's Cuisine Garden!
·       Section Three Appendix

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