Running Hen Microfarm » worms

Snow, worms, potting soil, power outtage

Ruth — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 22:24:21 +0000

Lots more snow today! We have maybe 3 feet. Also, we woke up this morning to no power…so, first thing, Mike made a fire and brought in some snow to melt on the woodstove to make coffee…after all, no power means no heat (even the geothermal runs on electricity) and no water (electricity needed to run pump) and no cooking on the gas stove (ignition works by electricity)…not very off-the-grid, is it? But at least we have this alternative…thanks be for woodstoves!! Fortunately, the power came back on around noon.

An indoor chore for today was to work on making potting soil, a several step process. Today I removed the middle tier of the worm farm…there is wonderful, dark compost within (see photo)!! However, there were also MANY worms. Ideally the worms were supposed to migrate up into the top bin in search of new food, but most of them hadn’t made it up yet (I gave them at least 3 weeks and tried bribing them with lots of garbage!!). So, I spent about an hour sitting on the floor pulling worms out of the finished bin and putting them into the top bin. Of course I didn’t get them all…sorry, worms, but some of you will have to be sacrificed for the cause of compost…be reassured that most of your relatives will live on for generations…

Worms, Part Two

Ruth — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:07:20 +0000

Worms need bedding…usually we use strips of newspaper, but in this case we had some shredded paper packing material from a Christmas gift of Vermont cheese. Kitchen scraps are saved in an open bucket by the sink (I used to cover it, but it actually smells less and composts better if you don’t cover it) and maybe once a week or so bury the bucket contents in the shredded paper. Then it is misted with water…the contents of the worm bin should be kept moist but you don’t want to drown the worms…the holes in the bottom of the upper tiers should keep it drained.

In the photo at right you can see the worms that were hiding under the bedding. You can also see some tiny white insects…these are (I think) fruit fly larvae, which actually do aid in composting, but are also a sign that the compost is on the acidic side. So, in addition to the water misting bottle, I also keep a jar of lime pellets nearby, and once a week or so sprinkle about a tablespoon on top to adjust the pH. That seems to decrease the larvae.

Worms Part One

Ruth — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 04:03:00 +0000

This is our worm bin (between Charlie’s bowl and toys.) Here it is 2 tier; at the moment it is 3 tier. It is made from ordinary plastic bins with lids. There are wood pieces inside to space the tiers about 8-10 inches apart.

The upper tier/s have holes drilled around the sides and in the bottom – this gives the worms air and allows excess liquid to drain into the bottom bin (which has no holes).

The worms were ordered from Uncle Jim’s worm farm (I’ve seen the Google ad on this page). They are special “red wigglers”, not earthworms. They come through the mail in a special moist package labeled “live worms.” We use strips of newspaper that are moistened as “bedding.” Kitchen scraps can be buried in the bedding…just about any kind of scraps (except meats, fats, oils and excessive citrus rinds). Coffee grinds, I hear, are a favorite of worms.

Make your own potting soil (with worms or whatever)

Ruth — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 01:50:05 +0000

Here’s a photo of the inside of a worm bin (in which worms eat the kitchen scraps and produce compost), which I’ll talk about later…but the exciting news is that I was searching the net for information on how to make your own potting soil, and I hit the jackpot!! This fantastic site is administered by the National Center for Appropriate Technology, in part by a grant from the USDA, specifically for organic growers, and even tiny ones like us can benefit. There are scads of recipes for potting soil, not to mention discussions on each ingredient, the sustainability of using peat moss, etc., etc. Here’s the link:

http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/potmix.html#appendix3

Many thanks to whoever put this information together!!