Thanks to Cheryl from KC Farms for this invaluable information. I hope you will look her up and keep reading her articles.
We are finally worm (Eisenia fetida, aka red wigglers) parents again. I know there are few out there that can appreciate that. But that’s okay – we’re excited. Even if worms don’t do anything for you personally, you should have a healthy respect for them since they do have something to do with almost everything you eat, but don’t usually get any credit, kind of like our bee friends. They are truly amazing though. Vermicomposting is awesome!
We had our first worm “herd” in Colorado. And we were quite successful with them – they multiplied exponentially. But we sold them to some like-minded folks when we migrated back to Texas. It’s so interesting to learn about them again and how different it is to manage them in a different climate. They certainly are not hard to take care of, but it is different in Texas vs. Colorado even though t they are inside, and therefore, climate controlled (YES! Our worms live in their high rise “condo” in a corner of our dining room. And I dare say, you would never know it if we didn’t point it out or you didn’t know to specifically look for them.) Even indoors, the heat and humidity are much different here than in Colorado and it just requires different adjustments to keep their environment optimal. My wonderful hubby has built each of our worm condos, and while I might be biased, they really are quite nice. He continues to record changes he’ll make to future worm bins so that we have optimal housing units.
You could even say red wiggler worms are the perfect pets. They don’t hog the bed; they do shred newspaper, but only the stuff we give them (unlike one of our furry daughters who loves to destroy magazines in our absence); they don’t have to go for walks; they’re SUPER quiet (although our snow dogs are pretty darn quiet too); they don’t shed; they don’t have to be brushed; they eat our garbage, and not $45/bag food; they don’t try to hog your pillow at night (unlike our cat). Recently there was a great article in “Texas Gardener” magazine about vermicomposting. The guy referred to himself as a “worm rancher” because it had a great “Texas” ring to it. We really like that! After all, we’ve always referred to our worms, not to mention the rest of our furry clan, as “The Herd.”
It’s hard to take a picture of the worms themselves to show you. They’re not really the publicity divas you might think. And they don’t show up very well against the background of rich, black compost (Black Gold!) they leave behind as they recycle our kitchen scraps for us. It’s wonderful to use in the garden.
If you’re into composting even a little bit, I’d encourage you to think about trying it with worms. There’s lots of information out there to help you get started. They’re easy to start on a small scale – even in urban environments.
Here are a few things we’ve learned. Do not feed your worms any animal products (meat, cheese, dairy, etc.). Don’t feed them citrus, onions or garlic. Cut produce into manageable chunks – don’t just dump a whole vegetable in there, it’s hard for them to manage that. They are much more efficient with smaller pieces. They like high density. If you throw in an egg shell or avocado skin, you will probably find a TON of worms stacked up in there together. We give them our coffee grounds. Worms need some grit to help break down food in their gizzards – soil or sand work. I’ve read of using corn meal before. For us, the coffee grounds seem to work great and the old boy we got our first herd from claimed that coffee grounds were “like Viagra for worms.” No kidding. I did not make that up. As mentioned in a previous post, we’ve started getting a fresh produce delivery from a CSA organization. They pack our produce on a layer of shredded newspaper (in a plastic tote) each week. We eat the veggies, the worms get the scraps, AND we have a ready source of shredded newspaper for their bedding.
I could go on and on, but that’s it for now. Until next time, worms rock and bees rule!
By Cheryl in Texas. You can find me at KCFarms on Facebook, or blogging at http://wannabepioneerwoman.blogspot.com/ and GRIT magazine http://www.grit.com/blogs/blog.aspx?blogid=4294967729
Hi, Patsy (Arms Wide Open blog) sent me your Facebook link and looking around I found your blog. Yea! I’ve had a worm bin for a little over a year and love it. My husband and I have decided to share our lives with some alpacas and chickens and what ever else may come along….We’re in the information gathering stage which has included visiting two nearby farms. Next weekend we’re helping on shearing day at one farm. Maybe one of these days we’ll make our way to your area (my husband grew up in Harrisonburg VA). I wanted you to know I like your blog.
Donna
You will really love have alpacas and chickens. Visit as many alpaca farms as you can before you purchase. If any farms are really close, get to know them because having another opinion during stressful times can make all the difference. It’s also not to early to start looking for a camelid vet. We are on our way to help with shearing at a farm 4 miles from us and we are shearing outs April 28.
Thanks for visiting my blog and if you do decide to visit Harrisonburg, we are only an hour away and love visitors.