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Google
Do worms like herbs?
+2
Zmoore
CitizenKate
6 posters
Page 1 of 1
Do worms like herbs?
This year has been a new adventure in vermicomposting. I tried a worm tube in one of my boxes, and all the worms screamed and ran away. Within a week they were gone.
Then in August, when I had a small pile of compost that was not quite finished, I decided to introduce some red wigglers into that to see if that would be more to their liking. It was. A few of them have wandered away, but quite a few of them stayed, and have been putting a very nice finish on that compost pile over the last couple of months.
Yesterday, I rounded up most of them and transferred them to a worm bin that I can move indoors. So now I'm actually starting to feed them with food scraps I've been saving.
I've got a pretty good idea what to feed them, and what not to. But no place online where I have read about this does it mention whether herbs are okay to include in my scrap bucket. I just used some sage and parsley in a pork roast I made, and also have been tossing away my herbal tea bags. Is stuff like this okay or not?
Then in August, when I had a small pile of compost that was not quite finished, I decided to introduce some red wigglers into that to see if that would be more to their liking. It was. A few of them have wandered away, but quite a few of them stayed, and have been putting a very nice finish on that compost pile over the last couple of months.
Yesterday, I rounded up most of them and transferred them to a worm bin that I can move indoors. So now I'm actually starting to feed them with food scraps I've been saving.
I've got a pretty good idea what to feed them, and what not to. But no place online where I have read about this does it mention whether herbs are okay to include in my scrap bucket. I just used some sage and parsley in a pork roast I made, and also have been tossing away my herbal tea bags. Is stuff like this okay or not?
CitizenKate- Posts : 844
Join date : 2015-03-20
Location : Northeast KS, USA; Zone 6a
Re: Do worms like herbs?
According to this you can.
Zmoore- Posts : 225
Join date : 2015-04-14
Location : Virginia Zone 7a
Re: Do worms like herbs?
Good find - thanks!
CitizenKate- Posts : 844
Join date : 2015-03-20
Location : Northeast KS, USA; Zone 6a
Re: Do worms like herbs?
First it was SFG. Then after someone on the forum mentioned microgreens I got into growing microgreens. Then soemone mentioned canning and I've started doing that. Now could it be that I will get into vermicomposting? So far Mrs TD has been tolerant of my hobbies ... but worms in the house ... not sure how she will react?
trolleydriver
Forum Moderator- Posts : 5395
Join date : 2015-05-04
Age : 76
Location : Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Re: Do worms like herbs?
That's the thing about worms. She won't suspect that they have assumed control of your cortex until she herself begins to develop an inkling of the glory of slithering through rich vegetal muck in an ecstasy of limbless freedom in which food and the world are one and all barriers are dissolved in an orgy of twining and eating, eating and twining ... and then all you will have to do is open up a forgotten tupperware container from the back of the fridge and ask, "What is this?" to know your shared destiny.
Another family will come to live in your home. And there, seething beneath the earth in your multitudes, you will have and soon share the answers to all their questions.
Another family will come to live in your home. And there, seething beneath the earth in your multitudes, you will have and soon share the answers to all their questions.
Marc Iverson- Posts : 3638
Join date : 2013-07-05
Age : 62
Location : SW Oregon
Re: Do worms like herbs?
Marc Iverson wrote:That's the thing about worms. She won't suspect that they have assumed control of your cortex until she herself begins to develop an inkling of the glory of slithering through rich vegetal muck in an ecstasy of limbless freedom in which food and the world are one and all barriers are dissolved in an orgy of twining and eating, eating and twining ... and then all you will have to do is open up a forgotten tupperware container from the back of the fridge and ask, "What is this?" to know your shared destiny.
Another family will come to live in your home. And there, seething beneath the earth in your multitudes, you will have and soon share the answers to all their questions.
Deep. Or scary. Maybe both.
Scorpio Rising- Posts : 8687
Join date : 2015-06-12
Age : 62
Location : Ada, Ohio
Re: Do worms like herbs?
AN amazing description Marc.
Yesterday the mere mention of the worms sent Mrs TD into a dither. Sadly there will be no vermicomposting.
Yesterday the mere mention of the worms sent Mrs TD into a dither. Sadly there will be no vermicomposting.
trolleydriver
Forum Moderator- Posts : 5395
Join date : 2015-05-04
Age : 76
Location : Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Re: Do worms like herbs?
trolleydriver wrote:AN amazing description Marc.
It made me laugh, marc.
Yesterday the mere mention of the worms sent Mrs TD into a dither. Sadly there will be no vermicomposting.
TD, you have to live with Mrs, TD so it is wise to keep her happy by not going too far beyond her comfort zone.
No reason why you cannot do vermicomposting outside. I have plenty of worms in my 4 x 4 x 4 compost heap and the worms survive the winter (we generally have -10C a lot of the time but sometimes down to -20C for short periods) and multiply come the spring and the compost turns out good. Last year I put in a four foot tall worm tube and tossed in my kitchen scraps and worm bedding until the snow got too deep. The scraps get to the heart of the pile where it stays above freezing all winter.
Re: Do worms like herbs?
I too have tons of worms in my compost pile. They overwinter. It gets cold here, too. I think they go deep.
Scorpio Rising- Posts : 8687
Join date : 2015-06-12
Age : 62
Location : Ada, Ohio
Re: Do worms like herbs?
Marc Iverson wrote:That's the thing about worms. She won't suspect that they have assumed control of your cortex until she herself begins to develop an inkling of the glory of slithering through rich vegetal muck in an ecstasy of limbless freedom in which food and the world are one and all barriers are dissolved in an orgy of twining and eating, eating and twining ... and then all you will have to do is open up a forgotten tupperware container from the back of the fridge and ask, "What is this?" to know your shared destiny.
Another family will come to live in your home. And there, seething beneath the earth in your multitudes, you will have and soon share the answers to all their questions.
CitizenKate- Posts : 844
Join date : 2015-03-20
Location : Northeast KS, USA; Zone 6a
Re: Do worms like herbs?
trolleydriver wrote:AN amazing description Marc.
Yesterday the mere mention of the worms sent Mrs TD into a dither. Sadly there will be no vermicomposting.
I know, I know. Just a short year ago, vermicomposting was on my list of things I'd never do, no matter how much into gardening I get. I have yet to determine exactly how it was I talked myself into trying it. It may have started when I saw the retail cost of a 3lb bag of worm castings. "Why, heck, for the cost of a couple of tubs of red worms from Walmart, I could have all the worm castings I want." (DH thinks they're "cool", and I just rose a notch on his "coolness scale" for wanting to try it.)
Still, I'm just experimenting at this point. I still haven't arrived at the conclusion it's worth the trouble for me. It'll just depend on how much of a difference I see in the garden next year.
And by the way, the worm bin is not "in the house", really, it's out in the garage. It gets down to around 58-60 deg. F out there during the winter, so they should be living large out there! Certainly a better life than they had in store for them as fish bait.
Last edited by CitizenKate on 10/16/2015, 10:17 am; edited 1 time in total
CitizenKate- Posts : 844
Join date : 2015-03-20
Location : Northeast KS, USA; Zone 6a
Re: Do worms like herbs?
I considered that, and I would much prefer doing it that way. However here, it gets down as low as -10 F (-23 C) in the course of a typical winter, sometimes as low as -20 F, and my compost pile is growing but still not that large. Maybe when I get a permanent compost bin built, I can try leaving a few of them out there and see how they do.Kelejan wrote:
No reason why you cannot do vermicomposting outside. I have plenty of worms in my 4 x 4 x 4 compost heap and the worms survive the winter (we generally have -10C a lot of the time but sometimes down to -20C for short periods) and multiply come the spring and the compost turns out good. Last year I put in a four foot tall worm tube and tossed in my kitchen scraps and worm bedding until the snow got too deep. The scraps get to the heart of the pile where it stays above freezing all winter.
CitizenKate- Posts : 844
Join date : 2015-03-20
Location : Northeast KS, USA; Zone 6a
Re: Do worms like herbs?
CK ... same here. We have had winters so cold that the frost goes down into the ground deep enough (i.e., below the average four feet frost level) to burst the water pipes coming from the street to people's homes. One time that happened in December! I would really like to try vermicomposting but I don't think it is viable for me.
trolleydriver
Forum Moderator- Posts : 5395
Join date : 2015-05-04
Age : 76
Location : Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Re: Do worms like herbs?
That's a bummer. We get freezing here, but usually not for long. I've buried an approximately(?) 3 gallon pot in the ground, dropped just a few worms in and covered it with a lid, and tossed in kitchen scraps spring through fall. Came through a freeze and next spring the pot was full of black worm poop, worm eggs, and the occasional worm. I figure some slithered off to their separate lives, maybe became lawyers, but our winter was mild enough that they didn't die. I've read they don't get enough food from a normal garden to survive, but I guess my kitchen scraps were enough to get them through a year.
Marc Iverson- Posts : 3638
Join date : 2013-07-05
Age : 62
Location : SW Oregon
Re: Do worms like herbs?
"maybe became lawyers" ... that's funny Marc! No offence to any lawyers on the forum.
trolleydriver
Forum Moderator- Posts : 5395
Join date : 2015-05-04
Age : 76
Location : Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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