Worms!!

LeeAnne12 2/28/2012, 8:27 am

I'm a soon-to-be worm mommy! I ordered the Worm Factory 360 and red wigglers. My daughter and I can't wait to get them. I hope they're pretty hardy, since I've never done this.

I do have a few questions. I've read about people using newspaper, but how much do you go through each week. I'm wondering if I need to get my husband to start bringing them home. Also, are you using a shredder to shred them or doing it by hand. Next question, is it nasty harvesting the compost or is it like playing in the mud. I watched one video on youtube and it showed the guy pressing the compost through a strainer, then drying it and then crushing it to make it even smaller. Is this necessary?

The best part about getting the worms...telling one of my daughter's friends I eat them. She already thinks I eat baked meal worms (Fiber One). ha-ha

Thanks!

Lee Anne

CaptainKidney 2/28/2012, 8:34 am

You need to tell your daughter's friends that you cook them and don't tell the family.

GROSS

Mike

lonewolfrissy 2/28/2012, 12:08 pm

That sounds like fun! Good luck with the worms! I've thought about it myself...

lhollister 2/28/2012, 2:40 pm

I have a worm composter. The harvesting of the worm castings is like playing in the dirt!! Laughing

It may take a while to get the hang of the right mix of paper...I started with a rubbermaid tote and it's still going strong. There are two people in my household. I use any paper I shread in my paper shredder. I get a Sunday paper only and I put it in my recylcing bin mostly. I have a worm factory. It has a spigot at the base. One thing I did notice is check the liquid in the base frequently. My spigot gets clogged with castings. The liquid is more like very wet mud and when it spills on the concrete in my gargage, it does not come up easily. Always keep something under the spigot.

Also, watch for renegade worms the first few days. They try to escape, until they decide it's home. My rubbermaid tote had worms coming out my drilled holes and I found dried wormd the next morning all over the floor around the tote. Shocked

**llama momma** 2/28/2012, 3:25 pm

Welcome Ihollister!
You gave some very good tips.
There is just 2 living at my house also. I have friends saving their newspapers and today picked up about 25 pounds. Hope that will last awhile for about a pound of worms. My worm order was delayed but they are on their way, Uncle Jim's worm farm sent me a tracking number and the little ones should be here very soon. Have a 20 gal. bin with moist papers in it since last week and fluff up the torn strips each day. Some web sites say to throw in a handful of soil or compost, did you do that? I didn't. I have a container of finished compost and keep wondering if I should throw some in.
I covered the ventilation holes with stretched pantyhose and secured with ductape. The lid snaps shut so the renegades can't take off around the spare bathroom.

tomperrin 2/28/2012, 3:51 pm

I was making some MM today. When I broke open a bag of plant based compost, lo and behold, a passel of red wigglers presented themselves for transplant. Some looked pretty skinny, while others were fat and happy. I put them into a coffee can with some of their compost so they would not dry out. When I salvaged as many as I could I deposited them into one of my compost piles. Since this pile rests on a concrete slab it had no worms until today. That's another reason to buy five different kinds of compost.

Tom

BackRiver_SFG 2/28/2012, 7:07 pm

Good luck with the worm composting!

I am starting soon myself. I purchased the worm factory. I think the 360 might be better after learning more. They both will work well though. They really just want to EAT! Next step is to get my initial materials ready and then ordering some red wigglers. I am excited for the improvement to both my composting and nourishing the MM. Gotta keep that mel's mix loaded with good stuff! affraid

Should be hardening off and my seedlings as well as sowing my cold weather crops near the end of the month. Pretty Excited!

ericam 2/28/2012, 9:00 pm

I'm buying some soon too, found out last night that my local council do regular composting and worm farming workshops so I'm going to one next week. After that, wormies here I come!

UnderTheBlackWalnut 2/29/2012, 2:52 pm

LeeAnne12 wrote:I do have a few questions. I've read about people using newspaper, but how much do you go through each week. I'm wondering if I need to get my husband to start bringing them home. Also, are you using a shredder to shred them or doing it by hand.

Check out Josh's data on the worm tube thread on page 11 here.

He gives info on amount of newspaper he fed, amount of kitchen scraps and lbs of worm castings he collected, etc.

Oh and congrats on your new little ones! Smile

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