Cooked worms?

KiwiSFGnewbie 11/17/2024, 4:56 pm

I had a thought the other day. My strawberry patch is now on my patio, in a wicking bed:

Notice the black plastic surround. There are worms in there (from my compost). My question is this: should I maybe wrap the surround in foil, so the worms don't cook?

markqz 11/17/2024, 9:53 pm

A sometime solar cook here.

I think the first step would be to get a soil thermometer and see if the temperatures are actually that high. My guess is that with the moisture and the thermal mass, only the first centimetre along the forward edge will actually experience high temps.

If you do decide to protect your box, and if they have it where you live, Nashua aluminium reflective tape is pretty easy to work with, and the result won't look too messy.

KiwiSFGnewbie 11/17/2024, 11:18 pm

markqz wrote:A sometime solar cook here.

I think the first step would be to get a soil thermometer and see if the temperatures are actually that high. My guess is that with the moisture and the thermal mass, only the first centimetre along the forward edge will actually experience high temps.

If you do decide to protect your box, and if they have it where you live, Nashua aluminium reflective tape is pretty easy to work with, and the result won't look too messy.

Hi, Mark!

Thanks for this Smile

Great to know I'm probably not risking their health. I have a digital kitchen thermometer (i.e. with probe) -- would that be good enough or should I have an actual soil one?

As for the tape, I'm seeing Nashua tapes online here but not the actual reflective aluminium one you mention -- I have found this 3M one, which looks to be a similar idea. OTOH, it's also pretty dear, so I may just use cooking foil, which I had good results with around my strawberry pots in previous summers. Not a tidy job, but then the Beautiful Homes and Gardens people don't come around here any more Razz

Thanks again

markqz 11/18/2024, 10:38 pm

KiwiSFGnewbie wrote:I have a digital kitchen thermometer (i.e. with probe) -- would that be good enough or should I have an actual soil one?

I think it would depend on how long the spindle is. And how you feel about using it with food afterwards Shocked

A soil thermometer with a long spindle is a fun thing to have around when you have your compost cooking.

KiwiSFGnewbie wrote:I may just use cooking foil, which I had good results with around my strawberry pots in previous summers. Not a tidy job, but then the Beautiful Homes and Gardens people don't come around here any more

Well, that's probably all for the good. Those people can be so annoying

KiwiSFGnewbie 11/19/2024, 1:04 am

markqz wrote:
KiwiSFGnewbie wrote:I have a digital kitchen thermometer (i.e. with probe) -- would that be good enough or should I have an actual soil one?

I think it would depend on how long the spindle is. And how you feel about using it with food afterwards

A soil thermometer with a long spindle is a fun thing to have around when you have your compost cooking.

Aw Mark, it's just good old fashioned dirt -- nothing a bit of dishwashing liquid can't solve -- if I want to be really fancy I could even shove it into some boiling water! Wink

But the good news is I already have a compost thermometer!
Thanks again for the advice Cooked worms? 3170584802

**sanderson** 11/28/2024, 3:21 am

I wrap single layer plastic containers with heavy duty aluminum foil and then mulch. The soil stays around 80*F even in 110*F summer weather.

KiwiSFGnewbie 11/28/2024, 2:45 pm

Thanks, sanderson happy hi

I poked my compost thermometer in last week after hours of direct sunlight on the bed, and even at the edges the soil was only around 22°C (low 70s F). So, the worms should be fine -- good to know Smile

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