Cold Frames for worms?

NorthWoodsFever 1/13/2012, 12:32 pm

I was wondering if anyone has ever tried raising worms in cold frames? If so, did it work, were you in a Northern of Southern climate? I just had this vision while trying to fall asleep last night of using a cold frame to raise worms in. Would it provide enough warmth in the winter time (Michigan). Just a thought, as I am planning on putting in a couple cold frames behind our garage - as that is South facing and gets sun almost all day long. If I had too I could relocate one elsewhere if it were doable for raising worms in for the castings as well as a dietary supplement for my hens.

Any input would be great, but I won't be broken hearted if it is a no go. Smile

boffer 1/13/2012, 1:13 pm

I have not raised worms in a cold frame, but...

The worms in my 6 inch TTs survive temps in the teens. They seem to be fairly cold tolerant.

I bet if you insulated the top of the ground around your cold frame, and put the container in a hole inside the cold frame it would help regulate temps in a range they could survive. On the swing side, be very careful that you don't cook your worms. Temps rise incredibly fast inside a cold frame when the sun hits it.

Another consideration that I don't recall anyone talking about is just how much castings they will produce and how much they multiply when it's cold. They do get quite sluggish when it's cold.

I just convinced myself that I would keep them in the house! Very Happy

NorthWoodsFever 1/13/2012, 1:22 pm

I thought about keeping them in the house...but my other half would probably have issues with that. lol

Though I did find a neat post a bit ago for a worm tower in your garden, I can't post a link to it yet, as I'm still too new! sigh. Embarassed

The tower wouldn't produce worms for the hens, but could help the veggie beds along.

littlejo 1/13/2012, 11:27 pm

Be careful of the sun cooking your worms. It got down to 17 here for a couple nights and I was afraid they'd freeze in the well house, so I brought them in the house. I combined my two bins into 1 with new bedding. House is about 68 deg. They are doing better than they ever have, eating/making more casting than ever, maybe they like being crowded! Jo

miinva 1/13/2012, 11:58 pm

This is my first try with worms and I keep them in the house in a small storage container. It has gaps that allow air in but they're pretty small and no worm has escaped (so far *fingers crossed*). It's also not fully opaque so I cut a paper bag and made a sleeve for the bottom of it to keep things dark. That may be part of the reason they aren't trying to escape too. Smile

Once when I opened it there were a few crawling up the sides and I was worried that I'd killed them off with too much or too little water, but they seem to be soldiering through my abuse. Wink

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