Tuesday, November 06, 2007

What's With The Worms Tuesday


So here is one of my bins, for those who don't know. I have four of these 4X8 foot fiberglas bins. I have them covered with hardware cloth to keep out mice.


One spring I broke my ankle and I wasn't able to get out to work on the worms(I did try it and almost regretted the effort). The mice moved in and built nests to raise their young. It was awful to try and get rid of them.


I discovered that the worms really liked the air circulation they got from the insulation being up on the hardware cloth instead of being right down on the bedding.


Today was another nice day. The sun was again shining with the air being a touch cool, reminding me of the time of year it is.


The night was comfortable as I carried my watering can out to check on the worms.


The worms in the bed I turned last night aren't up yet. It usually takes a couple of days for them to settle in after being turned, topsy-turvy. But the other three bins had worms up chowin' down on the worm chow.


Still, the air is cool enough and the bin temps only being 40 degrees, the chow was only slightly eaten in two of the bins. Only one bin needed any additional worm chow, and each bin got watered down.


I used one 2 gallon watering can for the job so each bin got 1/2 gallon water. My aim is to keep the top layer moist where the worm chow is so the worms will continue to eat. They also have a layer of food waste that is rotting under the top layer, plus the shredded newspaper and leaves that have been turned into the bedding when I turn the bin. There is plenty to eat at all levels of the bin.


I brought in a bucket of leaves for my Worm Factory and the small bin I am holding harvested worms in. I put down a thin layer of leaves, breaking the leaves up well and watering to encourage the worms to move in. We'll check it out tomorrow and see how they like it.
I have a 5-tray Terracotta Worm Factory going back east before Thanksgiving. Second graders are using it for a school project.
One year the kindergarden teacher at the school where my son went had a Worm Wagon. She had the kids help her build the bin and shred newspaper and they set the bin up in a red wagon like a Radio Flyer. It was portable and just the right height for the kids to be able to get in the bin and muck around with the worms (with gloves of course).
Anyway, the class was morning and afternoon. The day I delivered the worms I went in for the afternoon class. I can still hear those kids when I dumped that glob of worms out on the bedding and spread them out. Wow! The amazing thing was the afternoon class really took ownership over that bin. The morning class wasn't much interested. They didn't get to see those worms.
Hava Happy,
Christy
Where good things come from for the body and soil.

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