Archive for November, 2008
There’s a vermicomposting conference coming up in Illinios. Here’s the current text. It costs money but will probably be reasonable; I found the 2007 announcement and it was $35.
Composting Symposium: Vermiculture and Beyond – Feb 2, 2009 Feb 9, 2009 (updated Jan 5 2009)
ISA invites you to the 6th Annual Vermicomposting Symposium to be held at the Northfield Inn Suites & Conference Center. This year’s symposium has been expanded and will cover hot compost in addition to vermiculture so there is a little something for everyone from apartment composters to local farmers. Check back soon for a schedule of events and on-line registration.
What is vermicomposting? Vermicomposting is the process of having redworms and other decomposer organisms process our organic waste and turn it into a great natural fertilizer (called vermicompost). Vermicompost contains: worm castings (“vermicastings”), good aerobic compost from other worm bin organisms, and some material (food waste, bedding, etc.) that’s on its way to the worms or other critters. Vermicomposting is easy, requires very few supplies, and can be done by anyone.
Illinois Stewardship Alliance co-sponsors this event with Illinois Department of Agriculture, City of Springfield, and Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
November 27th, 2008
Check out the vermicomposting flickr group for more.
November 23rd, 2008
The answer is ‘yes, but.’ I’ve put a variety of meat in my bin a number of times. The type of meats I’ve put in include raw fat I’ve cut from pork chops, uncooked off ribs, cooked chicken skin, gristle and bones, and an entire set of turkey bones from Thanksgiving (after I’d made soup from them, of course).
There are a number of items to consider when putting meat in your worm bin.
- Is your bin secure from animals (fox/rats/raccoons/bears) that might be attracted to rotting meat?
- Do you have enough volume in your bin that the meat can rest undisturbed for weeks?
- Will bones in vermicompost be OK?
- Are you willing to take some risk of pathogen transmission if you place vermicompost or castings on food crops?
If the answer to all of the above is ‘yes’, then you can definitely bury meat in your bin. I like to dig it in at least twice as deep as I bury vegetable wastes. This way I’m less likely to encounter it when adding other waste. If I’m digging in my bin and start to smell something foul, I just cover it with some bedding and try someplace else. I’m not sure about the pathogen transmission (I probably should submit some castings to a microbiology lab for more information). If I was using this vermicompost for a lot of food production, I would also be concerned about possible pathogen transmission (I do use my vermicompost directly on food plants, but not all that often).
I asked the question of the_worm_bin and got back much the same information as I’d discovered through trial and error. One response cautioned against putting meat in an indoor bin due to the smell, and another cautioned against putting too much meat (or any uncooked meat). I did some searching on protein poisoning (which applies in general to too much protein, whether or not that protein comes from meat) and found this information:
This “disease” is actually the result of too much protein in the bedding. This happens when the worms are overfed. Protein builds up in the bedding and produces acids and gases as it decays (Gaddie, op. cit.). According to Ruth Myers (1969): “when you see a worm with a swollen clitellum or see one crawling aimlessly around on top of the bedding, you can just bet on sour crop and act accordingly, but fast”. Her recommended solution is a “massive dose of one of the mycins, such as farmers give to chicken or cattle”. Farmers wishing to avoid these or similar antibiotics should work to prevent sour crop by not overfeeding and by monitoring and adjusting pH on a regular basis. Keeping the pH at neutral or above will preclude the need for these measures.
To sum up, meat can be added to worm bins, but it is not a no brainer like most vegetable waste is. You need to consider how much meat you’ve added and what protections the worms have from outside predators, as well as smells and bones in vermicompost.
November 22nd, 2008
From the_worm_bin comes this interesting idea of creating seed balls with worm castings. I think it’s great because, in addition to all the benefits from seed balls (protecting the seeds from birds, letting the seeds that are appropriate for the given environment sprout, etc) you’re providing the plants with worm castings, a powerful fertilizer, to jump start their growth.
To go this route, start with heirloom veggies. There are lots of companies that sell heirloom seeds. I would make a mini worm bin when the tomatoes come in next summer. Feed several ripe tomatoes to the worms, then dry the castings and store for the next season. Make seed balls and replant in the spring.
I wonder what else the worms will leave behind? It should be a neat process and a cool way to save seeds.
Karon suggested this after several people mentioned that tomato plants were popping up in their worm bins. This also shows why vermicomposting weeds is a bad idea–worms just don’t break down all seeds. I’ve had other plants ‘volunteer’ from my worm castings, including pumpkins and melons.
November 21st, 2008
I’ve always been curious about the content of worm castings. I have seen and experienced anecdotal evidence that the castings I pull from the bottom of my bin are extremely good for the plants to which I apply it.
There are a number of pages with the mineral content of worm castings, including this one, this one and this one, but I wanted to know what my own castings contained. I don’t doubt that the contents of your bin are going to depend on what you put in it. For example, I’d expect eggshells in the feedstock to increase the calcium content, and crushing those eggshells would probably increase that further.
I decided to contact my local soil testing lab and see what their analysis found. I dug a worm castings from the bottom of my bin and sifted them to remove any large chunks of wood and undecomposed material. I let them dry for a night, placed them in a labeled plastic bag, and filled out a form specifying tests I wanted. I mailed the whole package off to the lab.
Six weeks later, after a phone call to remind the lab I was waiting for results, I received the analysis. Here are the comments from the soil lab:
pH, which was 7.9, was “sufficient for a soil amendment.” Most plants have a pH range they prefer.
Electrical conductivity or salts: “The salts are elevated, however this material can be safely used as a soil amendment if it is used at the recommended application rates.” They didn’t give me recommended application rates, however.
Lime estimate: low, which “indicates less than 1% CaCO3.”
Sodium adsorption ratio (SAR): “Low; sodium is not a problem.”
Everything else tested had “high” levels, including O.M. (Organic Matter), NO3-N (Nitrate-Nitrogen), P (Available Phosphorus), K (Available Potassium), Zn (Available Zinc), Fe (Available Iron), Mn (Available Manganese), and Cu (Available Copper).
Numbers (ppm) and such available in the Full Worm Casting Analysis Report.
November 12th, 2008
Updated: Here’s the website announcement of this workshop.
Transition Boulder County is having a vermiculture workshop next week. From emails (I couldn’t find an announcment on the web):
- Cost: $25 (includes worms)
- Where: 4500 19th Street in the Boulder Meadows Community Room.
- When: Nov 13th, 7-9 pm.
- RSVP: Call 303-494-1521, or email alice@transitionbouldercounty.org.
Full Description:
Winter is coming and your hot compost pile will soon be slowing down. Hit the ground running by participating in this hands-on workshop, building your own worm bin from scratch. Learn the many benefits of indoor composting with worms.
At the end of the evening, you will have everything you need (including a supply of worms) to begin composting your kitchen scraps and turning them into rich, loamy amendment for your spring garden and potted plants.
Please register early, as class size is limited! Registration $25. Call 303-494-1521, or email alice@transitionbouldercounty.org.
November 8th, 2008
Worm Digest is an online collection of useful and not so useful articles about earthworms. The useful articles include one about a Worm Guy in WA and a young persons’ guide to vermicomposting. There are less useful articles (from a worm perspective) like Soil Improvement with Organic Materials. I’m guessing that the owners of Worm Digest grab any articles that relate to worms and post it, though it does seem to have been a while since an update (the last update I saw was Mar 2008). Also, note that the user interface is slightly confusing–all the content above the fold is taken up with navigation, including newest and most popular article listings.
However, the Worm Digest forums are useful and active, with a number of postings covering issues from what junk mail plastic does to worm castings to whether pond water is a useful addition to worm tea (the verdict is still out).
November 2nd, 2008
