I am just starting to fish. Bought some “Canadian nightcrawlers”. They’re big worms they’re in a small container in my fridge and I felt bad just letting them die so I stuck a bunch of lettuce in there and when you said “they love bacteria and fungi” it made so much sense because today when I checked on them they were just kinda laying over all of the lettuce
In order for the worms to use the calcium in the egg shells they must be ground up really fine. Other wise the egg shells do not break down for a long, long, long time.
I use a high-speed blender for that. First I blend egg shells full speed with water. Then I insert some veggie scraps and blend on low so that the tiny shell pieces stick to the veggie scraps. Then use a colander to drain. The tiny shell pieces disappear in the bin after a couple months, so they must be breaking down.... I've heard that the calcium from shells help worms to multiply more quickly, but I can't verify that.
I started a worm farm 7 months ago and it has been so much fun. This is the educational stuff I really like to watch. Constantly gathering information about worms, implementing new ideas I have learned and doing my own experiments has been the best experience. Learning from videos like this and books I can find is how I get the knowledge to have the confidence to do this on my own. Hope everyone has a nice day.
I just started my own worm farm today, and this is by far the best video I've seen, thank you for sharing your process! I'm definitely a hands on learner, so all the hours of reading hasn't helped nearly as much as this short video. It's straight to the point, very informative, and the chooks in the background just make it all the more pleasant to watch :) Thank you for sharing, I'll be sure to watch more of your videos! :)
I recently built some in a way none of my neighbors will know what they are. I want to make sure I'm taking care of them properly. If you want to see how I hid mine in plain sight, you can find it on my page. I'd attach a pic here if it'd let me.
Yes. I didn't know this since I'm fairly new to it but holy cow...sliced it in half and burried the domes half way and they went to town. Same thing with a bad watermellon we got from the store.
You have a different setup than I have but I did start out using tubs/totes but now using a factory 360 since mine is done inside and I love it been using it for yrs. Some I might add especially for new wormers that can speed things up is I use a hamilton beach big mouth juicer which is 800 watts of power which you will need for doing things like banana peels. If the material is too dry then will add juice back into the pulp to make it more of slush. I also use a mini composter and coffee grinder for use on the eggs, but first I will run the shells thru a microwave 3-4 min. to kill any pathogens that might be there. The coffee grinder makes egg shells into a grit which the morms can use to help help move material thru their gut. Also some other critters wont like moving thru the egg shell grit so a multipurpose. Also I will save my potential worm food in zip lock bags and freeze till Im ready to make another batch of food. I will keep my processed worm feed in large coffee cans till needed. For new wormers go easy till you see how fast the food disappears. Most new wormers make the mistake of having more food in the bins than the worms can handle and the bins can become anaerobic and smell and thats when most new wormers will quit .
Yup. But keep in mind that blending everything means that the microbes will disappear all the food faster than your worms can consume either the goopy nutrients or the microbes that feast on the goop. You want to provide the food in a way that's consistent with the herd's needs which usually means over a few days if not weeks.
Hi I live in Australia and just started becoming more interested in gardening recently. Just watched your video which is the first time. I really liked it . Very clear and straight to the point. Definitely, I'll keep watching 😀
If you search #shedwars21 you'll find some fellow Australian gardeners from our southern hemisphere teams. They're pretty informative. Happy gardening!
well buddy ,all I can say is you have too much time on your hands! OK I'm going to seem like a bit of an ol'curmudgeon here but I HAVE been worm composting for 45 years with these crappy ol' plastic tubs(never bought a new one yet for this ) and just a few TIPS and POINTERS ..never put holes in the TOP of a worm bin that will be kept outside(lets in rain,too wet,leaches out compost. put holes in the bottom 1/3 of bin that is where the air is needed,not up top. put only ONE hole in a bottom corner at least 1/4" to 3/8" big ,this is to allow leachate to drip out,and as a worm escape hole ,that's right I said ESCAPE ,If some newbie puts too much food in the worm bin it can HEAT UP,and the worms will all die. they need to be able to get OUT .It's a worm home not a worm JAIL. they love it UNDER a worm bin on extremely hot days, always keep worm systems in the SHADE and do not let them freeze in the winter. now as to the rules of WHAT TO FEED WORMS.... the answer is ANYTHING that nature grew. all the crap on line about no this and that is written by high school kids who wanted to sound cool. obviously co co nut shells, pineapple tops blocks of wood etc are impractical. plastic metal and glass or ceramic will not work.. I feed my worms all manner of food I take about 2 or 3 years to completely compost worm castings...I frequently EAT my worm compost to demonstrate its safety, NEVER USE PERLITE in any bed you want good worm populations to grow in RED LAVA will perform all the same functions as PERLITE but breaks down naturally into fantastic nutrients for your plants . PERLITE is a kiln fired substance (Glass) that is dangerous to HUMANS in it's powder form when airborne . It is also full of embodied energy which is an ecological NO NO . Stupid stuff ugly too. I start a bin with 2" of small rotting sticks(for that fungi! ) BOSR biologically obligate symbiotic relationship) and this helps with ventilation, one shovel full of DIRT (worms use small pebbles to chew with) always inter food,keep a layer of MULCH on top (just like nature) and If you want educational benefits(to SEE worms without digging in anaerobic goo)then put one layer of sheet plastic on TOP of the mulch! this also keeps the worms circulating from bottom to top in all climates . they go up to get fresh condensed moisture off the plastic. although worms love horrible glop,they also love nice fresh water! Have fun . two bins per person in veggie crazy family!
I really enjoy your program. I've been composting for nearly 60 years and still learn sometimes from you young fellas. Keep the Faith and keep composting. Really enjoy your chickens as they remind me of youth on the farm. I always wanted to farm but could never win the lottery.....so, this is my answer to that. Tom
How are your worms getting sufficient air flow? I dont see any holes and n your bins. I ask because I will soon be vernicomposting using 5 gallon buckets I will be drilling holes into for proper ventilation.
First of all this channel is awesome. Lots of great info and a very inspiring person. Now the questions: How often would you feed them kitchen scraps? After how many times feeding kitchen scraps do you put the second bin on top of the first? How long after can you use the worm casting? How regularly do you harvest the leechate? Thank you for everything. You're great!
Have you ever thought about why slick paper like from magazines is bad? If you understand the reasoning, it'll help your selection and preparation of paper including newsprint. The problem with slick paper is that it's not porous so water isn't absorbed into the paper easily. Compare that with newsprint where fibers are exposed, newsprint will soak up water quickly which enhances microbial growth. Now, take that a step further... I know practically everyone who uses newsprint for bedding runs paper through a paper shredder, but paper shredders use sharp knoves to cut the paper with clear, defined cuts. Now, tear up your paper instead and notice how the ragged, uneven edges will soak up water that much faster. Use this same reasoning not just for newsprint but for every other kind of paper from corrugated cardboard (Yummy! Worms love the organic paste) and food packaging (beware lightly lined with plastic), when you tear up the paper into inch or two in diameter or smaller, the increased edge surface area exposed to water makes a big difference how fast they will decompose.
Love your continuing education for us. As a worm farmer just a FYI, none of my bins have any type of drainage NO LEACHATE due to toxic phosphates whatever. My worms in bins are feed a certain amount of food and there is no "drainage". This is everyone's choice. I choose to make tea for my garden using their castings. I do not want to worry about problems from anaerobic problems. Again, thanks for another great video! A+++
just a question. When I was researching worm bins before purchasing one, all of them have a little tap at the bottom for drainage - in case the bin is outside and it rains and some water seeps in, whatever. And all the worm factory makers strictly recommend to keep this tap open, or the worms can suffocate. That is also an outlet for leachate. Do you think this is wrong? How do you deal with excess liquid from green feed, if any? Or you just increase the amounts of carbon material to absorb it?
@@growpuravida I would say that it is unnecessary in a well-managed worm bin. However, the fact is that most people feed them too "much" fresh stuff, and as a result you get too much moisture at the bottom.
@@stestrupholm-dyrkjorden I can say authoritatively it's more for the convenience of creating worm tea. I also manage worm bins both with and without a tap and as long as you're sensitive to what your worms need and can provide them choice where to go, your worms will be happy. So, If worms want to go to a darker, cooler environment they can always burrow down a ways. But I also position my bins so they get the warmth of the sun and can got in that direction, too. Or, put your food in a corner so that worms can go there or away if they don't prefer an environment with a lot of oxygen robbing decomposition. Amount of water is just one choice. Give your worms plenty of choices and they'll do what makes themselves most happy.
This is amazing thank you! I just bought a tiered worm system with a tap on the bottom. I’m trying to translate your bin system into how I would need to use mine but have an annoying amount of questions. When you say you have the one big bin to harvest them all into, Is that just the castings you out in there? Do you take some of the worms too so you reduce the population each time, to prevent overcrowding? The bottom layer in your table collects the liquid? See, I need to watch all your vids and come back so I know what to ask. I’m so green!
Just the finished castings go into that "Big" bin. Some worms are still in those finished castings but that's ok. The worms will manage their own population.
May I ask that: There are too many weeds in my garden. If I grind them finely and mix the green ones with the brown ones that have died before, can I give it to the worms as food, thus bringing the nitrogen carbon balance to the ideal ratio?
Suggestion. Unless you use well water which is pumped straight on your property i recommend rain water or allow your tap water to sit for a day or so. The chlorine in the water will kill the microbes and fungi your trying to produce. It will set the process back every time.
Chlorine is no longer used to treat municipal water in large US cities. Instead they're using chloramine, that's much longer lasting and does not dissipate when exposed to air. High capacity KDF85 filters from Camco and Boogie Blue are about 70% effective in removing chloramine - when new. The remaining chloramine can be removed with powdered sodium ascorbate or vitamin C. 1/8 teaspoon is more than enough to treat 5 gallons. It only takes a minute when the water is agitated vigorously. Filters with KDF85 technology cost around $65 and are typically rated to treat 8k gallons. Less expensive filters without this technology do not remove chloramine, regardless of what the manufacturer claims.
I used to have rabbits whenever ı clean cage of my rabbits ı notice that soil under their cage full of earthworms i think earthworms like rabbits' poop.
Rabbits and goats both produce "cold" compost, meaning their poop can go right into the garden. Human, chicken, horse, cow, etc. poop will have a "hot" compost phase, so you can't give it directly to worms, or it will heat up during its decomposition phase and kill them.
Get yourself some broken bags of dog food at the feed store real cheap. Worms thrive thereon. 100% complete vitamins, minerals, everything. Or just screw around with scraps & expensive additives like you are doing.
New to this, Now you have the bottom bin With the top bin set on top with the quarter inch holes drilled into the bottom Does the top bin with the 1/4" holes drilled into it have to be touching the bedding or castings in the bottom bin for the worms to transfer or migrate to the top bin ,If you can Please answer this question does it matter if its touching or not ? In need of answers here ....Just subscribed
I go to the local mangroves and dig down into the broken down seaweed piles and grab a few bins of partly decomposed seaweed . I then take it home rinse it by running fresh water through it and then add it at about 20% mix to my compost volume . The worms love it and yep it’s basically for free .
That's great. I live a few miles from the beach and every few months before dawn wake up and go collect kelp off the beach before the flies lay eggs. I used to wash off the kelp being afraid of the alkalinity of sea water, but later have omitted that step. I often feed an enormous amount of kelp at a time so I always place the food in a corner where the worms can come get the decomposing kelp as they want it or move away if they find the decomposition too toxic or not their choice. As always I avoid simply throwing food on top of the surface because the decomposing food can rob all the oxygen and suffocate the worms that need that oxygen to breathe. Although I've never done a study to confirm I feel confident that over time the worms will reconsume the kelp and their casting spreading the benefits of kelp derived nutrients throughout the bin's worm castings.
Best castings are made with finished thermo compost. Check out Ground up soil or Texas worm ranch. Both places are affiliated with Dr Ingham and produce vermicompost with adequate levels of fungi.
Thanks for making these. Hope all is well with you and your family. Our family is getting setup to grow a small vegetable garden and your videos have made it a reasonable task. It is much appreciated especially in this time. Thanks again! Take care 🤘😁🌞🌱
Deana Lynn Allen Rogers he was meaning cheap corn-based pet foods, like pedigree or aims, or Purina..not the better quality pet foods with higher meat content. Ol Roy from Walmart would be another...you know something you would never feed to a dog....
I grind all my eggs shells into a powder in my mortar and pestle and this greatly helps their gizzard. Earthworms and compost worms do not have teeth to grind their food, but the muscles of their gizzard churns and mixes the food. Since earthworms eat dirt, the sand grains grind against the food tearing it into smaller and smaller parts. The eggs shells work in this way in a worm farm.
Rabbits. Raise rabbits and occasionally add a little water to the droppings underneath the cages. Attracts worms better than anything I have ever seen. Supplemental feeding of kitchen waste will fatten them up. Good video.
Paddy who I just started a raised worm bed using an old 300 gallon water water tank. Friend gave me two five gallon buckets of red wrigglers. Using well composted manure, horse and rabbit both, cardboard and a little peat moss. We will see how successful I am.
Does the top container rest directly on the castings/compost in the lower container so that the worms can move up to the top one, or is there an air gap? If so, how much?
hello , i have lots of coffeegrains can i better use them directly in my soil {worms are verry attracting to it and love it) or better make wormcastings with the coffee grains ?
It is nice what are you doing. you can also use egg shells for calcium and it also help neutralize earth and it crush easier, you can also feed them to chickens four calcium but I do not recommended to you because i have heard the chicken can star eat his own new egg (but maybe you just haw to crush them good before you feed) .....Thank four video and have a nice day
This is so informative and and full of insight. I really appreciate you taking the time to share all this info with us. May God bless you, you have blessed us all.
I dont get why people think worms dont like it wet .. my wet bin is the most active. And I've seen them survive in airated tea for weeks when they get in.
To be absolutely certain, I don't recommend feeding even stable manure if the compost will be used for edible crops, there's just too much unnecessary risk involved potentially infecting with e-coli and salmonella. If you do use any kind of animal meat or derivatives (like manure), I recommend not using that compost for fertilizing edible crops for at least 90 days after the last time that animal meat or byproduct was given to the worms. The possible catch is remembering and counting the days because worm compost is normally "ready" to be used long before 90 days. So, why the 90 days? It's an estimate I've developed that more or less ensures the worms have reprocessed the castings enough times that the worms would almost certainly have eaten all the harmful bacteria that might have been introduced. That number might have been influenced by some research I read long ago but can't remember where.
It has been a week and I have a lot of worms but there are white little balls on top of the newspaper that I layed on top of my bin befor covering. I fed them vegetable which I turned smal flurrry. the balls look something like little tapioca balls only white. Can you tell me what these whit balls are?
Last month I passed a restaurant that dumped a bunch of vegetables out the back boor so I collected a bunch of it for my worms. I brought home several large bags with apples, carrots, potatoes, lettuce and cabbage. I gave them the lettuce right away but I've been breaking up the rest and adding it to a bucket to break down into a slurry. I peel the cabbage and cut the apples, carrots and potatoes and mix it all up. I then add a couple scoops of the slurry to the bin every few weeks. But now after all the things I read about cabbage I am wondering if I can give it to them and if they'll even eat it. Do you think the cabbage is ok to give them?
What you do is knowledge gained in time personally using your own resources, experience, observation and time. I learn worms in russia, and i kind of figure out how england started this. Began the vermicompost popularized composting technique as in germany. And now going global usa, turkey. I see warms get inside the cardboard for shelter. My russian parents chop an old tree and how i found larvas, beetles, and worms living harmoniously underground and inside a wood. Basicly eating through a large wood. Worms are magnificant and makes me addicted. One significant condition that i figured is worms love rain and black soil. And they can not survive on Muds but they can breath on water. And they can not live in super salty water. I see many people find plastic bins for use vermicompost. But i use different scales and tactics. For example : a plastic pvc vertically stabbed on soil , worms can travel vertically. Worms like metal containers. Red Warms like animal source for example i see giant red warms live under the chicken barn under the wood work over the concreate ground. They travel a meter to get there at night. There is no demand for vermicompost in russia. However as in england or germany or usa, the meat supply is abundance. There are enough livestock. Such as england knows how many sheeps they have. But i dont think there are enough compost or culture of composting. For example composting house hold trash. Or sheep cow manure. I have seen plants , flowers , and observe if housewives put any compost. No. On farming i have seen. One critical thing i learned in russia, small farmers raise crops to feed not only themselves but the livestocks. Such as sugar beets, carrot, potato, and pumkin. They have all the land in the world, 5000 hectars. Helicopters mechanical engineer minds. But agriculturally using old techniques despite using Modern machines. I still could not figure out what to do with all this land , maximizing utility and productivity, and man power. I think agriculture should be fully automated so that man kind can focus more on RD, painting art,music, and automotive. So many talents are wasted in front of computer screens. If we have spent same amount of time on automotive sciebce than on coding computers we would all be driving on a $750 cars with a milage of 500 kms charging solar power.
I know this videos have been told but spring is coming in a couple months so I was thinking about getting started. I've one question are there any woods that are toxic to worms
So is it correct to say that if food is put in a worm bin today, it will be eaten a week or two from now? (And what the worms are eating now are the food that were broken down by microbes a week or two ago?)
interesting video I purchased a used blender in a junk store and run all my kitchen scraps through the blender to make a thick soup, the worms love this blended soup. I freeze extra soup in baggies and use it all winter when garden and kitchen scraps are more scarce.
Nature's Always Right I have a friend in Phoenix who finds more organic material than he can use. Worm bins buried and shaded and kept moist will grow you all the worms you can use.
@@NaturesAlwaysRight One local worm grower recommended a 1/2 and 1/2 mixture of Black Cow compost and peat-moss, but your mix is more complex, Is his satisfactory?
@@NaturesAlwaysRight Hi. Question for you. In your building the worm bins video from 2018, you put food in the bin then some straw, cardboard, paper and cover it all with a piece of cardboard before closing the lid. In this video you just put the food on top and close the lid. The reason I’m asking is because I’ve built my first worm bins using your videos and i put some food on top and now have a lot of little flies and even some maggots on the food scraps. Just wondering if this is normal. Thanks for your great videos, I’ve learned a lot and they got me back into gardening again!
That's all the feed?? 2 leaves?? And tons soil. We hv red wriggles and process lots of green waste which we put in a tumble drum compost putting layers of carbon every two dumps from kitchen,.... Then when we turn it,... The bottom we pass ut to a worm farm where we rotate every 3 months. They are reproducing as hell, not smelly problems or invasion of different insects,... Lots of babies and happy worms.
Decades ago a who wants to be a millionaire business came around selling worms and the only thing to feed the worms were used COFFEE GROUNDS. they love it. My parents did this for as long as i can remember with raised beds.They used them in the garden and for fishing.
Brown paper towls and napkins? Aslo, please feed your chickens some worms and meal crickets. It helps many on the planet digest organic food, like most fish birds and frogs. Feed the worm fruit baby food in good tasting vegan soil apple wood dust. You get organic fungus starters with the organic acids. Then see jf the change makes the eggs and meat different. Chickens are omnivores like humans. Peace
Why can't you just put all that stuff straight into your garden?? I bury bananas, apples, salad, egg shell, tea leaves , and fish into the garden soil.
🌟Best Worms for Starting Your Worm Farm - bit.ly/3jbVBsY
🌟Raise Your Worms in The Urban Worm Bag Composting System - bit.ly/3uo29ex
That is an interesting system. Would it be best to grind everything down to tiny bits so that they will break down faster?
Great video
Freeze your food scraps before putting in worm bin, it breaks it down and the worms process it 10 times faster.
Good idea!
Love that ☺
It kills most fruit fly larvae and eggs as well
Awesome information. Thanks
Thanks, I didn’t know that
I am just starting to fish. Bought some “Canadian nightcrawlers”. They’re big worms they’re in a small container in my fridge and I felt bad just letting them die so I stuck a bunch of lettuce in there and when you said “they love bacteria and fungi” it made so much sense because today when I checked on them they were just kinda laying over all of the lettuce
Would Jobes organic tomato/vegetable granular fertilizer be beneficial or harmful to add to a bin in small amounts?
Excellent information. Thank you.
I love your farm ❤️ chicken sounds lovely
I have compost rabbit shit will that work for worms
Can bokashi compost be used in a worm bin?
NVRMND you just answered
Okay, dumb question. Will a Vermiculture Bin attract Bears? Anyone know? We have lots of Bears where we live.
In order for the worms to use the calcium in the egg shells they must be ground up really fine. Other wise the egg shells do not break down for a long, long, long time.
I use a high-speed blender for that. First I blend egg shells full speed with water. Then I insert some veggie scraps and blend on low so that the tiny shell pieces stick to the veggie scraps. Then use a colander to drain. The tiny shell pieces disappear in the bin after a couple months, so they must be breaking down.... I've heard that the calcium from shells help worms to multiply more quickly, but I can't verify that.
I started a worm farm 7 months ago and it has been so much fun. This is the educational stuff I really like to watch. Constantly gathering information about worms, implementing new ideas I have learned and doing my own experiments has been the best experience. Learning from videos like this and books I can find is how I get the knowledge to have the confidence to do this on my own. Hope everyone has a nice day.
I just started my own worm farm today, and this is by far the best video I've seen, thank you for sharing your process! I'm definitely a hands on learner, so all the hours of reading hasn't helped nearly as much as this short video. It's straight to the point, very informative, and the chooks in the background just make it all the more pleasant to watch :)
Thank you for sharing, I'll be sure to watch more of your videos! :)
The reason why I'm watching this is so cuz I'm building a worm farm
Same
I recently built some in a way none of my neighbors will know what they are. I want to make sure I'm taking care of them properly. If you want to see how I hid mine in plain sight, you can find it on my page. I'd attach a pic here if it'd let me.
Yayyy I just started mine today
@@britneyb8876 nice good luck with it
I think that's what we are all doing
Great video wow! I’ll definitely be checking out more of your videos. Definitely make your own compost one 🤙🏼
Worms love pumpkin. If you haven't ever fed you worms left over pumpkin after Holloween. You need to try it. You will be amazed🥳
True, I always try to pick up any I can for the compost program I run for a community garden. All my compost bins have red wigglers in them.
Yes. I didn't know this since I'm fairly new to it but holy cow...sliced it in half and burried the domes half way and they went to town. Same thing with a bad watermellon we got from the store.
You have a different setup than I have but I did start out using tubs/totes but now using a factory 360 since mine is done inside and I love it been using it for yrs. Some I might add especially for new wormers that can speed things up is I use a hamilton beach big mouth juicer which is 800 watts of power which you will need for doing things like banana peels. If the material is too dry then will add juice back into the pulp to make it more of slush. I also use a mini composter and coffee grinder for use on the eggs, but first I will run the shells thru a microwave 3-4 min. to kill any pathogens that might be there. The coffee grinder makes egg shells into a grit which the morms can use to help help move material thru their gut. Also some other critters wont like moving thru the egg shell grit so a multipurpose. Also I will save my potential worm food in zip lock bags and freeze till Im ready to make another batch of food. I will keep my processed worm feed in large coffee cans till needed. For new wormers go easy till you see how fast the food disappears. Most new wormers make the mistake of having more food in the bins than the worms can handle and the bins can become anaerobic and smell and thats when most new wormers will quit .
Yup. But keep in mind that blending everything means that the microbes will disappear all the food faster than your worms can consume either the goopy nutrients or the microbes that feast on the goop. You want to provide the food in a way that's consistent with the herd's needs which usually means over a few days if not weeks.
@@tonysu8860 Wrong ,, it is the microbes that gets the food ready for the worms
Quick question shouldn't you turn the oyster shell to powder so the worms can eat it?
Love the sound of the chickens in the background. I miss keeping chooks 😊🐔
Hi
I live in Australia and just started becoming more interested in gardening recently.
Just watched your video which is the first time. I really liked it . Very clear and straight to the point. Definitely, I'll keep watching 😀
If you search #shedwars21 you'll find some fellow Australian gardeners from our southern hemisphere teams. They're pretty informative. Happy gardening!
This is a great channel, also check out 'The weedy garden' channel, Australian, his content is fantastic
Thank you for doing this video. It really helps.
well buddy ,all I can say is you have too much time on your hands! OK I'm going to seem like a bit of an ol'curmudgeon here but I HAVE been
worm composting for 45 years with these crappy ol' plastic tubs(never
bought a new one yet for this ) and just a few TIPS and POINTERS ..never
put holes in the TOP of a worm bin that will be kept outside(lets in
rain,too wet,leaches out compost. put holes in the bottom 1/3 of bin
that is where the air is needed,not up top. put only ONE hole in a bottom
corner at least 1/4" to 3/8" big ,this is to allow leachate to drip
out,and as a worm escape hole ,that's right I said ESCAPE ,If some
newbie puts too much food in the worm bin it can HEAT UP,and the worms
will all die. they need to be able to get OUT .It's a worm home not a
worm JAIL. they love it UNDER a worm bin on extremely hot days, always
keep worm systems in the SHADE and do not let them freeze in the
winter. now as to the rules of WHAT TO FEED WORMS.... the answer is
ANYTHING that nature grew. all the crap on line about no this and that
is written by high school kids who wanted to sound cool. obviously co
co nut shells, pineapple tops blocks of wood etc are impractical.
plastic metal and glass or ceramic will not work.. I feed my worms all
manner of food I take about 2 or 3 years to completely compost worm
castings...I frequently EAT my worm compost to demonstrate its safety,
NEVER USE PERLITE in any bed you want good worm populations to grow in
RED LAVA will perform all the same functions as PERLITE but breaks
down naturally into fantastic nutrients for your plants . PERLITE is a
kiln fired substance (Glass) that is dangerous to HUMANS in it's powder
form when airborne . It is also full of embodied energy which is an
ecological NO NO . Stupid stuff ugly too. I start a bin with 2" of
small rotting sticks(for that fungi! ) BOSR biologically obligate
symbiotic relationship) and this helps with ventilation, one shovel
full of DIRT (worms use small pebbles to chew with) always inter
food,keep a layer of MULCH on top (just like nature) and If you want
educational benefits(to SEE worms without digging in anaerobic goo)then
put one layer of sheet plastic on TOP of the mulch! this also keeps the
worms circulating from bottom to top in all climates . they go up to
get fresh condensed moisture off the plastic. although worms love
horrible glop,they also love nice fresh water! Have fun . two bins per
person in veggie crazy family!
I really enjoy your program. I've been composting for nearly 60 years and still learn sometimes from you young fellas. Keep the Faith and keep composting. Really enjoy your chickens as they remind me of youth on the farm. I always wanted to farm but could never win the lottery.....so, this is my answer to that. Tom
Tom Nekuda You're a farmer Tom. A worm farmer!
@@Permaculture1957 Haha! That's pretty good......I'm gonna remember that.
How are your worms getting sufficient air flow? I dont see any holes and n your bins. I ask because I will soon be vernicomposting using 5 gallon buckets I will be drilling holes into for proper ventilation.
First of all this channel is awesome. Lots of great info and a very inspiring person.
Now the questions:
How often would you feed them kitchen scraps?
After how many times feeding kitchen scraps do you put the second bin on top of the first?
How long after can you use the worm casting?
How regularly do you harvest the leechate?
Thank you for everything. You're great!
You harvest Leecate won time each week! Yw
Have you ever thought about why slick paper like from magazines is bad? If you understand the reasoning, it'll help your selection and preparation of paper including newsprint.
The problem with slick paper is that it's not porous so water isn't absorbed into the paper easily. Compare that with newsprint where fibers are exposed, newsprint will soak up water quickly which enhances microbial growth. Now, take that a step further... I know practically everyone who uses newsprint for bedding runs paper through a paper shredder, but paper shredders use sharp knoves to cut the paper with clear, defined cuts. Now, tear up your paper instead and notice how the ragged, uneven edges will soak up water that much faster. Use this same reasoning not just for newsprint but for every other kind of paper from corrugated cardboard (Yummy! Worms love the organic paste) and food packaging (beware lightly lined with plastic), when you tear up the paper into inch or two in diameter or smaller, the increased edge surface area exposed to water makes a big difference how fast they will decompose.
Love your continuing education for us. As a worm farmer just a FYI, none of my bins have any type of drainage NO LEACHATE due to toxic phosphates whatever. My worms in bins are feed a certain amount of food and there is no "drainage". This is everyone's choice. I choose to make tea for my garden using their castings. I do not want to worry about problems from anaerobic problems. Again, thanks for another great video! A+++
just a question. When I was researching worm bins before purchasing one, all of them have a little tap at the bottom for drainage - in case the bin is outside and it rains and some water seeps in, whatever. And all the worm factory makers strictly recommend to keep this tap open, or the worms can suffocate. That is also an outlet for leachate. Do you think this is wrong? How do you deal with excess liquid from green feed, if any? Or you just increase the amounts of carbon material to absorb it?
Dame for me 😉👌
@@growpuravida I would say that it is unnecessary in a well-managed worm bin. However, the fact is that most people feed them too "much" fresh stuff, and as a result you get too much moisture at the bottom.
@@stestrupholm-dyrkjorden but how about the bins that are outdoors? Mine is not rain-proof though it's a commercially made one...
@@stestrupholm-dyrkjorden I can say authoritatively it's more for the convenience of creating worm tea. I also manage worm bins both with and without a tap and as long as you're sensitive to what your worms need and can provide them choice where to go, your worms will be happy. So, If worms want to go to a darker, cooler environment they can always burrow down a ways. But I also position my bins so they get the warmth of the sun and can got in that direction, too. Or, put your food in a corner so that worms can go there or away if they don't prefer an environment with a lot of oxygen robbing decomposition. Amount of water is just one choice. Give your worms plenty of choices and they'll do what makes themselves most happy.
This is amazing thank you! I just bought a tiered worm system with a tap on the bottom. I’m trying to translate your bin system into how I would need to use mine but have an annoying amount of questions. When you say you have the one big bin to harvest them all into, Is that just the castings you out in there? Do you take some of the worms too so you reduce the population each time, to prevent overcrowding? The bottom layer in your table collects the liquid? See, I need to watch all your vids and come back so I know what to ask. I’m so green!
Just the finished castings go into that "Big" bin. Some worms are still in those finished castings but that's ok. The worms will manage their own population.
Nature's Always Right Thank you!
Love your chickens getting in on the audio input….chirpy chirp chirp..🥰😎
Thanks a lot for sharing your knowlege in worms bedding so as produce rich organic soil to be use for home gardening! Keep it up! God bless!
May I ask that: There are too many weeds in my garden. If I grind them finely and mix the green ones with the brown ones that have died before, can I give it to the worms as food, thus bringing the nitrogen carbon balance to the ideal ratio?
Wow, very educational.
Suggestion. Unless you use well water which is pumped straight on your property i recommend rain water or allow your tap water to sit for a day or so. The chlorine in the water will kill the microbes and fungi your trying to produce. It will set the process back every time.
Chlorine is no longer used to treat municipal water in large US cities. Instead they're using chloramine, that's much longer lasting and does not dissipate when exposed to air. High capacity KDF85 filters from Camco and Boogie Blue are about 70% effective in removing chloramine - when new. The remaining chloramine can be removed with powdered sodium ascorbate or vitamin C. 1/8 teaspoon is more than enough to treat 5 gallons. It only takes a minute when the water is agitated vigorously. Filters with KDF85 technology cost around $65 and are typically rated to treat 8k gallons. Less expensive filters without this technology do not remove chloramine, regardless of what the manufacturer claims.
They are food waste worms. You feed them your scraps paper cardboard leaves and bunny poo,. Not buy extra to feed them.
Fantastic video. Best I have seen on this topic. Thank you!
I have access to a supply of shredded office paper. Would that work for bedding or would it maybe break down too quickly?
Yes you can use the shredded paper I do . And others I follow that on YT some of them use shredded paper
I used to have rabbits whenever ı clean cage of my rabbits ı notice that soil under their cage full of earthworms i think earthworms like rabbits' poop.
by extension, they probably like people poop too
@@cxoot some earthworms like human poop i think ,but all earthworms like rabbit poop
The worms hate Rabbit Urine though, I built a simple device to separate the 2 under the cage and it increased my worm population under the cages.
Rabbits and goats both produce "cold" compost, meaning their poop can go right into the garden. Human, chicken, horse, cow, etc. poop will have a "hot" compost phase, so you can't give it directly to worms, or it will heat up during its decomposition phase and kill them.
@@MrsOdie2 I have collected worms from hot horse manure lots of times I even uploaded a video of it .
i add straw that hasn't been broken down outside and it does break down in my bin :)
Nice to know :)
I enjoy orgabic gardening because the microbes and earthworms help recycle all wastes back into food . thanks for showing us ow to do this.
You should look into jadam then :D
Get yourself some broken bags of dog food at the feed store real cheap.
Worms thrive thereon.
100% complete vitamins, minerals, everything.
Or just screw around with scraps & expensive additives like you are doing.
Can I use decomposed manure?
New to this, Now you have the bottom bin With the top bin set on top with the quarter inch holes drilled into the bottom Does the top bin with the 1/4" holes drilled into it have to be touching the bedding or castings in the bottom bin for the worms to transfer or migrate to the top bin ,If you can Please answer this question does it matter if its touching or not ? In need of answers here ....Just subscribed
I go to the local mangroves and dig down into the broken down seaweed piles and grab a few bins of partly decomposed seaweed . I then take it home rinse it by running fresh water through it and then add it at about 20% mix to my compost volume . The worms love it and yep it’s basically for free .
Roger Ramjet Great idea! That's gotta be good
That's great. I live a few miles from the beach and every few months before dawn wake up and go collect kelp off the beach before the flies lay eggs. I used to wash off the kelp being afraid of the alkalinity of sea water, but later have omitted that step. I often feed an enormous amount of kelp at a time so I always place the food in a corner where the worms can come get the decomposing kelp as they want it or move away if they find the decomposition too toxic or not their choice. As always I avoid simply throwing food on top of the surface because the decomposing food can rob all the oxygen and suffocate the worms that need that oxygen to breathe. Although I've never done a study to confirm I feel confident that over time the worms will reconsume the kelp and their casting spreading the benefits of kelp derived nutrients throughout the bin's worm castings.
Best castings are made with finished thermo compost. Check out Ground up soil or Texas worm ranch. Both places are affiliated with Dr Ingham and produce vermicompost with adequate levels of fungi.
I would think corn husks would make awesome bedding.
very informative . Thank you for your thoroughness ! What do you think about Compost Sacks?
ruclips.net/video/xX0yWlGIyM00/видео.html.
Interesting publication & you did great describing it Thinking about getting me a couple worm beds started
Good morning I am very newI am just starting my worm bin my question can I use mushrooms as food. I bought some to use but for got them in the fridge.
Would powdered eggshell work better?
Did anyone get triggered when he said funji
I have a problem with my worm bin getting hot, like a compost bin. Any suggestions?
My guess is we need to create a shaded, cool area. Good thought.
Poor chickens getting teased!! Great video
😂
Thanks for making these. Hope all is well with you and your family. Our family is getting setup to grow a small vegetable garden and your videos have made it a reasonable task. It is much appreciated especially in this time. Thanks again! Take care 🤘😁🌞🌱
Worms thrive on pet food; e.g., broken (cheap) bags of dog/cat food:
Nutritionally complete.
I was wondering last night when I was feeding my dogs last night if I could add some of their dog food chopped up to the worm bins. Thanks
Deana Lynn Allen Rogers he was meaning cheap corn-based pet foods, like pedigree or aims, or Purina..not the better quality pet foods with higher meat content. Ol Roy from Walmart would be another...you know something you would never feed to a dog....
Those chickens are like, "Throw those scraps down here, buddy!"
Chicken composting lives matter
Fantastic set up. I love worms. Have 2 worm factories and one 27-gallon tote. Happy plants!!
Im not making a worm farm im just getting a pet worm
So why not coarsely grind the food scraps if the slurry good for them
I'm new to worm keeping. It makes me feel better knowing I'm doing it right. Thank you!
Yow bro how can I get those containers that u make ur compost in and the name of it
Have you ever given your worms seaweed to eat. Do they eat it? Just something I'd like to know. Jim.
Do you think expired rolled oats (oatmeal) would make good worm food in a compost pile ?
Yes. Put in a blender with water to make a liquid slurry and pour on top, then cover w damp newspaper
I bought oysters shell and I see it’s like rock and very big for the worms so did you grind them first?
I grind all my eggs shells into a powder in my mortar and pestle and this greatly helps their gizzard. Earthworms and compost worms do not have teeth to grind their food, but the muscles of their gizzard churns and mixes the food. Since earthworms eat dirt, the sand grains grind against the food tearing it into smaller and smaller parts. The eggs shells work in this way in a worm farm.
Rabbits. Raise rabbits and occasionally add a little water to the droppings underneath the cages. Attracts worms better than anything I have ever seen. Supplemental feeding of kitchen waste will fatten them up. Good video.
Paddy who I just started a raised worm bed using an old 300 gallon water water tank. Friend gave me two five gallon buckets of red wrigglers. Using well composted manure, horse and rabbit both, cardboard and a little peat moss. We will see how successful I am.
Can I use vegetables that were previously cooked? Such as roasted or steamed broccoli that was uneaten?
Patrick Kaplan steamed should be fine, try to avoid roasted, the oils are bad.
Does the top container rest directly on the castings/compost in the lower container so that the worms can move up to the top one, or is there an air gap? If so, how much?
Directly on the castings so they can travel up. No air gap.
Red wigglers live in the wild worldwide.
hello , i have lots of coffeegrains can i better use them directly in my soil {worms are verry attracting to it and love it) or better make wormcastings with the coffee grains ?
The caption is Worm Farm in Melbourne. Please check guys.
Love the chicken backround soundtrack. Thanks for the advice mate.
what? soy ink is problem because it might be GMO? wow....
Coolbeans! Thanks for the info. I have a bin in the shed. I'll try this out with some red wigglers.
Great tips, looking forward to implementing this myself
Great video. I plan on using the alternate side feeding method in 'one' bin. Great information, thanks.
I was told not to use egg shells...that the sharp pts of shell will cut up inside of worms. Would lose worms
What correct?
Daniel Miller egg shells are quickly broken down in the worm gizzard by the grit
the worms swallow to aid their digestion !
It is nice what are you doing. you can also use
egg shells for calcium and it also help neutralize earth and it crush easier, you can also feed them to chickens four calcium but I do not
recommended to you because i have heard the chicken can star eat his own new egg (but maybe you just haw to crush them good before you feed) .....Thank four video and have a nice day
This is so informative and and full of insight.
I really appreciate you taking the time to share all this info with us. May God bless you, you have blessed us all.
I was thinking about adding some kombucha to my mixture but that might be too acidic what do you think for microbial
I would like to know if the worms can still get p to top bin on a tier system if there’s a large gap between top and bottom layer
Yeah they'll climb anywhere.
Great system! I tried adding compost to my (back porch-enclosed) worm bin and introduced ants to my bin.
How do the ants and worms interact?
I dont get why people think worms dont like it wet .. my wet bin is the most active. And I've seen them survive in airated tea for weeks when they get in.
If you can get stable manure, that is already aged a few months, that makes awesome food for the worms and very light and fluffy castings.
To be absolutely certain, I don't recommend feeding even stable manure if the compost will be used for edible crops, there's just too much unnecessary risk involved potentially infecting with e-coli and salmonella. If you do use any kind of animal meat or derivatives (like manure), I recommend not using that compost for fertilizing edible crops for at least 90 days after the last time that animal meat or byproduct was given to the worms. The possible catch is remembering and counting the days because worm compost is normally "ready" to be used long before 90 days. So, why the 90 days? It's an estimate I've developed that more or less ensures the worms have reprocessed the castings enough times that the worms would almost certainly have eaten all the harmful bacteria that might have been introduced. That number might have been influenced by some research I read long ago but can't remember where.
Thanks for sharing fellow vermi-tuber! Very interesting to watch :) Glad to support
When you move over here I've got to learn this soil health stuff and supplements from you
Have a wonderful day yourself. Ty for the video
It has been a week and I have a lot of worms but there are white little balls on top of the newspaper that I layed on top of my bin befor covering. I fed them vegetable which I turned smal flurrry. the balls look something like little tapioca balls only white. Can you tell me what these whit balls are?
Last month I passed a restaurant that dumped a bunch of vegetables out the back boor so I collected a bunch of it for my worms. I brought home several large bags with apples, carrots, potatoes, lettuce and cabbage. I gave them the lettuce right away but I've been breaking up the rest and adding it to a bucket to break down into a slurry. I peel the cabbage and cut the apples, carrots and potatoes and mix it all up. I then add a couple scoops of the slurry to the bin every few weeks.
But now after all the things I read about cabbage I am wondering if I can give it to them and if they'll even eat it. Do you think the cabbage is ok to give them?
This is interesting because I am doing a warm farm just starting out
What you do is knowledge gained in time personally using your own resources, experience, observation and time.
I learn worms in russia, and i kind of figure out how england started this. Began the vermicompost popularized composting technique as in germany. And now going global usa, turkey.
I see warms get inside the cardboard for shelter. My russian parents chop an old tree and how i found larvas, beetles, and worms living harmoniously underground and inside a wood. Basicly eating through a large wood.
Worms are magnificant and makes me addicted.
One significant condition that i figured is worms love rain and black soil. And they can not survive on Muds but they can breath on water. And they can not live in super salty water. I see many people find plastic bins for use vermicompost. But i use different scales and tactics. For example : a plastic pvc vertically stabbed on soil , worms can travel vertically. Worms like metal containers. Red Warms like animal source for example i see giant red warms live under the chicken barn under the wood work over the concreate ground. They travel a meter to get there at night.
There is no demand for vermicompost in russia. However as in england or germany or usa, the meat supply is abundance. There are enough livestock. Such as england knows how many sheeps they have. But i dont think there are enough compost or culture of composting. For example composting house hold trash. Or sheep cow manure. I have seen plants , flowers , and observe if housewives put any compost. No. On farming i have seen. One critical thing i learned in russia, small farmers raise crops to feed not only themselves but the livestocks. Such as sugar beets, carrot, potato, and pumkin.
They have all the land in the world, 5000 hectars. Helicopters mechanical engineer minds. But agriculturally using old techniques despite using Modern machines. I still could not figure out what to do with all this land , maximizing utility and productivity, and man power.
I think agriculture should be fully automated so that man kind can focus more on RD, painting art,music, and automotive. So many talents are wasted in front of computer screens. If we have spent same amount of time on automotive sciebce than on coding computers we would all be driving on a $750 cars with a milage of 500 kms charging solar power.
God bless you brother
Great work Steven!
I know this videos have been told but spring is coming in a couple months so I was thinking about getting started. I've one question are there any woods that are toxic to worms
So is it correct to say that if food is put in a worm bin today, it will be eaten a week or two from now? (And what the worms are eating now are the food that were broken down by microbes a week or two ago?)
interesting video I purchased a used blender in a junk store and run all my kitchen scraps through the blender to make a thick soup, the worms love this blended soup. I freeze extra soup in baggies and use it all winter when garden and kitchen scraps are more scarce.
Thank you, great info👍🏻🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸
I've found that worms really enjoy a covering of moss, too if you can readily find some around your yard.
Oh nice great recommendation, out here in desert San Diego we don't have moss.
Nature's Always Right I have a friend in Phoenix who finds more organic material than he can use. Worm bins buried and shaded and kept moist will grow you all the worms you can use.
@@NaturesAlwaysRight One local worm grower recommended a 1/2 and 1/2 mixture of Black Cow compost and peat-moss, but your mix is more complex, Is his satisfactory?
Do you now what worms eat.
@@NaturesAlwaysRight Hi. Question for you. In your building the worm bins video from 2018, you put food in the bin then some straw, cardboard, paper and cover it all with a piece of cardboard before closing the lid. In this video you just put the food on top and close the lid. The reason I’m asking is because I’ve built my first worm bins using your videos and i put some food on top and now have a lot of little flies and even some maggots on the food scraps. Just wondering if this is normal. Thanks for your great videos, I’ve learned a lot and they got me back into gardening again!
That's all the feed?? 2 leaves?? And tons soil. We hv red wriggles and process lots of green waste which we put in a tumble drum compost putting layers of carbon every two dumps from kitchen,.... Then when we turn it,... The bottom we pass ut to a worm farm where we rotate every 3 months. They are reproducing as hell, not smelly problems or invasion of different insects,... Lots of babies and happy worms.
Very useful information, thanks! 👍
I now know the true purpose of beets. They’re obviously not for eating
Decades ago a who wants to be a millionaire business came around selling worms and the only thing to feed the worms were used COFFEE GROUNDS. they love it. My parents did this for as long as i can remember with raised beds.They used them in the garden and for fishing.
Yeah but did they sleep!
Brown paper towls and napkins? Aslo, please feed your chickens some worms and meal crickets. It helps many on the planet digest organic food, like most fish birds and frogs. Feed the worm fruit baby food in good tasting vegan soil apple wood dust. You get organic fungus starters with the organic acids. Then see jf the change makes the eggs and meat different. Chickens are omnivores like humans. Peace
Why can't you just put all that stuff straight into your garden??
I bury bananas, apples, salad, egg shell, tea leaves , and fish into the garden soil.