FARM UPDATE - DIG OR NO DIG? - New worm bin
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- Опубликовано: 10 сен 2024
- Welcome back to my channel - Im on the farm today, lets have a look at what's going on! (not much!! RAIN)
Hi I’m Alex - some know me as The Essex Allotment, a commercial veg grower in the heart of Essex.
Growing organic fruit and vegetables, organically and supplying direct to end consumer.
Im also a consultant on a brand new kitchen garden, growing and supplying veg to a cafe/bakery.
Thanks for watching. Ask any questions in the comments!
Alex
The Essex Allotment
Insta @the_essex_allotment
RUclips @ The Essex Allotment - Farm
Yup…I agree… you have to work with the soil you have. I’m also on heavy clay…and call my system low dig rather than no dig😀. Jinxy
Haha I like that!! Low dig 😂
Hi Alex, for the top layer of my worm bins I use 2 pieces of carpet with the pile facing each other. Keep this damp/moist at all times The worms love this as a breeding ground. You will also find lots of short white tiny creatures once the bin gets established. These are called Springtails 👍🏻
Thanks for the advice! I’ll see if I can find a little bit of carpet.
Hi Alex, I have had a wormery for about 5 years. They are amazing and addictive. Are you just using manure and if so how old? Interested as I started with coco coir initially. I tend to find that depositing food scraps in a single trench has made the worms work better. I tend to freeze the scraps, defrost and this helps them make short work of the food to product the worm tea and compost. Amazing video keep up the good work😊
Small amount of spent compost at the bottom, then manure, cardboard and scraps. If they don’t ‘settle in’ I’ll try trenching. Thanks for watching 😀
Hi Alex great update! Yes, i hope the rain dies down soon. I think we have had enough of it for now!
The liquid at the bottom of the worm bin is worm wee and not the same as worm tea. Worm tea is what you make with the worm castings (poo) a bit like JADAM. I usually put the worm castings in one of those large veg mesh/organza draw string bags (you can pick these up at Tesco at the veg section).
I use a 3 A$ size crate stacked system, where the bottom crate doesn't have holes in it so i store it in our workshop during winter. It has four potato sized stones to raise the next crate so it drains out and then just discard the water into the main composter (usually because a few worms have escaped! lol This sometimes is the case if you don't check it for more than two weeks). I feed them every two weeks in winter and more often in summer. It depends on how many worms you have in each bin.
I don't usually put the holes in the top as the rain can sometimes be too much during the winter and wash the nutrients away, it can also encourage other small things to get in and lay their eggs. During the dry hot summer, you might want to leave the lid off and put it in the shade so they don't boil. You can add rain water if it gets too dry but normally, if the mix of greens and browns is right, you shouldn't need to. If it smells, it generally means there is not enough brown stuff or it is too wet in there but again you can add more brown.
I think i started my crate system in abt 2017, with about 20 red wriggles i found in the garden and now both crates are loaded with worms. I do have to take out some worms in summer to beef up the main composter and/or when i have one crate ready to harvest the castings. As worms are multi sexed, they do breed like crazy during the warmer seasons. Their "eggs" are called cocoons and can double the population in 2 months, so i don't like to keep the crates too full of worms in the smaller crates. They are really cool and very educational for kids as their are several breeds of red worms. They also have 5 hearts, which is why some worms can still live, if they are cut in two by accident. They only last between 1-2 years but some worms can live until they are 8 years old!
If you want to do this outside and on a large scale you can either convert an old bath or better yet those old chest freezers, with the lids on top. You just need to make holes on the sides at the top for air flow and a drainage point at one end. You can then partition the bath/freezer into 3 sections, like a compost bin but make sure that you put holes in the partition walls near the bottom to allow the worms to move between the partitions.
Just one more tip, avoid giving them too much acidic or citrus stuff like alliums, chilli's or lemons, etc as they don't like it. They love banana skins and left over banana chopped up (if you have an old one). It also adds lots of potassium to the castings.
Good luck!
Hey, thanks for watching!
And thank you for all the information, lots to consider, some I’d read/seen before, some stuff in there I didn’t know at all so thank you.
I only have 2 tiny holes in the top, the other tiny holes are on the side of the lid, so it should be too affected by the rain at all.
It’s in an area that gets part sun, part shade currently but I’ll keep an eye on temp in the summer.
My son picked me about 100 works from the manure pile to add to it (he’s 6 and loved it) so it should be a strong start numbers wise.
Thanks again
Alex 😃
@@TheEssexAllotmentGlad to hear you didn't pay for them as they can be quite expensive and may not be native to the area. You will be able house quite a few in that tub.
Make sure they are the red ones. Earth worms are slower and bigger and like to be lower in the soil aerating the processed food from the red worms, which generally live in the top foot or so of soil. The red tiger worms are good. They have the stripes or rings around it. Adult red worms have a thick ring around them like the bit on a plastic bendy straw. I generally retire those to the main composter after the "spa hotel"! lol
Yes ours helped us to get the worms too. It's a great way to get them involved. Also good if you have or know a child with a fear of bugs and stuff or even getting their hands dirty. Even when we have play dates over the kids like to see the worms and get to put in a bit of veg scrap to "feed" the worms. They also seem interested in the "sciency facts" about them, especially when talking about their poo! lol
From a business pov, you could see if in the long run, you can breed them for selling but i am not sure if you need a licence for selling worms too? I have seen these riddle type worm towers that you can stack for castings. Depending on space you could probably fit a few towers on the market garden? They will cost a bit so see how you go first.
Best wishes from London
Worm Nerd 😃🪱
A hint with your raspberries…they may need watering esp in drought conditions in the summer…they are rather shallow rooted.
Thank you…!! Yeah there is a water collection tank close to that area of the farm so I’ll keep an eye - I’ve mulched around them to lock in moister (despite it raining for months)
Morning Alex wow looks a bit soggy 😢😢. Even Huw says you gotta dig sometimes and you are doing amazing. Have a super week stay dry, Ali 💨☔️🇨🇦
Thanks Ali! 😃
Like to Worm bin trial. Those shop brought one are really expensive so it will be interesting to see what happens in that container. Its pretty soggy in Norfolk too 🌂☔
Thanks! Yeah they are expensive… I think I’ll learn as I go but ultimately make this system work! Fingers crossed…
Great farm set up - love your new little fruit forest area too. You must work super hard on all this - do you do it all on your own? Consultancy project looks pretty epic too 🙌✌🌿
Oh wow! Fan moment, I found your guys channel a few months ago! I absolutely love it.
I have a small team at the new site (starting next week)
At the farm I do most of the work with some seasonal self employed gardeners, delivery help and volunteers but only in the height of summer.
Thanks for watching 😃