Worm Poop

[Arrilla]

Has anyone thought about having a community worm poop project in the summer? You can use compost and recycled papers to make great fertilizer....if you are not sure what I am talking about, look it up online.

[Marty Grimm]

my brother is into 'worm poop'. he is trying to start a business both in raising worms for sale, for this purpose, as well as recycling food materials from restaurants, expired grocery store produce, etc, and producing compost for sale, he's in amarillo texas, but i'll see if i can get him in on this discussion.

i am sure we can generate interest of the local groceries and restaruants to participate if someone will provide the leg work of collecting. the coop already gives away compost, so there is competition for that already. myself included for my hens. the bistro is willing to give away buckets of compost daily if someone were to pick it up. i would think others would follow.

this is a great idea.

[Jase Grimm]

Hey Arrilla! Great question. I've got my own little vermicomposting (the PC way to say worm poop) project going on out here at school. It's so easy that every household, grocery store or restaurant could have one but it might be easier if we pooled our worm food resources and made a giant vermicomposting operation. It took me about a half an hour to build a worm bin out of two rubbermaid tubs and I just feed them once a week and I get pounds and pounds of amazing comost, not to mention the thousands of worm babies and cocoons that I can spread into my garden beds in the spring! Keep on keepin on!

[Arrilla]

Jase Grimm said:

Hey Arrilla! Great question. I've got my own little vermicomposting (the PC way to say worm poop) project going on out here at school. It's so easy that every household, grocery store or restaurant could have one but it might be easier if we pooled our worm food resources and made a giant vermicomposting operation. It took me about a half an hour to build a worm bin out of two rubbermaid tubs and I just feed them once a week and I get pounds and pounds of amazing comost, not to mention the thousands of worm babies and cocoons that I can spread into my garden beds in the spring! Keep on keepin on!

Well great! I am glad to know that it is pretty successful. I have never actually done it myself, but I watched a program on it and thought it was such an awesome thing....so many benefits all the way around....for the worms, for the ground, for the garden, for the plants, for the people....for the earth :)

[Arrilla]

Marty Grimm said:

my brother is into 'worm poop'. he is trying to start a business both in raising worms for sale, for this purpose, as well as recycling food materials from restaurants, expired grocery store produce, etc, and producing compost for sale, he's in amarillo texas, but i'll see if i can get him in on this discussion.

i am sure we can generate interest of the local groceries and restaruants to participate if someone will provide the leg work of collecting. the coop already gives away compost, so there is competition for that already. myself included for my hens. the bistro is willing to give away buckets of compost daily if someone were to pick it up. i would think others would follow.

this is a great idea.

Well, that's great...yeah, I have actually never done it, but I watched a program on it and thought it would be such a good thing for everyone to do. I was planning on having my own this summer, but then I thought it would be cool to have a community one maybe next to the community garden they do in the summer. I am unsure where to even begin on this kind of process, so that would be good to get your brother's input if possible :)

[Jim Tripp]

We attempt to do composting at our home, but really all we do is store any compostable food products and leaves/mulch in a big plastic trash bin with a lid. It doesn't decompose much before it gets full, then I have to haul it to the Luther Composting site by Roslin Woodlands. I think I would benefit from a hands-on class that demonstrates effective home composting.

[Marty Grimm]

http://www.thewormguy.org/ is a resource. there are also videos on worms and composting on youtube.

[Jim Tripp]

Thanks Marty, finally got around to checking this out. He has quite the operation. Is it pretty easy to acquire worms/larvae for the compost pile? Does one have to continue proliferating the worms in a separate "worm garden" or will the compost naturally raise more? If you don't have the answers, no big deal. Just a couple questions that popped into my head while viewing.

[Marty Grimm]

Hey Jim,
I'll run your question by my brother and Dad. Based upon what Jase said earlier, I think once your pile gets underway, it can be self sustaining.
Marty

Jim Tripp said:

Thanks Marty, finally got around to checking this out. He has quite the operation. Is it pretty easy to acquire worms/larvae for the compost pile? Does one have to continue proliferating the worms in a separate "worm garden" or will the compost naturally raise more? If you don't have the answers, no big deal. Just a couple questions that popped into my head while viewing.

[Marty Grimm]

Jim,
Here is some more info on your questions. I hope they help. If you need more, let me know.

Particularly if you use the "flow through" method (like us) where you feed from the top and take off the bottom the growth and proliferation of the worms is automatic in the same pile and continuous. We layer 3-4 inches of veges, then 2 inches of horse manure. And yes, you will have a few worms come out at the bottom. Actually there are also some cocoons in the stuff you get off the bottom and you can start a new bin with them by feeding some veges to the dirt, but it would be slow. We use a "bait bag" to rescue the worms that come out with the finished compost. That is a mesh orange sack with some veges and paper in it. The worms will migrate to it in a day or so. Or (manual method) you can put the dirt in a pile and turn a light on. The worms will get deeper in the pile and you scrape off the outside layer of dirt till you come to the worms, let it set for a while and do it over. How much effort you put into rescue definitely depends on the size of the herd. Worms instinctively react to the volume of food. More food, more worms. The eggs will lay dormant even in dry compost until food and moisture become available.
Right now, because of the shortage of breeders due to a scam several years ago, worms are selling for about $25 a lb. + UPS. About 1000 worms per lb.
We built a couple of "harvesters (separators) with wood frames, 55 gal. plastic barrel and screen wire (some 1/4, some 1/8" mesh). They separate the compost real good but are lacking in separating out the worms. Our store bought one separates the worms well. One option here is to put the unfinished compost that comes out the end, probably about 10%, worms and all, back on top of the bin and let them go again.

[Jim Tripp]

Thanks for the explanation Marty, I will let you know if I have any other questions once I start the process.

[Jim Tripp]

I have had my worms for about 2 months now, in a rubbermaid bin like Jase described. The worms are eating well and are nice and healthy looking, but I'm not seeing any cocoons yet. Originally I drilled little holes around the lower sides, and 4 big holes (1/4") on top. A friend thought that maybe the enviroment was too moist because there was water collecting on the lid of the bin. Recently I drilled some more little holes in the bottom (1/16"). Still there is water on the lid when I remove it. I always place a damp newspaper over the top of the compost too. That never dries out after I put it in the bin. Any advice from the experts out there? Everything seems good except no cocoons...