Mama's Worm Composting

Worm Composting in Winter

I must admit that, as far as being lucky, when it comes to weather I am extremely well-off. The San Francisco Bay Area has very mild weather compared with a lot of the rest of the country, and it makes growing and maintaining worms quite easy. 

With the seasons moving on, however, I know a lot of you out there are staring down the first snowfall of the season and perhaps wondering how you can possibly take your summertime hobby of worm composting and bring it through the long, cold winter. Red worms thrive in temperatures (the temperature of the bedding, not the air) of between 55 and 77 degrees, but can survive perhaps 15-20 degrees beyond that in either direction depending on the circumstances. For you in cold locales wishing to practice worm composting all winter I have a couple of suggestions.

First, and most obvious, is to bring your worm composting bin inside. A garage or basement will suffice and will be several degrees higher than outdoors. That, in addition to the active decomposition of food (which produces heat) will keep your red wigglers happy and warm (enough) through the cold season. When in doubt, take the temperature of the bin. If it's too low (below 55) then perhaps add a breathable blanket to help insulate and feed a little bit more (don't forget the bedding!) to increase microbial activity and heat within the bin. Also, when moving a bin indoors don't forget to cover it with a thin, breathable sheet to keep flies from becoming a nuisance. 

Another more adventurous option is to experiment with your worm composting efforts outside, even in frigid weather. With a bit of planning and some manure to help keep things heated you can be successful. Remember, snow is insulating, so use that to your advantage. Dig a trench about 18" deep and 18" wide (do it soon, before the ground freezes!). Begin to fill it with horse manure and food scraps, at least 2' long worth, and add your worms. Cover with a generous application of straw, about a foot deep. Make sure to cover the food well with the manure and straw; while many critters are hibernating during the cold season, you still don't want to take your chances by leaving a free meal readily available to them. As the season progresses, add to the trench lengthwise your food scraps and more manure (the manure serves as bedding as well as food for the worms). Take the temperature frequently. And remember, if the whole thing goes kablooey, worms lay eggs that can survive through extremely tough weather; any worms you may lose during the winter will come back in the spring in the form of tiny hatchlings and start the work again. 

Got questions about worm composting in winter? Email me here. 

Good worming!

Worm Composting Blog Review: Guerrilla Gardening

As we settle into our new house and monster #1 is in Kindergarten for 3.33 hours per day, I find myself with a teeny tiny bit of time to actually think while monster #2 naps. This week I stumbled upon a blog that I thought might interest anyone reading this blog. I figure if you're interested in worm composting then you are probably interested in sustainability in general. 

Guerrilla Gardening is an organization that goes around to public places and plants beautiful plants and trees... without permission. This is right in line with my way of thinking of late because my new home happens to be right across from the BART tracks (sexy, I know), and right under the BART tracks is a 2 mile long bike path with nothing but dying grass and some random shrubs along the sides. As I become more interested in homesteading in general I am increasingly aware of both the small size of our lot and the huge amount of wasted space across the street. Project #1 is to implement my worm composting garden into my back and front yards. But let's face it, a mom of two with a business has only so much time, so this worm composting gardening project may be a year or so in the works. Inspiration, however, is the fuel for motivation, and as I keep looking across the street I envision vines of hybrid peaches, tomatoes, broccoli bushes... the list goes on. Wouldn't it be cool if food security was right in your backyard, right across the street, or even in the median of the big boulevard? 

Check out the Guerrilla Gardening blog for ideas and inspiration. They have a forum where you can find people in your area going out on missions. Live in Albany? Keep a look out for my broccoli bushes when time permits. 

Thanks for visiting Mama's Worm Composting and good worming!        

Worm Composting in the Classroom

It seems that fall is high season for classroom worm composting. Email after email comes in to me from teachers asking about worms, worm bins and presentations. Well, I’ve finally decided to put together a worm composting classroom kit, including a short presentation, for all of you folks in the Bay Area.

Here are the rules. First, I need to be able to bring my kids to the presentation (they are 3 and 5). Second, I need to be able to pass out fliers to kids to bring home to their parents which will include some advertising materials for my company. Third, your school must be within 25 miles of Albany, CA for me to make the drive to come see you.

The worm composting classroom kit will include:

2 pounds of Red Wiggler worms

1 homemade worm composting bin

1 30 minute presentation

Are you interested in introducing worm composting into your classroom? Email me for pricing and available dates.

Thanks for visiting Mama’s Worm Composting, and good worming!

 

Worm Composting Common Problems

Worm composting is not so much a science as it is an art. I suppose that one can measure absolutely everything that goes on in a worm composting bin (ph level, moisture level, air flow, temperature), but in the end it's sort of like gardening or cooking; in order to do it right you really have to get to know your materials and get a feel for the process. 

I get emails daily from people who are having trouble keeping their red wigglers happy, or even alive. When I think about it almost all of the problems fall within two categories. 

AIR FLOW

This first scenario is by far the most common; roughly 95% of the struggles I hear about are related to this topic. Variations on this theme include: disappearing worms, dead worms, worms crawling up the sides of the bins, escaping worms and stinky bins. ALL OF THESE PROBLEMS ARE DUE TO NOT HAVING ENOUGH DRY BEDDING! When you feed your worm composting bin you MUST add at LEAST the same amount of volume of dry, fluffy bedding as you are food scraps. Bedding options include shredded paper (including junk mail or newspapers), peat moss, coconut coir or dry leaves. I prefer to layer my bedding and scraps like a lasagna; this way when the food starts to decompose, the liquid it releases moistens the bedding below.

Worms breathe air, not water. Yes, it's true that their skin must stay moist so that they are able to absorb oxygen. However, there needs to be oxygen present in order for them to breathe. In a worm composting bin with not enough air pockets, which are provided by the dry bedding, your worms will behave in all sorts of annoying ways or disappear completely due to suffocation. 

When in doubt, ADD MORE BEDDING!

CRITTERS

"Critters" really just means flies or any derivatives of flies. Houseflies come in from outside. Fruit flies and fungus gnats come in on the skins of your fruit. All will breed in your worm composting bin and create a nice headache for you and your family. The solution, however, is simple. Just take an old bedsheet and drape it over your bin. The flies can't get out to breed (which they do in midair or on outside surfaces) so the life cycle is disrupted and the flies in the bin (or the nest) will eventually diminish and die. 

Other bugs you might find in your bin are usually just fine to have there. Tiny mites are generally not a problem as they are also helping to predigest the food for your worms. Slugs should just be tossed out of the bin if they appear. Pill bugs are not harmful to worms, but indicate a slightly too dry environment. Add a little less bedding.

Got a really weird and unusual problem? Email me!

Thanks for visiting Mama's Worm Composting and good worming!

 

Worm Composting Garden 2.0

I've been waiting a long time to get my worm composting garden going again, and this time it's behind MY house so I can go sit out there every day and watch the strawberries ripen. I read an article in Mother Earth News recently about how to grow $700 worth or produce in 100 square feet. Imagine, if you will, my mouth watering and my greed receptors tingling as I thought of all the money I could save by such a venture in my own backyard. Throw in a recent viewing of a documentary called "Collapse" and my paranoia has also helped fuel the fire (just a note: I don't actually agree with everything in the movie, but I love stuff about the end of the world and whatever helps to get my organic, self-sufficient garden blooming is ok by me). You never know.

So, after some light sparring with my neighbors about what I am building and where, I think I have everybody happy and my brown thumb can start to come out to see the light of day and hopefully turn green before I kill anything. This time the worm composting efforts will be taking place right in my planter boxes and right below the plants. Of all the ornamentals I've been digging up to make room for food, I've kept a lot of the debris and started letting it dry out. When I finally can find some free topsoil and the energy to haul it into the garden, I will simply cover the yard trimmings and then add the worms. The worms will work their worm composting magic right there in the soil, eating up the unwanted vegetation and leaving behind wonderful compost right at the root sources. I should note that these planter boxes are 4' x 20' long, so there is plenty of room for the worms to get around and little chance of them drying out. 

Here's the first of two large planter boxes. It's kind of hard to see, but I've been letting the kids draw all over it with crayons. Tired parents take note: this is a good way to keep sparring siblings out of your hair for at least 20 minutes!

Here's the plot of space where I dug up all of the ornamentals. It's not very pretty yet, but I've got 12 strawberry plants growing on the border, a leftover tomato plant from the previous tenants and a red raspberry bush started for next year along the back. 

Here's a golden raspberry and a blackberry. Behind there you can see the spot for the chicken coop. More on that later! :-)

So this is it, the beginning. Boring to some, exciting to me. Check back for future pics of my little homesteading project and to see how the worm composting right in the soil plays into it.

Good worming!