Re: Can o worms

Wow, a subject I know a little about - I usually lurk but I can contribute to this topic.

First, Richard gave some great advice.
  

See if you can
find a restaurant that will allow you to collect grounds on a regular basis.


If you have a Starbucks, go and ask them, since they have a corporate policy to give away coffee grounds to anyone who asks. A local shop should be able to provide them also, but at least with Starbucks, they _have_ to do so. I've been collecting grounds for about a month, and getting about 20 pounds a day. I've been using them mainly for setting up my Interbay mulches, but they are great for worms, like Richard said.

As for my worm bin, I have a Wriggly Wranch (wince) bin by Reln (county program), but the Can O Worms is similiar, and maybe even better designed (they are both stacking tray systems). The basic setup is three trays stacked on top of each other, and the bottom of each tray is a mesh to allow liquid to drain and worms to move from level to another. The bottom tray (a 4th tray with no mesh on the bottom) has a spigot to allow drainage of excess liquid (worm tea, which is also a great fertilizer). Anyway, I've had great success with mine, mainly giving them vegetable and fruit parings (pureed in a food processor), and have had no major bug infestations, with the exception of ants a few times a year, which are easily thwarted with some vaseline. I do get soldier fly larvae in my box, but I've read they are a beneficial insect that doesn't hurt the worms, so I just grin and bear it when I open my box to find this huge black fly waiting to wake up enough to fly.

Since I do puree my food, the liquid tends to drain down and create a sludge on the bottom that will start to ferment anaerobically if I don't clean it out (it is actually a way to harvest). I've been pouring the food on top of the bedding and putting a smaller amount of bedding on top (I only feed about once a week at the very most), but I don't know if it is going to work yet.
 
I've found several message boards extremely useful in learning about vermicomposting, and I apologize if you've already visited these sites.

http://www.wormdigest.org/forum/index.cgi

The Worm Digest is the best place for learning about vermicomposting, it is almost information overload. The forums are busy, and a lady named Kelly Slocum is the resident expert that everyone defers to when it comes to worms. There will be plenty of information on worm bins, in :"Online Articles" specifically.
 

http://www.oldgrowth.org/compost/forum_vermi/

This one has a forum on bin design, so with a few searches, you should be able to find lots of info on Can O Worms.
 

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/soil/

This is a general forum on composting, but worms do come up, and these people will gladly answer your questions, but I can't guarantee someone will have the the Can O Worms.
 

Kristine

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