Vermicomposting for my garden

[marusempai]

I have a big garden this year, and my soil is clay. I need lots and lots of compost. So I'm trying to use worm bins on all our vegetable waste. The problem is the worms don't seem to be making compost. It is just getting gross in there, and there are lots and lots of fruit flies. Anybody have a fabulous composting/worm keeping tip? Because I think I might need some sort of remedial class in worms. The internet made this sound so easy!

[Forlane]

Sounds like you need:

Less Moisture
More Carbon (shredded paper works amazing)
a double bin setup with holes in the bottom of the top bin for the moisture to drain
Screening over the holes so the flies stay out.

[marusempai]

The funny thing is I don't water it at all! Maybe I need to start mixing in my shredded paper dry, at least some of it, because the veg scraps I'm putting in there are clearly full of water.

I have the double bin thing going already... that's the only reason I haven't drowned all of my worms, I think. Going to get some taller spacers in there too I think, just as extra insurance against accidentally flooding the dang thing.

[Paquebot]

If the worms are eating everything, they're not making compost. What comes out will virtually dissolve in water. You probably can't find any leaves right now but collect a lot of them this fall and save them to feed the worms in the summer. They'll eat the thinnest parts first and often leave the woodier portions of the veins and stems. Then you'll have something that would help your soil. And while you are at it, collect 10 times more than you figure on feeding the worms and make a pile out of them. You'll have proper compost then.

Martin

[marusempai]

No space for a proper compost pile unfortunately, which is why I went with the worms - they are contained, so they can live in the garage. I have been burying veg waste in the places where things have already come out of the garden, and will go on a leaf gathering mission in the fall and till those straight in. Hopefully if I do that, by spring everything will be better.

[Steve in PA]

I was vermicomposting to use the result for my houseplants. To me it just wasn't worth the effort. Much easier to just put my scraps into a proper container that gets spread in the garden in the fall.

I like the idea of vermicomposting but my time is too valuable to tend worms when I have 2 kids/job/wife/etc. I fed my worms to my chickens who also get the bulk of the table scraps now. What I can't give to the chickens goes on the pile. When the chicken coop gets cleaned it also goes on the pile.

At least the chickens give me eggs along the way. Also, my garden is full of worms. You can't scoop a shovel without getting at least 20.

[po boy]

You will never get enough compost from your worm bins to make a difference. Like Martin said, collect all the leaves, grass clippings etc you can get each week. Put that between your garden rows until you have about two inches. The rain and you walking on it will work it into the soil. If all you can get is green grass clippings, put that down in very thin layers so it will dry some. Once that is done, your garden will begin to be a worm bed. Don't over do it or you could end up with soggy soil especially over winter.

Any excess should be piled up to compost. If leaves are bagged for pick up by the city/county ask your neighbors if you can have theirs. Does the city/county compost and is it available? In the fall, I do 3 or 4 neighbor's yards with my snapper rider with a bagger. It's better if you run over them a few times before you bag. Pile them up over winter and you'll have some good stuff for next year.


You say big garden? If you get a lot of veggies, just throw the hulls, shells, tomato skin, corn husk and so on back into the garden or put in your pile.

[jacqueg]

Originally Posted by po boy

You will never get enough compost from your worm bins to make a difference.

That is my experience as well. I like doing it, and the little bit of castings I get is great, but you would need a *much* larger household than 2 or 3 people to generate enough scraps for a garden-sized vermicomposting operation. If you are into the effort, you will need to find a restaurant or two (or maybe a grocery store, depending on where you live - none of the groceries around here will do it) to get scraps from.

I do it because it's a good way to take care of kitchen scraps. I think putting scraps with the regular trash is gross (and stinky). And I am nervous about the sheet composting idea - although many people do it - because we have enough wild critters running around as it is.

Chickens of course are another good way to dispose of kitchen scraps.

[Paquebot]

Originally Posted by marusempai

No space for a proper compost pile unfortunately, which is why I went with the worms - they are contained, so they can live in the garage. I have been burying veg waste in the places where things have already come out of the garden, and will go on a leaf gathering mission in the fall and till those straight in. Hopefully if I do that, by spring everything will be better.

You have a "big" garden. I'm certain that you can spare about a 4x4 corner for manufacturing compost. Size of the pile isn't important, the product is. That would be the best place for a pile of leaves and a winter's worth of kitchen scraps. Tilling leaves in as is can be iffy if too much are used but an inch of shredded leaves would be fine. Then the pile in the corner to become the base for a simple compost pile. If the worms were going to be an ongoing thing, a few bags of shredded leaves can be stored in the garage for them.

Also, the best place that I've found for worm castings is in the compost. There have been a few members who have sent a pound or two and every ounce went straight into the compost tumbler. That way, the material will take advantage of the nitrogen which most contain and the entire garden benefits by it.

Martin

[Halfway]

The idea of a dedicated compost heap (4x4) has a lot of merit.

I lined the bottom with flat patio bricks and left about 3/4 to an inch space in between them. My worms (and they are monsters) come and go through the bricks when they need to a have the ability to retreat when the real cooking begins.

I toss them back into the pile if I scoop them up for the screen / straining. There are a lot of castings in my compost once it is done.

And it is powerful compost!

[jacqueg]

Here's another idea - worm tubes. http://www.garden.org/regional/repor...nmygarden/3430

I'm going to try this some year.

Keep in mind, worm tubes will most likely attract your local night crawlers, and most worm bins use manure worms, also known as red wrigglers. Night crawlers burrow into the ground, sometimes quite deeply, while manure worms live in the contact zone between the soil and manure pile. Manure worms are not as cold-hardy as night crawlers. But either is quite efficient at munching down kitchen scraps.