As saltation procession , everyone is think of babe beast on the farm . While achickis endearing and ababy goatis endear , today we ’re move to verbalise about something wigglier .
As my kid and I were reading about worms and what they do , we were introduced to the hazardous world of vermicomposting . We learned some people keepworms binsto makecompost for the garden . For those of you also raw to wrestle composting , worms will eat through paper and kitchen scraps you throw into the bin , and what they poop out ( aka their casting ) can be harvested and is extremely good for garden grime . Not just any insect will do in a vermicompost bin : You need the ruby wigglers .
To find out more about vermicomposting in worm ABA transit number , I chatted with Annie Bernauer , author of “ Montana Homesteader . ” As her web log name implies , Annie lives in Montana and experiences some very cold winter ; I was curious how that feign her option of vermicomposting method . She also has little children , so I was also super - interested in her advice for involve kids . Below an selection from our conversation about all thing insect .
Tessa Zundel : Why do you compost with worm ?
Annie Bernauer : We begin vermicomposting primarily as a substance to make compost year - pear-shaped . Because we exist in Montana where there are long , cold winters , it ’s out of the question to keep ouroutdoor compost binfrom freeze . In years by , I keep adding nutrient fleck to our outdoor compost tumblerall wintertime longeven though it was freeze solid , as I did n’t want to befuddle the food scraps in the trash . Once it warm up up enough in the spring , the food scraps would start to compost , but it was only going for about five or six months before it would freeze substantial again .
Because we have a large garden , we use a mountain of compost , so we want a way to generate it year - round . Then we let on vermicomposting . We keep our worm bin in our mudroom next to the kitchen , where the worm gayly plough our food scraps to compost all year long .
TZ : What kind of vermicomposting have you commit , and which do you opt ?
AB : We started out with a simple homemade worm bin made out of a large plastic storage bathtub and a pound of red wiggler worms . A few calendar month later , I made another insect bin out of a 5 - gallon plastic bucket for a different mixed bag of worms . Then we have aWorm Factory 360with more red wiggler insect , and this one is decidedly my pet !
The large moldable tub is cheap , but it ’s impenetrable to move around and a time intensive process to glean the castings . The bucketful bin is gaudy and well-situated to move around , but also more time intensive to harvest cast . The Worm Factory 360 is easy to move around and designed so the worms finally migrate to upper trays making casting harvest quite slowly !
TZ : How much prison term per hebdomad do you pass maintaining your ABA transit number ?
AB : I expend about 10 to 15 transactions per week exert our louse bins . I bring a bag of previously wintry and thawed food scrapsonce or twice per week . ( We freeze the refuse tocut down on fruit rainfly . ) I also add a new layer of shredded paper and/or cardboard . I do a quick bin review by mildly stab around with a manus slant . I check to make certain the bank identification number is n’t too juiceless or too wet and look for any potential issues to address to keep our worms glad in their bin .
TZ : Is this a undertaking a child could help with ?
AB : dead , a nipper can help with vermicomposting ! When we got our first worm bin , our daughter was 2½ years old , and she was actively involved in the process from Day 1 . She help build all our insect bin by adding in bedding material . She jazz to facilitate feed “ the wormies , ” and I teach her how to mildly rake through the bin to do a binful inspection . I also used it as an opportunity to learn her about the life cycles/second of worms . If our bambino can help with vermicomposting , I ’m moderately certain an aged tiddler or teen can do it , too .
Will You Compost with Worms ?
A big give thanks you to Annie for taking clock time to deal her experience with us ! My kids are now clamoring for a worm bin in the laundry room and read it ’s all in the name of science because Ms. Annie say so . I really do like the idea of twelvemonth - unit of ammunition compost , and I can always apply more in my garden . What do recall : Are you biz to assay vermicomposting with your fellowship ?
you’re able to anotherconversation about vermicomposting(this time about worm towers ) on HomesteadLady.com .
Get more vermicomposting info on HobbyFarms.com :
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