3 months in - pretty wormy in there.

Ah ha. Definitely not a slug egg (this time).

Thar be Worms! (and a slug).

Who said you can’t start an outdoor worm bin from scratch in the middle of February?

Heating Up!

It’s 30 odd Fahrenheit outside, but the new aerobin is pushing 70. I also found a bunch of very lethargic worms on the underside of some leaf litter in my open pile, so I added them to the bin. Hopefully they warm up and get busy!

Slugs and snails and puppy dog tails

Ah crap. According to the internet, which is never wrong, these;

aren’t actually worm cocoons. They’re slug eggs. Awesome, I’ve just inoculated the new bin with about a trillion of them 🙄. Now this;

on the other hand, is a Peruvian Llama Manure Worm, and I found they and about a half dozen or so of their brethren in various states of juvenility; from transparent thread to that ⬆️ guy (gal). I found them in the same compost pile as the slug eggs, and relocated them and a bunch more unsorted compost into the bin, where I’m sure they’ll thrive. Though I think that’s a slug on their back :/ 

Episode IV: A New Hope

After a tortuous week of watching UPS wind its way from the land of Texas, my new 400L insulated flow through has arrived (that’s 106 gallons for those in Myanmar, Liberia and The United States). Assembled on a fancy new pad of red brick paving stones, and standing 1.2 meters tall (look it up), the new oasis is a sight to behold.
 I chopped up some dried out Jerusalem Artichoke stems to make a mesh base to keep the drainage holes clear. Next up some finished (not sifted) compost from an open air pile. And look; worm cocoons.

Topped with a layer of dried out leaf litter, interspersed with a weeks worth of kitchen scraps, shaken, (not stirred) and a couple shovels of melting snow (free water); I expect the pile should heat up shortly after the snow percolates into the leaf litter. Hopefully it will get warm enough to hatch the cocoons, which are almost certainly the descendants of that ancient race of Peruvian Llama Manure Worms reborn.

 

The Great Worm Cull of 2012

Wormtastrophe! My flow through had to endure a brief sojourn in the garage. During that time it was untended for 3-4 weeks. The peruvian llama manure worms were not pleased. Evidently enraged by their sudden relegation from the privy chamber, they intended to leave en masse. Alas, the journey toward the promised land was too much for most. Those that attempted it faired badly. The dried remains of the intrepid explorers litter the garage floor, leaving a pungent odor of soured molasses. Fortunately, all is not lost. Those worms that decided to remain have again been elevated to the inner sanctum. They are clearly the genetic superiors of the original herd and have thus been treated to fresh bedding and a fine meal of vegetables from the royal garden.

Harvest Time

I have been harvesting my VC regularly for about a month now. Previously I had just been putting what fell through the grate back in the top of the bin. Now we have a good garden going and I decided it's time to reap the benefits of the worming. I didn't have a good tray to sort the worms out of the VC, so I had been using pizza box lids and the like. That got old fast, so I went in search of a better solution. I used a wine crate we had lying around (What? Thats not weird! Who doesn't have wine crates lying around?) and made some frames to fit inside. I stapled hardware cloth to the frames and made myself a sorting tray. It works well, and the 'product' is much easier to spread on the garden than the clumps I had been getting.

Woo Hoo!

All fixed. The wooden rods, even though I had painted them, soaked up water and started to get soft. As they softened they bowed and pulled out of the holes. The hot glue I had originally used to secure them didn't stand a chance. I went to l'homme de'pot and bought 8-32 x 12" long plated threaded rods and some nuts. I was able to just push the threaded rods through the compost and line up the holes. The paper bottom finally gave way and lot of mostly finished VC, cocoons and worms fell down in the process. I'm not ready to use it yet so I put it right back in the top of the bin.

Catastrophe!!!

My grate buckled and three of my bars broke loose. Just as things were starting to settle down :( I don't think I can fix it without emptying the bin.

Wormtropolis!

Well, we have had some ups and downs. I have conquered a flying something or other infestation, a white mold that looked like it belonged in a horror movie, and worms that looked like they were on the verge of extinction. Worms falling to a watery death in the leachate tray and worms dying of dehydration in an attempt to flee. We have persevered.

Now, digging down to the worms preferred level of the bin and grabbing a hand full of compost yielded what appears to be far more worms than when I started - and that isn't even the half of them. The bin seems to have reached a kitchen-waste destroying equilibrium. No more pests, or mold or drownings.

I need to start another bin!

First Produce!

I harvested some leachate for the first time today. I don't normally let the bin get wet enough to produce any, but I had some air flow issues this last week that generated some. The first benefactors were a couple of potted house plants. I am expecting a bean stalk to a magic cloud kingdom by morning!

Moving Up In the World

I couldn't help myself; I went shopping at buy'n'large err Walmart in search of flow through bin materials. It was a tough decision, given that I am of the opinion Walmart is evil incarnate, but I puckered up and went shopping. I bought a 13 gal garbage can, some wooden dowels a can of spray paint and a jigsaw. All in all it cost $52, including tax (I wonder if worm bins are tax deductible?). I probably could have done without the jigsaw, which cost $30, but who can resist an excuse to buy a new power tool? Besides, it made my life easier, and, we are in a recession so it is clearly my patriotic duty to buy things I don't really need. I wanted to paint the dowels to ward off rot, so I bought some metallic looking spray paint that looks pretty neat with the glossy black bin. I also needed to use a drill, some side cutters and hot glue for the dowels, all of which I had already. I plan to "obtain" some snap-on round louver vents from work for the lid. Until then, I'll just leave the lid open. Now all thats left to do is move the worms into their new home.

I moved the bedding handful by handful so I could get an idea of how things were going. There was some nice VC at the bottom of the Rubber Maid bin, and loads of juveniles working the bedding and some fruit I had added only a few days ago. I guess I have upended their world though, all the VC is on top of the bedding now. I put the food remnants to one side. I covered everything with a wetted cotton T-Shirt to try and get control of some fungus gnats that have set up residence. I think I will just leave everything be for awhile and let the bin sort itself out.

Special thanks to TITK

One Month Lots of Mouths

It has been just over a month since I first inoculated my bin with a paltry handful of Peruvian Llama Manure Worms. In that time I have found plenty of cocoons and plenty of juveniles. I am amazed at how small a new hatchling is, barley the width of a few hairs. I have no way to quantify how many worms are now in my bin, but I do know they are multiplying quickly. A week into the bin I was convinced I had killed the worms off as I could not find them when I dug through their bedding. It turned out they were just better at hiding than I anticipated. Now, I can not dig through the bin without finding pockets of squirms and lots of individuals spread around the bin.

I was just performing one of these inspections when I came across an individual that looked misshapen. I thought I had discovered evidence of sour crop. I have been pretty careful about not overfeeding, but I confess last week I gave them more than I ought to have. Much of what I fed them is still largely intact, and now, a misshapen worm. Fortunately, it was not sour crop at all. I had happened upon a worm in the process of shedding a cocoon. I watched what I at first thought was a dying worm roll out of this little white doughnut and deposit a brand new cocoon right in my hand. I am in a strange state of both awe and revulsion. Either way, the worms are breeding like the champions they are.

Break Out The Champagne!!!

Please welcome into the world this transparent and healthy baby boy-girl. Weighing in at absolutely nothing, this champion breed Peruvian Llama Worm was found crawling over the Department of The Elderly's phone number. As you can see (right through him) she has already been feeding! Presumably he-she was born with several hungry brother-sisters who eluded my watchful eye.

Birds and Bees

It has been almost an entire, long, patience-testing week since I agreed to let-the-worms-be for a while. Today, I resisted the temptation to feed them yet again, and so decided to try and catch them mid-coitus instead. That's not too invasive, right? Alas, I was unable to observe any hot peruvian llama worm hermaphrodite action (believe me, there would be video if I did). I did however find the next best thing; evidence! If I am not mistaken, that is a cocoon.

This just in: I have received confirmation from those-in-the-know. My worms have indeed being getting down.

I am ecstatic to report that the green-beans are gone, and the carrots don't look like they will last much longer! These little guys seem to be settling in just fine. Yesterday, against my better judgment, I fed them some beetroot leaves. I have gotten some advice from those in the know and I have decided to let things be for awhile. I am hoping peruvian llama manure worms are as prolific as their mundane brethren. Maybe one day I can start a champion breed line! I'm sure it won't be long before my bin is devouring all of our kitchen scraps and junk mail.

One week later

Well, the worms seem happy. They have devoured the cucumber peels I fed them on the first night. I also gave them honey glazed carrots and green-beans (I like to spoil them) but they haven't gotten through all that food quite yet. This picture is of the carrots when they were fresh - you wouldn't want to see them as they are now. As gross as they look, the bin doesn't smell at all. Well, maybe there is a hint of wet paper with touch of llama manure - it's quite pleasant actually.

Enter the Peruvian Llama Manure Worm

Weighing in at 1.75 oz, these peruvian llama manure worms came from, well, llama manure. Hurley (my canine companion) and I herd sheep on the weekends. That is to say Hurley herds sheep; I mostly run around looking silly and falling-over into sheep dung. There is a rather ornery old llama on the farm, there to protect the sheep from coyotes. Somehow I managed to convince my herding instructor that if she would just look in the llama manure I was sure we would find some red wrigglers (no way the llama was letting me dig through his poop). Sure enough, we (she) uncovered a worm metropolis. Trooper that she is, my instructor secured as many of the lil' guys as my paper cup would hold. After I got them home and sorted the manure from the worms this is a picture of what was left. Cute, huh?

In the beginning

My girlfriend said I could keep worms in the house to compost kitchen scraps. Being 5 years old at heart, I took her up on the offer instantly. That'll teach her! First, they will need a home... I hope she wasn't planning on using the rubber-maid box for anything, and that's the best use of a phone book, ever.

Now to find me some worms. You would be surprised how many garden centers and bait shops look at you cross eyed when you explain to them you need "special" worms (red wrigglers to be precise, or Eisenia Foetida if you prefer latin). I don't want to have them shipped across the country. The worm bin is ostensibly an environmental project; keeping it local should start us off on the right foot.