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!