Comments on: Jumbo Garbage Garden

By: self sufficient life » Worms in supply chain management

self sufficient life » Worms in supply chain management — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 11:03:10 +0000

[...] just found out that Compost Guy is doing the same, he calls it “Garbage Gardening”. I think if you want to sell your [...]

By: composter

composter — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 13:54:05 +0000

How do you keep animals from scrounging through a garbage garden?

By: Compost Guy

Compost Guy — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 14:42:02 +0000

Daisy,
I prefer not to use TOO much shredded office paper simply because it can contain bleach and other chemicals that can harm the worms. I actually did add a fair amount to one of my vermicomposting trenches this year though.
If you do use it, I’d suggest mixing with other materials such as newsprint and shredded cardboard.

Anne – please check out http://www.WormComposting.ca – I think I may be able to help you out there!

By: Anne

Anne — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 14:20:48 +0000

I am looking for local sources (Region of Waterloo) of red wigglers. Any suggestions? How much do they cost?

By: Daisy

Daisy — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 22:34:09 +0000

I haven’t gone through all your archives yet, but I was wondering if you ever put shredded office paper in for your worms?

By: Compost Guy

Compost Guy — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 17:04:18 +0000

Good questions
The worms are definitely not sacrificial – if bedded down enough they should be totally fine during the winter. This particular bed should actually be quite warm during the winter since it will have a constant supply of food scraps being added to it.

My other smaller systems will likely get a thick layer of fall leaves over them and be left to sit. It’s not likely that the contents of a trench would entirely freeze solid. I had red worms overwinter successfully in one of my regular backyard composters last year without any help from me (and it gets pretty cold here). Worse case scenario, the material will be loaded with cocoons, and there will be a new population in the spring once it warms up a bit.

Fungus gnats and fruit flies are incredibly annoying, and I still battle them all the time. Simply fruit fly traps consisting of a narrow neck bottle with apple cider vinegar (and a drop of soap) work surprisingly well, as does a vacuum cleaner. Strangely enough, I seem to be trapping adult fungus gnats in my cider traps as well.

I tried out a biological control organism (predatory nematode) for fungus gnats and it worked quite well – but it costs a fair bit and I’m not convinced that it will continue to work over time.

By: Ruthlessneverruthie

Ruthlessneverruthie — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 16:37:18 +0000

Do you have a plan for over-wintering the worms in the trenches? Are they sacrificial, or do you plan to dig them out and keep them in bins until the next thaw?

I need a VermiConsultant to come tell me what to do next with my own two bins. They started out in my basement, but are now housed in my garage due to my loss of patience with the fungus gnats. I’ve started finding a few housefly maggots in them as well, unfortunately, so I’m wondering what I can do with them when the weather starts turning colder.

My entire reason for starting vermicomposting was so that I could compost my kitchen waste during the winter, when my outdoor heap is inaccessible (snowed under, too cold to take the scraps out, etc). So I would love to have them be indoor bins again; I just don’t know if I can rid the bins of the worms’ little juvenile-delinquent buddies, the gnats and flies, in time. Any advice?