Kitchen Composter
After you have started a Kitchen Composter program it will take a bit of work and a few months turning the pile every now and then to aerate it. The pile should also be kept moist, think of a damp sponge.
You will know the right time to harvest the compost when you no longer recognize the original materials that you used to make the pile. The finished compost should look more humus-like, it is dark, loose, and smells earthy.
When you harvest the compost from your pile, it would be best to spread it out and expose it to the air. This will further dry the compost and will make
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Need advice from experienced worm composter – I'm overrun with pillbugs?
I have been successfuy doing vermiculture for 5 years. Suddenly I have a zillion pillbugs in the bedding. I use a several layered, ventilated plastic composting bin. I know they came in with the small amount of dirt I add for grit when I re-did the bedding – but how do I get rid of them?? I've tried hand picking, but they multiply faster than I can pick. I don't want to use poisons.
what if your finished compost is infested with sow or pill bugs and you want to use it where seedlings are growing? Do you have to start all over again? No. Spread the compost in a thin layer on a tarp in direct sunlight and leave it there to dry. The bugs will bail out quickly.
http://www.organicgardening.com/feature/0,7518,s1-3-79-361,00.html
corn cobs attract sowbugs..spider that eats them exclusively:
http://www.ghorganics.com/page9.html#Sow%20or%20Pill%20bugs:
While sowbugs will nibble on young seedlings and roots, they prefer decayed matter, moist wood, moist decaying vegetation, fallen fruit, manure, carrion, other sowbugs and their own feces. Their coprophagous habits are due in part for a need to extract extra nutrients from their food and to recapture copper, a much-needed metal that is used to carry oxygen in their blood. For the most part sowbugs are beneficials that break down organic matter much like earthworms. These harmless scavengers do not bite, sting, transmit disease nor do they bother clothing or food.
http://www.northcoastjournal.com/041201/garden0412.html
so copper might be an attractant too.
it also says:
they can come in several different colors like tan, pale orange, light gray and even purple or lavender. That is due to molting, but they soon turn dark as their new shell hardens.
While molting is vital in the growing process of all crustaceans, with sowbugs it…
that last part means two things..Neem might work and it might not. I say it might because since sowbugs moult they are candidates to be victims of neem. but since they are crustaceans instead of insects i wonder if it removes them from being candidates of neem.
they are the ONLY land crustacean. and they have gills. <this is a big reason they are doing so well in ur worm bed, because it is moist.
neem is a poison, which you did not want, BUT neem might be an exception because worms happen to love it. they are said to actually proliferate more profusely with it than with regular food<<that doesn't sound possible (i have a worm colony too!) but:
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=neem+earthworms&ei=utf-8&fr=b1ie7
^^that's lots of links and we did see one hit that says it might be bad. this page kind of says what we heard about the good stuff:
http://www.wormdigest.org/index.php?option=com_joomlaboard&id=2163&catid=4&func=sb_pdf
a little off topic, but>>the use of it as a fertilizer is kind of alarming because it is said to impart good protection on the plants, suggesting they take some of it up. but it causes temporary infertility in test animals (temporary until they stop eating it). <<that is alarming if it is being incorporated into food crops. It is generally thought harmless on food crops because it breaks down in 50 – 100 hours if exposed to light, water or air. I wonder if it's properties are preserved in castings created by worms fed on it.
back on topic..
if u look into, keep in mind that what u want is the neem extract, raw leaves or cake, not the oil or soap. the oil and soap have been made in such a way that they do not have the chemical that disrupts the molting process.
so other than all of that, the only other idea we have is doing a deep dive. i mean the pillbugs are said to dig a few inches into the soil but worms can probably go much deeper. so if u made only the bottom of the bin hospitable u may be able to starve out or skim off the top dwellers?
here is a page that has a few worm forums on it. so u can ask around maybe:
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=vermiculture+forum&ei=utf-8&fr=b1ie7
where can i get a food composter that does not require a garden to dispose of the compost?
other than an in-sink garbage disposal, I have no idea… but in my area people will buy compost.. use a regular composter, and about a week before the compost is done, put an ad in the paper..
What do you think about the Worm Factory?
I'm looking to start some sort of composting process in my backyard, but I live in the city and I'm afraid the smell from a compost bin like the one I grew up using would drive my neighbors nuts. I've been looking around online, and it looks like worm composting might be an option for me. Has anyone tried this? I live in Virginia, zone 7, and its pretty hot here in the summer, but I have a shady area that I could sit the trays in behind my shed. What happens in the winter? Just…byebye worms? And is there any smell at all? I really want this to work, because the trays are cheap and I need help with my gross soil! Thanks!
To "farm" worms they have to have a temp between 50-75 degrees, in other words you have to have them in your house.
You can buy worm castings which I did and I can't say enough about them, I found them for less than a dollar a pound and free shipping
I use a paper bag to collect kitchen waste for compost. Can I drop the bag in too? Do I need to shred the bag?
I don't own a paper shredder, so can I just tear it up in little pieces? If so, how little?
Thank you for not using grocery market plastic bags, but yes paper will decompose. The issue is that it's a longer process, but in your compost bin/pit you'll be turning, and wetting anyway, and breaking up the bags.
Paper is a vegetable product, totally natural in context with the Earth,,, the porblem is just the time frame fro it's returning to a more organic state.
Just my two "sense"
If the organic waste isn't horribly messy, can you just DUMP the bags and post them in a trash bin?
It there a pretty kitchen compost container made?
I want to have a container that is more discrete than a plastic bowl to hold veggie bits that I can feed to my chickens. Something that is shallow so I can empty easily. Any suggestions?
I use one of those cream rice steamers with a red lid. The clips are broken.
I peal directly into it so the water that drips from the spuds, carrots etc fall inside.
That way all I have to do is up end it and most stuff will slide out and all I have to do is wipe out remains, bring it back inside and rinse it out as I wash my hands
i recently started a worm bed to raise worms fro fishing,?
i live in a rural area and the ants are quite vicious and abundant, and have made theyre way into the worm bed.. will the ants be harmful to the worms or since they live together in nature anyway i shoudlnt worry?
na man, they will not be harmful to the worms but they might be a little harmful to your hands when you get the worms out. you might want to get some fireant killer and put on the top of your pile. it will not hurt the worms or contaminate your soil. just a little tip. what ever you have left over in the kitchen helps out the soil that your worms are in like apple cores, bannana peals, coffee grounds are good. just pretty much and fruit or vegitable that is left over, dump on there. man i hope that this helps you out a bit good luck good fishin be safe and remember to share the experience
Can anyone recommend a good pH meter to test my wormery compost?
The kit says I should test the pH of my worm composter every so often to make sure its OK, but I don't know which meter to buy.
The kit recommends testing the pH every so often, but I have no idea what constitutes a good pH meter.
Any ideas?
UK makes/ suppliers only please
go to a swimming pool supply store. They have all types of ph meters
Which is faster at making compost a tumbling composter or worm factory?
Compost tumblers are faster as you have more ability to accelerate the process with extra turning etc.
Worms however have the advantage of giving you liquid output, worm tea, that can be used as a soil tonic.
To get you tumbler going faster add ready made compost (bagged) or blood and bone fertiliser to it. Just a small amount.
You can get compost from a tumbler in as little as a month (in the warmer months) whereas a home worm farm kit can take up to six months to really become active and then may be months after that before it gives you compost (although you will get liquid from it)
Does a free range egg contain less cholesterol and fat than a factory farmed one?
I keep hens who roam pretty much freely. They're fed on layers mash and graze on the grass, insects, worms and the occasional treat of sweetcorn etc. Would the eggs they produce contain less cholesterol and fat than an egg which came from a hen who doesn't have the same treatment and spends most of it's life indoors without exercise (like in a factory farm)?
What the egg is like inside of it depends on what the hens are eating. So your question would depend on what they are feeding their birds compared to what you are feeding your birds. When you get an egg carton full of eggs that says free range on it that doesn’t mean those birds is treated like yours. All the free-range means is that they give those birds 2 square feet each. And if you think about it that isn’t much room so the bird isn’t getting to forage a yard at all. If you wish to purchase eggs from hens that are not caged then you have to purchase eggs that say uncaged chickens on the cartons.
It is actually proven that chickens that are permitted to live free like yours and mine do actually lower the cholesterol of a person. My mother just got back from the doctor and said that the doctor told her to eat 10 eggs a week from hens that are given organic food and are noncaged. She smiled happily at that doctor and said “That’s good because my daughter has a bunch of chickens.” So what you food you give your chicken determines the egg values it has. A healthy chicken lays healthy eggs. I have started to give my chickens Pride feed supplements (They are organic without hormones and antibiotics, its just a higher protein level) and have noticed an improvement in my hens laying cycles and the way that they look. They eggs are larger, harder shelled, darker yolk, and taste so much better.
So many people say to limit your eggs because the chickens that are kept in battery hen situations are feed special hormones and antibotics that can be dangerous to your body if you eat more than four or five eggs a week. If you are interested in what happens to battery hens just goggle it.
Good luck,
