Vermicomposting

[BabyTara]

Anyone here do vermicomposting? I started a couple weeks ago and am learning fast!

[Bettypooh]

I always wanted to get started with composting- it's natures best freebie I'm too lazy and too forgetful to keep up with things though

[willnotwill]

I spent some time talking to a larger scale composter at an olive oil farm in California.

[kevindhca]

Be sure to monitor the moisture level frequently.

The medium should have enough moisture that it forms a ball when squeezed, no liquid should drip out.

You could just dig up some worms, all kinds will do the work.

If it's outside, create the right conditions and the worms will move in.

Materials should be approximately half green (kitchen scraps), and half brown (dried dead plants).

No need to be precise, close enough is good here.

I compost on a much bigger scale, many tonnes at a time.

We all need to make topsoil. In the most productive setting, undisturbed old forest, top soil is created at the rate of 1 cm per 500 yrs.

Dried out it can be lost in one wind.

[willnotwill]

I have my own misfortunes with the worms.

[Creepymouse]

Who knows how alive they were in the first place. Was the soil too moist, or too dry? If they're raised beds, sometimes it's essentially potting soil which worms don't particularly like, tends to be too 'prickly'. Probably would have been a good idea to put them under some moistened organic materials, but they're just worms, they're easily replaced. I'll rescue them now and again if I see 'em squirming onto a sidewalk or something, but I'm not too worried about it.

[kevindhca]

I don't know if I agree completely, but I understand the sentiment. Some of the most current ideas in gardening indicate that turning the soil regularly, as farmers do, actually destroys beneficial networks of microorganisms that keep the soil healthy and plants happy. Think of that same forest you mentioned: how often does that soil get turned? Perhaps if an animal burrows or a tree gets uprooted, but that's about it.

My old backyard had the worst clay soil I'd ever seen, full of ancient rusty nails and hard as rock even after being soaked deeply. I manually broke up the clods for days (it was only about 2x2 meters) and added compost, newspaper, grass clippings, leaves, vegetable trimmings, whatever I could find. We can't even leave our windows open at night because their retarded sprinklers spray IN THE WINDOW. >

It's the amount of organic material the the forest produces that dictates how much topsoil is created. Turning the soil creates topsoil faster, especially in poor compacted soils, but it also disturbs the soil dwelling organisms that create topsoil.

More organic matter is turned into topsoil for plant use depleting future topsoil, therefore much more organic material must be added to the area just to maintain balance.

In a natural highly organic soil, the soil is being turned all the time by the organisms that live in it. More life in the soil equals more tillage, a little bit at a time. A lot of life in the soil will turn many tonnes a day.

Here, hard clay soil is everywhere, but digging it is not necessary if you have time. Cover the dirt with a thick layer of corse organic material like wood chips at least 6 inches thick, walk away and wait. Two years later, turning the soil will be easy, keep applying organic material and eventually you will have excellent soil.

A stick with a piece of screen on it between the sprinkler and the window will fix that problem.

[BabyTara]

Silly people I'm staying with throw away perfectly good worm food. I got a half a banana and the peel, and 3 teabags out of the trash today. Half a loaf of stale bread the other day.