There are worms in my dirt!

[ChanellG]

Happyflowerlady, something like that would be good for composting grass clippings and "weeds" that have not gone to flower as well as the browns - cardboard, dried leaves, etc., if you had a lot of material regularly. Most of us city dwellers would need something closed in since we're primarily composting food scraps.

 

[Peinem]

That is great news, vermicompost (worm castings) is by far one of the best organic fertilizers. Do you know what kind of worms try are? Best worms for vermicomposting is red worms, tiger worms, brandlings, angle worms, manure worms, and red wigglers which are the most popular I believe.

 

[ChanellG]

I think it's one of the reds. I didn't buy any, I just set the containers out and drilled holes in the bottom so the worms could enter. I had been planning on setting up an indoor bin, but after having success with the outdoor one I just set an additional one outside. I've stopped putting stuff in one bin so I can start using the compost soon.

 

[Shellyann36]

Oh congrats to you! Worms are such adorable little creatures! If you are interested in having more worms to add to your compost pile you can leave cardboard boxes on the ground and wet them. In a few days you will have lots of worms under the cardboard and you can then put the worms into your compost pile. The card board boxes can be shredded and used in the compost pile as well.

 

[ChanellG]

Oh congrats to you! Worms are such adorable little creatures! If you are interested in having more worms to add to your compost pile you can leave cardboard boxes on the ground and wet them.

Thanks, Shellyann, but I'm set. When I first discovered the worms there were a few smallish ones near the bottom of the container and now there is a whole colony of long worms that would make a hobby fisherman very excited. Not only have they grown, they appear to have multiplied and I have two bins.

 

[Shellyann36]

Thanks, Shellyann, but I'm set. When I first discovered the worms there were a few smallish ones near the bottom of the container and now there is a whole colony of long worms that would make a hobby fisherman very excited. Not only have they grown, they appear to have multiplied and I have two bins.

That is just awesome!

 

[Jewell]

OMG! I don't think you want to start that, lol. Might end up with too much in there! I did see this woman on TV though that uses a jar instead of the toilet and then she pours it on a compost pile that's way in the back of her yard. I just wonder at how someone's health would affect the soil - I mean how many people drink as much water as they should, etc.?

How can you be sure there is enough heat to kill anything that should be killed -- after all "wee" is a human waste product.

Congrats on the worms. I compost lots of green waste. They can sure demolish a pile in short time. Am getting my bokashi composted started so that I can compost even more that is worm friendly.

By the way urine is sterile. I've never used it for fertilizer, but find it interesting. Here is a great link explaining the composition, methods, etc.

http://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazin...hives/2013/Getting Dirty for Good Health.aspx

Give me a few more years, to get a little more crazy and I might try it It actually sounds much more reasonable to use than buying chemicals for adding nitrogen to the compost pile. Oops I must be getting crazier by the moment

Composting toilets are used in a large part of the world. New to me too, but for a cabin off the grid....

 

[ChanellG]

By the way urine is sterile. I've never used it for fertilizer, but find it interesting. Here is a great link explaining the composition, methods, etc.

http://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazines/National-Wildlife/Outdoors/Archives/2013/Getting Dirty for Good Health.aspx

Give me a few more years, to get a little more crazy and I might try it It actually sounds much more reasonable to use than buying chemicals for adding nitrogen to the compost pile.

I don't know about urine being sterile, since it is the body's waste product and can contain yeast (the bad kind) and other remnants of illness, not to mention narcotics, but I think I can live without it being in my compost. There are too many other ways of getting nitrogen in the pile, and since you compost a lot of "green" it sounds like what you need is more "brown" anyway.

BTW, nothing about urine in that link you shared.

 

[ACSAPA]

That's awesome. I love earthworms. They are fascinating and helpful little creatures. Congratulations on your worms.

 

[Jewell]

I don't know about urine being sterile, since it is the body's waste product and can contain yeast (the bad kind) and other remnants of illness, not to mention narcotics, but I think I can live without it being in my compost. There are too many other ways of getting nitrogen in the pile, and since you compost a lot of "green" it sounds like what you need is more "brown" anyway.

BTW, nothing about urine in that link you shared.

Sorry Chanrell, I had just been reading this article and a couple of others along its line. http://www.nwedible.com/2013/03/how-to-use-pee-in-your-garden.html I really need to quit "bird walking" so much and realize when I jump from string to string and forum to forum.

I know Chanell, the idea of urine was quite thought provoking. Nothing that i have tried, but it keeps coming up in a variety of written scientific and gardening articles I have been reading lately with worms, soil health, macrobiotics and composting. It is true that urine from a healthy individual is sterile. Preferable from a male, since female urine is easily contaminated because of anatomy.

 

[ChanellG]

I know Chanell, the idea of urine was quite thought provoking. Nothing that i have tried, but it keeps coming up in a variety of written scientific and gardening articles I have been reading lately with worms, soil health, macrobiotics and composting. It is true that urine from a healthy individual is sterile. Preferable from a male, since female urine is easily contaminated because of anatomy.

Well, seeing as how I am a female... LOL.

I dye fabric and urea is a chemical component of that process; it's actually used in some beauty products, but I wear gloves when dyeing fabric and you won't see me putting pee products on my skin, no matter how sterile! Some people drink it and it's also useful in fermentation, which is probably how people started using it on their compost, but it's just not for me. The worms get the job done just fine ;-)

 

[Lacey]

Worms are actually good for a compost pile, they help break it down to make soil. I have a friend who makes his own soil out of compost and has specific worms that he actually puts in his compost bins so they will break it down. Very interesting to see and witness the worms working like this.

 

[ChanellG]

Worms are actually good for a compost pile, they help break it down to make soil. I have a friend who makes his own soil out of compost and has specific worms that he actually puts in his compost bins so they will break it down. Very interesting to see and witness the worms working like this.

It's amazing how much faster the process goes once the worms make their way into a bin and start to multiply. You can have composted scraps in a matter of weeks as opposed to months. I worry sometimes about the weather and how the temperature might affect them, but it doesn't seem to impact them much. I guess they burrow deeper into the ground to combat that.

 

[RedNeckCowBoy007]

Hopefully moving our compost pile closer to the corn/bean field will help get more worms into it. I might buy a tub of nightcrawlers and throw into it for good measure though.

And I've found that urine can be an excellent fertilizer. I found out by starting to put just a wee bit (no pun intended) around the garden hoping the smell would help keep bunnies and such away. After the first couple times, we noticed that the grass around the edge of the garden was a lot greener and lusher than the rest of the lawn, and that the plants at the edge of the garden looked better than any of the other plants... I was sold. It's free and easy to obtain, and helps my plants grow better. I did find that it's possible to put too much on potted plants, but otherwise, it's excellent.

 

[Pat]

A little off subject, it is still very cold outside in the mornings here, but it did get up to 45 degrees today with the forecast to be that warm for a few days. Our front yard is full of red breasted robins looking for worms, I don't understand first why the birds are still here and second is the ground to hard for them to get to the worms? I am sure the birds are hungry. It is a little strange that the birds stayed over the winter when it has been so cold.