Worms have dug their means into my coronary heart, and also you’re about to grasp why! Utilizing the ability of worm castings, you possibly can utterly rework your backyard naturally. Grasp the apply of vermicomposting with this information on the way to use worms and kitchen scraps to create the very best natural matter.
On the subject of pleasant bugs, why do bees, butterflies, and ladybugs get all of the love? Whereas I admire these helpful bugs as a lot as the subsequent individual, I’m right here to shout out my love for worms from the rooftop gardens all over the world.
Whether or not you consider worms as pals or hard-working workers, they’re a welcome addition to my backyard on daily basis. Even when I can’t see them.
An unknown apply to many, vermicomposting harnesses the superpowers of the worm to create a number of the most potent fertilizers round. With vermicomposting in your facet, you should have the fullest, greenest crops within the neighbourhood by far!
Right here’s what I’ll be masking immediately…
What’s Vermicomposting?
Vermicomposting is the flowery phrase for having worms as pets. Or, extra technically talking, deliberately utilizing worms to decompose kitchen scraps and carbon supplies like paper and straw.
This leads to worm castings. And sure, worm castings is a pleasant phrase for worm poop.
Why on earth would you need worm poop, you ask? Worm castings have a a lot finer texture than soil and are glorious relating to holding moisture. If you would like a balanced backyard fertilizer, they’re extremely nutritious, although the N-P-Okay values will fluctuate based mostly on the worm’s weight loss program.
Worm castings appear like very wealthy soil. You will note darkish brown, teeny tiny bits of fabric. Whenever you harvest them, you attempt to depart behind all of the worms and take their castings in gratitude.
Composting vs Worm Castings
You may add worm castings on to your soil or as an exquisite addition to your compost.
Much like composting, you want greens, browns, water, and air in an effort to make vermicompost. BUT, you want one other very important ingredient…worms!
As talked about earlier, vermicompost holds moisture. This is because of its excessive focus of humus, a carbon-based substance that not solely retains soil hydrated however spongy texture additionally helps to aerate the soil. Mixed with the excessive ranges of vitamins, vermicompost tends to be extra precious than compost within the backyard.
You will note that mirrored on the retailer too. You should buy worm castings wherever that additionally promote compost. Vermicompost could have a better price ticket than compost, which is why making your personal vermicompost bin is so precious!
Since you’ve residing creatures in your vermicompost, you have to maintain your bin cool. Compost however values warmth to decompose materials and this helps to kill pathogens, weed seeds, and different points. Because of this vermicompost should have some pathogens and different tiny bugs inside.
Nonetheless, the additional vitamins and advantages of vermicomposting are effectively price it. The method is totally protected for you and your plant infants.
Kinds of Worms
Not all worms are born equal. When it rains, you possibly can’t merely go exterior and acquire worms off the sidewalk to place in your vermicomposting bin.
For vermicomposting, you don’t use the earthworms you’ll discover out and about in your backyard. As an alternative, you need hungry worms who will fortunately eat away your kitchen scraps.
Purple Wigglers (Eisenia fetida) are the most typical worm used for vermicomposting. They don’t like soil, as an alternative opting to outlive in decomposing leaves, manure, and different decomposing supplies. This is the reason they thrive in a vermicomposting bin!
One other in style choice is crimson worms (Lumbricus rubellus). They like related circumstances, though you’ll discover them additional down within the bin, and so they could reproduce a tad slower than crimson wigglers. However they’ll fortunately eat away and create some worm castings in your profit.
Taking Care of Your Worms
Create a House
To make a house appropriate for a worm king, you have to fulfill their 4 wants:
You’ll additionally want a bin itself. See beneath for a straightforward DIY model. For those who present all these supplies, your worms will shortly get right down to enterprise and begin digesting the meals and bedding. Each month, their inhabitants ought to double, and they’re going to slowly construct up the house.
Don’t fear about increasing your worm bin. Most of the time, you don’t have to fret about taking worms out or including extra. They’re self-regulating creatures. As soon as the meals or house runs low, the worms will cease multiplying and management their very own inhabitants. It’s a worm-eat-worm world on the market.
Feeding Your Worms
Consider worms as gluten-free, uncooked vegans. They’ve a really specific weight loss program! Worms like to eat any uncooked vegetable scraps, eggshells, espresso grinds, flowers, and inexperienced leaves from the backyard.
By way of kitchen scraps, there are particular issues you’ll want to exclude out of your vermicomposting bin.
Keep away from…
Like us, they want a balanced weight loss program to remain wholesome. Ensure that not more than 20% of the meals is made up of 1 materials. A mixture is nice!
Worms on Trip
Worms could sound like excessive upkeep, however they’ll do exactly positive on their very own. They’ll simply final a month on their very own with none new meals being added to their bin. Feed them earlier than you allow and whenever you get house, and they’re going to fortunately do their very own factor when you’re away.
Troubleshooting
Rotate The place You Place Meals Scraps
Some issues could go awry along with your bin. To verify your bin is a hospitable place for the worms to dwell, alternate the place you place your meals scraps within the bin.
Every week, designate a brand new nook for the scraps. After a month, the worms could have eaten and digested the primary nook of the scraps.
Foul Odour
An odour can also be doable and signifies one thing has gone mistaken. Take a look at your 4 corners and see if you may get to the basis of the issue. For example, a number of acidic supplies can change the pH, and the worms migrate away to the alternative facet of the bin the place life is nice.
Clear out the supplies that appear to be inflicting the issue and change any bedding as essential. The bin ought to be spick and span once more very quickly.
Fruit Flies
If fruit flies can’t get sufficient of the vermicomposting bin, make certain the bedding stays on high of the meals. You may additionally wish to keep away from any fruit or sweet-smelling scraps that entice fruit flies.
And if all else fails, you can also make a fruit fly entice and nestle it on high of the bedding to try to seize the pests.
DIY Vermicomposting Bin
Over time, I’ve used many various vermicomposting bins. Nonetheless, my favorite comes from Pau Farré, who teaches workshops on vermicomposting at Metropolis Farmer right here in Vancouver, BC. This venture and 80 extra might be present in my Backyard Alchemy E book.
This design works completely for my city backyard, staying small however offering loads of worm castings.
However I even have a worm resort model all through my backyard that I’ve shared in my ebook, The Regenerative Backyard. It helps of us work with nature moderately than in opposition to it by exhibiting the steps to make over 80 permaculture tasks I take advantage of in my backyard.
Supplies
Make It!
Utilizing your energy drill (or hammer and nails), make drainage holes on the backside of your two nesting bins. Make air holes on the perimeters of the bin. The air holes ought to be spaced across the perimeter of the bin, above the place the 2 bins overlap.
Fill one of many tall bins 1/3 full with the combination of dry bedding supplies. Moist down the bedding till it reaches the consistency of a wrung-out sponge.
Add your worms to 1 nook of the bin. On high of the worms and bedding, add 4 cups of roughly chopped kitchen scraps. Cowl the kitchen scraps with one other layer of dry supplies, leaving them dry this time.
Place 4 of the picket risers within the shallow bin to permit room for the leachate to empty. Set down the center bin on high of the risers, then add 4 extra risers within the bin. Place your worm bin on high and safe it with a lid.
Maintain the vermicomposting bin exterior in a cool, shady spot in the summertime and a heat, lined spot within the winter. The temperature ought to be between 5-30°C. For those who dwell in an space with a chilly winter, transfer the worms to a storage or place a blanket excessive of the bin if it doesn’t get too chilly.
Harvesting Worm Castings
My DIY vermicomposting bin makes harvesting worm casting bins simple, amassing in a single simple bin. When you’re prepared for worm castings, cease feeding the worms for just a few weeks till you discover that every one the kitchen scraps have been digested.
Take away the dry high layer of bedding and transfer the worms to the center bin. You wish to arrange the empty center bin with new bedding and kitchen scraps, simply as you initially arrange the bin. This time, pass over the worms.
Put your new bin on high of the one which accommodates all of the worms and castings. The worms will now migrate up by the holes to get to the bin with the meals. This leaves you with a pleasant, clear provide of castings to make use of within the backyard. You may harvest worm castings each 3-4 months in your backyard.
Methods to Use Worm Castings
Vermicompost is nice for any and all crops, together with potted crops resembling houseplants and succulents. To make use of worm castings, you possibly can sprinkle them over high of the soil and let the vitamins work their means down.
Alternatively, you possibly can combine the vermicompost with the common topsoil when planting potted crops inside or within the soil exterior. It particularly helps to present clay or sandy soil extra natural materials. Additionally they work extraordinarily effectively in making a seed beginning combine.
The one time you wouldn’t wish to use worm castings is when you have already got soil wealthy in natural materials. In spite of everything, an excessive amount of of a very good factor can flip unhealthy.
Identical to including an excessive amount of fertilizer to a plant, you possibly can overdo it with vitamins. Use worm castings sparingly, treating it as potent fertilizer.
FAQ About Worm Castings
You may add worm castings each time they’re prepared. Worm castings typically take about 3-4 months to be prepared for harvest.
I like so as to add it particularly within the spring and summer season through the rising season because it acts as a potent fertilizer. You may depart the worm castings for longer within the fall and winter, ready so as to add them to your seed-starting soil combine.
The N-P-Okay values will fluctuate based mostly on what the worm is consuming. Total, the castings are extremely nutritious and well-balanced if you’re feeding a very good combination of kitchen scraps.
Deal with your worm castings as a potent fertilizer. So sure, an excessive amount of of a very good factor is completely doable. In case your soil is already excessive in natural materials, you don’t want worm castings. Total, you could possibly add it as incessantly as you may fertilizer, and your crops can be utterly positive.
Worms like temperatures between 5-30°C (41-86°C F). For these with delicate winters, maintain them in a lined place within the winter. For these with harsher winters, you wish to transfer your worm bin to a storage or place a blanket over the bin.
I’ve misplaced worms earlier than within the winter. I don’t beat myself up over it, as an alternative beginning recent within the spring with some new worms, bedding, and kitchen scraps.
And that’s it on all issues worm poop! You should definitely maintain a watch out for extra data and tasks from my permaculture and backyard books, Backyard Alchemy and The Regenerative Backyard. I’ve solely simply scratched the floor of permaculture with vermicomposting! Let me know within the feedback down beneath if you will add worms to your composting routine.
DIY Vermicompost Bin
Give your backyard a serious enhance with worm castings! This is the way to construct a vermicompost bin that is small however has loads of energy.
- 2 Nesting plastic bins (one with a lid)
- 1 Shallower bin in the identical width
- 8 2-3’ sq. wooden blocks for risers
- Dry supplies shredded newspaper, straw, dried leaves
- ½ pound Purple wigglers roughly 500 worms
- kitchen scraps
With an influence drill (or hammer and nails) drill drainage holes on the backside of the 2 nesting bins. Additionally use the drill to make air holes on the perimeters of the bins across the perimeter the place the bins overlap.
Fill one of many tall bins a 3rd full with a mixture of the dry bedding. Moist it down so it seems like a wrung-out spunge.
Add the worms to the bin within the nook. Then high with 4 cups of kitchen scraps which can be roughly chopped.
Add a layer of dry bedding, leaving dry this time.
Add 4 picket risers within the shallow bin. This may permit room for the leachate to empty. Then, set down the center bin on high of the risers. Subsequent, add 4 extra risers to the bin. Lastly, place your worm bin on high and add the lid.
