Red wigglers
I wanted to start up some indoor composting again. Outdoor ended up not working well for me, because we don't have space for a big enough pile to create internal heat. The Geobin pile was sloooooooooooow, and took 3 years to make about 6 cubic feet of compost. I'm sure the fruit trees liked it, since it was positioned over their roots, but I finally decided that it wasn't worth the space, and indoor composting had definitely been producing faster than that!
I'm revamping the diet a bit, and Torin's taken an interest in making/drinking vegetable juice, so lately we're ending up with a lot of wasted veggie bits that don't go well in a bone broth. But... $20 for worms and shipping... yuck.
Nextdoor to the rescue!
I asked on Nextdoor if anyone had some composting red wiggler worms they'd like to share, and got 3 responses right away! I am lucky to have such generous neighbors... one guy even offered to bring over a few buckets of them. The first offer was from a lovely lady who lives only a few streets away... and she gave me this half gallon of concentrated wormy goodies.
This is a HUGE and perfect amount to get me started with my indoor bin, since they eat half their weight per day. And these wee wigglers are far larger than my composting worms ever grew, they are so healthy and happy.
I even learned something new.
I had always heard that the compost worms couldn't survive outside during winter, due to the cold, so I had always kept them inside. Nope! Everyone I talked to from Nextdoor kept their bins outside without any problems (aside from a fruit fly outbreak once every other summer). They do say it slows down a tiny bit in winter, but we're in the midst of the chill right now, and these worms were crazy active in their outdoor bins. People also just drill holes in the bins and let the extra moisture seep into the ground. This gives me a few more worm bin construction/placement options to consider, though we will start small and in the kitchen.
We get to set up a worm bin today! Torin is pretty excited about getting to tear up newspaper.
I do have some ulterior motives.
The turtle and dwarf gourami are going to be pretty excited too, when they learn that this will provide live treats for them long-term.
I wanted to start up some indoor composting again. Outdoor ended up not working well for me, because we don't have space for a big enough pile to create internal heat. The Geobin pile was sloooooooooooow, and took 3 years to make about 6 cubic feet of compost. I'm sure the fruit trees liked it, since it was positioned over their roots, but I finally decided that it wasn't worth the space, and indoor composting had definitely been producing faster than that!
I'm revamping the diet a bit, and Torin's taken an interest in making/drinking vegetable juice, so lately we're ending up with a lot of wasted veggie bits that don't go well in a bone broth. But... $20 for worms and shipping... yuck.
Nextdoor to the rescue!
I asked on Nextdoor if anyone had some composting red wiggler worms they'd like to share, and got 3 responses right away! I am lucky to have such generous neighbors... one guy even offered to bring over a few buckets of them. The first offer was from a lovely lady who lives only a few streets away... and she gave me this half gallon of concentrated wormy goodies.
 |
| 99% of the worms in there are hiding from the light. |
This is a HUGE and perfect amount to get me started with my indoor bin, since they eat half their weight per day. And these wee wigglers are far larger than my composting worms ever grew, they are so healthy and happy.
I even learned something new.
I had always heard that the compost worms couldn't survive outside during winter, due to the cold, so I had always kept them inside. Nope! Everyone I talked to from Nextdoor kept their bins outside without any problems (aside from a fruit fly outbreak once every other summer). They do say it slows down a tiny bit in winter, but we're in the midst of the chill right now, and these worms were crazy active in their outdoor bins. People also just drill holes in the bins and let the extra moisture seep into the ground. This gives me a few more worm bin construction/placement options to consider, though we will start small and in the kitchen.
We get to set up a worm bin today! Torin is pretty excited about getting to tear up newspaper.
I do have some ulterior motives.
The turtle and dwarf gourami are going to be pretty excited too, when they learn that this will provide live treats for them long-term.
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