Head to head worm food trial: bokashi bran vs. dried MJ leaves

[Stinkymutt]

Nice test

Nice test

Hey Mad , This is a lil off your subject here but I have a question for you and mabey another "wormer" . I like what you have going on and want to get one started in spring . My question is that I work all summer to get it going then what do I do for winter months. It seems like a waste for me to just dump all that progress out and start over in spring. Is there a way of overwintering the whole thing other than a heated building? Im sure I could search the web for my answer but heck its fun to ask here.
peace
mutt

 

[mad librettist]

well, it's winter here! look at my bin!

are we talking outdoors? If you can just keep it above freezing, it will survive. If you save up your bokashi, you might be able to heat it with decomp.

Mine is in a partial basement with an exterior door that is very poorly fitted to the house. It's breezy down there some nights. water can freeze by the door.

 

[Stinkymutt]

I could insulate a box under mobile home . I assume under the home would be about the same as a dug out cellar . It gets full on winter cold here , pipes have never frozen so I know it stays above freezing during winter. I guess the worst that could happen is failure ? Your bin looks great too by the way , I see castings and bait for fishing in there lol
Thanks for the input on this I am going to do some more reading , there is plenty of it just by googleing "worm farming" hehe
thanks
mutt

 

[DeVenT]

Hey M.L. thanks for that site....lots of kewl stuff there. Just found alot more projects

Another question...hopefully not a dumb one but....what is bokaski...I've heard it mentioned before but no clue as to what it is....store bought meal? Pre composted plant material? No clue...

 

[xmobotx]

it seems like that sock makes for a pretty good worm farm

i would say that, by design, it's a very efficient way to separate the worms from the castings you intend to harvest -if they stay out of the depths of the bag?

if they don't stay out of the depths of the bag then i guess it just works more efficiently

one thing is for sure, your worm #s definitely show it's working just fine

 

[mad librettist]

The worms tend to leave the bottom portion after a while, because there is no food left. But when I have just harvested and topped up with food, there is food down there and thus there are worms. A pretty good sign you can harvest is you grab some out the bottom and there are no worms.

DeVent, I started a bokashi thread. Come on over.

Stinkymutt, If you play your cards right you can keep a bin cooking all winter. As long as you keep the compost burning the worms will be warm and active, and it will go so fast you will use up your kitchen scraps. You could use uncured manure I bet, but I've never tried.