Living organic soil from start through recycling

[Gascanastan]

 

[ClackamasCootz]

I've got a sort of outdoor "shack"... It's open in the front and back, and it has a slanted roof. It's about 10 ft wide, 8 ft deep, and roughly 7 ft in height. I'm considering piling up as much manure (with a few amendments) as I can bring myself to shovel and making large worm "pile". It's my understanding that the larger your bin/pile is, the more stable and foolproof it tends to be. How does this sound?

Helio

I would agree with your statement. I've run the retail products made from plastics and I was not successful at all. That should attributed to user error because thousands and maybe even millions around the world use these and are successful. Larger for me meant less work - way less work.

On your shed you'll need to head back over to the RWC web site and dig through the archives. The depth is the issue in your situation and I don't remember all of the specifics but depth has to be considered and especially 7 ft. - I'm guessing it should be no more than 30" but that's just a guess.

Look into the 'windrow method' which will give you some alternatives to consider. The 'trench method' is another one to look at. Depends on how much, if any, real estate you can set aside for this project.

HTH

CC

 

[rrog]

Coot, thank you for that generous explanation of the smart pot bin idea. That sounds perfect.

Is there a trick to separating the worms from the castings?

 

[jcmjrt]

Thrips are extremely tiny. If they are slightly larger...like one could sit on your thumbnail and its length would stretch across half the width of your nail, they could be Rove beetles which are also good. Rove beetles arch their tail end up like a scorpion.

It seems more likely that they are Rove beetles. They would sit nicely across a thumbnail, are brown in color, move quickly on and through the soil and occasionally they flex their tail up. I'll certainly keep an eye on it but the worm bin seems to be flourishing.

 

[ClackamasCootz]

Is there a trick to separating the worms from the castings?

rrog

LOL - not really...all of them suck so it's basically a matter of choosing which one works best for your situation and that kinda means what volume of castings you'll be working with? i.e. How big of a worm bin (operation) are you considering?

CC

 

[Seandawg]

rrog

LOL - not really...all of them suck so it's basically a matter of choosing which one works best for your situation and that kinda means what volume of castings you'll be working with? i.e. How big of a worm bin (operation) are you considering?

CC

That's the most accurate and honest answer you're ever gonna get about separating castings lol

 

[OrganicLearner]

Horizontal flow through maybe? You would have to find a genius way to do this in the smart pot though. When you fill the smartpot or compost sak up it will make a circular shape even if the bottom is squared..

 

[ClackamasCootz]

Vertical and horizontal flow-thru are the easiest method to produce EWC with minimum harvesting involved.

The horizontal boxes are easier to monitor the progress than the vertical systems, obviously.

Here's an example and this one holds about 1 c.y. of food/bedding:

 

[OrganicLearner]

Cc

Such a clean design, do you know what kind of wood they used? I was wondering what the safest type of wood to use for a bin would be(non treated and doesn't leach any chemicals and whatnot), this was before I got ahold of the smartpot bin idea, but it doesn't hurt to know I guess..

Also I recently purchased a compost sak and when I took it out the package it smelled like old tires; should I toss this sucka in the washer with dr. Bronners or something?

 

[ClackamasCootz]

OL

Untreated plywood. There are some who do paint and it's the internal walls that you need to consider as far as the type of paint that you want to consider.

Check out RedWormComposting.com and dig through the archives. I 'believe' that it's an epoxy that you want to use but please verify that. I'm running on memory so take that for what it's worth.

Nothing - LOL

I take dirty SmartPots to a laundromat and use the Big Bertha machine. I toss in about 1/2 cup of Oxyclean and run the cycle on Cold Water. The spin-cycle will dry them out perfectly. SInce they're made from plastics you want to avoid heat of any kind and if you do that then they will last for years and years.

CC

 

[Heliopolis]

Helio

I would agree with your statement. I've run the retail products made from plastics and I was not successful at all. That should attributed to user error because thousands and maybe even millions around the world use these and are successful. Larger for me meant less work - way less work.

On your shed you'll need to head back over to the RWC web site and dig through the archives. The depth is the issue in your situation and I don't remember all of the specifics but depth has to be considered and especially 7 ft. - I'm guessing it should be no more than 30" but that's just a guess.

Look into the 'windrow method' which will give you some alternatives to consider. The 'trench method' is another one to look at. Depends on how much, if any, real estate you can set aside for this project.

HTH

CC

I've been looking through the RWC stuff, but I'm having a difficult time coming up with any specifics regarding depth. I have read that worms generally prefer more surface area over more depth. I've also read that Nightcrawlers tend to be more accepting of greater depths.

Perhaps I could simply create a manure layer of suitable depth and allow them to go at it. Once it appears "ready", I could add another layer on top for them to move up into. I would continue this until I have as large a pile of compost as I desire, and then I would remove the worms, store the compost, and start again with a new layer of manure. This sounds plausible to me... Then again, most things do that you have very little experience with.

The windrows-style methods look very cool. If I can find myself a place suitable for that, I might give it a shot.

 

[OrganicLearner]

CC

Thanks I will try to get ahold of some oxiclean, as I was searching what kind of paint is best to use inside a worm bin I came across some a purist saying this:

"I want to avoid plastic, because of things like BPA & pthalates - hormone mimics that are present in the majority of plastics sold today (even if the plastic says it's BPA free, we now know that producers are replacing BPA with chemicals that have not been tested on humans yet anyways). My reasoning is that worms will act as a bio-accumulator and end up producing castings rich in nasty chemicals present in plastics. I'm using these castings for vegetable gardens and I don't want to ingest these things, I probably have more than enough in my body already from daily living."

Knowing that the smart pot type pots are made from post consumer plastics do you think they would have traces of these chemicals? I know the fabric is supposed to be inert but would they leach chemicals into the castings?

 

[Durdy]

Hey CC i noticed you've given two different lists of instructions for enzyme teas in this thread. They don't differ by much, but I'm wondering if theres a reason behind using one versus the other.

Here they are

Joe

Take 2 tablespoons of seeds in a large glass jar (not plastic) and cover with clear, clean water (dechlorinated) for 12 hours. Drain and let the seeds germinate (sprout), cover with 1/2 gallon of water and let that stand for about 48 hours.

Strain and use 1 cup of the sprouted seed tea with 15 cups of water (= 1 gallon). Water your plants with this solution.

HTH

CC

BlueJayWay

Try this:

1/4 cup Barley seeds (not pearled barley from Safeway)

Sprout like you would any seed like Alfalfa, Mung beans, etc.

Once they're sprouted (about 2 days) add to 1 gallon of water and let that sit for 3 or 4 days and it will turn cloudy. Strain and mix 2 cups of this 'tea' to 14 cups of water = 1 gallon.

Spray your plants from top to bottom and hit the soil.

Let me know what you think. This works equally well using alfalfa, wheat, oat, etc. seeds.

"Enzymes"

CC

with both "recipes" one dilutes the liquid the sprouts were soaking in. Is there a reason for not using less seeds and directly soaking in the gallon of water that will be used?

 

[ClackamasCootz]

with both "recipes" one dilutes the liquid the sprouts were soaking in. Is there a reason for not using less seeds and directly soaking in the gallon of water that will be used?

None that I can think of - LOL

 

[ClackamasCootz]

Durdy

Just for my own information I ran a test using the sprouted barley tea in a poolish - about 1/2 tsp. to a 7oz water & 7 oz. organic flour and one without the barley tea.

You should give that one a try - LMAO

 

[Durdy]

that sounds like a fun experiment!
What results did you see?

 

[ClackamasCootz]

An explosion of water & flour paste - EVERYWHERE

I need to give that one some more thought - could be helpful in rye breads I'm thinking. Maybe bagels?

CC

 

[Durdy]

HAHAHAHA, I hate when a mix feels the need to leave it's container. Stuff can have a mind of it's own sometimes. So there was no yeast / starter or anything in your 50/50 mix you added the tea to?

Could be helpful in those. I know in my bagel and rye mix I have Barley Malt, so maybe one could sub the tea for the malt and see what happens?

What are you hypothesizing beneficial results to be? Increased flavor? Structure? a homemade replacement for barley / diastic malt?

 

[ClackamasCootz]

Durdy

I missed that part - about 1/32 tsp. of IDY (Red Star) to each poolish mix. Thanks for asking about the culture - need to recharge the one in the back of the fridge! LOL

I was trying to establish the viability of the same enzymes in the fresh barley tea vs. barley malt basically to satisfy my curiosity.

CC

 

[OrganicLearner]

Here's a tip for someone wanting to use the compost saks, the compost saks are $39.95 and they are a little over 100 gallons, a 100 gal smartpot is $29.95...save yourself 10 doll hairs..

Only difference is the compost saks do save a little space because they are more vertical and the regular smart pots are wider. There's also free shipping if you buy 2 compost saks so try to find the 100 gal smart pots in a store near you for this price if you don't care about the little extra space..