Starting a worm bin

I have plenty of room. Not gonna have much of a garden this coming spring

That tumbler looks awesome. I love that it is homemade. I have 3 tumblers I rotate. I think they really up the compost because you can add meat and bones and dairy. And not the rats. And they make compost so fast compared to all the other methods. If you are growing in living soil, or just outdoor, I would say a tumbler is as important as a good light indoors. I am loving that homemade one.:recycle:

I even pick out Cheerios and popcorn seeds I find in the dustpan from my kids.

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Yes i built it and it tumblers and the barrel rotate it works really well

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Feeding time!

These guys have been really easy to keep happy. So far I’ve been focusing more on growing my population rather than harvesting castings.

Once a week I’ve been feeding them my kitchen compost (mostly coffee grounds) and a “garden smoothie”. This blend today consists of cukes, frost damaged peppers, and a couple handfuls of kale. I then bury that off with 1/2 of an old root ball.

I have noticed some fruit flies or fungus gnats have been been hanging around the bins. I haven’t been too worried because they are part of the compost process. Their life cycle should actually improve the quality of my castings : as the microbes and worms break down their dead bodies, they’ll produce the enzyme chitinase, which supposedly gets taken up by the plant and contributes to insect resistance.

It still feels a little dangerous though given that my grow space is also down here in the basement. So today I’m also feeding with some crab meal, azomite, and topping the whole sandwich with some neem seed meal to hopefully begin to eradicate them. The crab meal will contribute both the chitin and some calcium.

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So my last feeding was when I made this post. I was digging around a bit in the bin tonight I can’t find a trace of compost remaining. Not even a coffee filter. It just looks like my potting soil, plus worms.

Tomorrow is going to be their big day. The flower tent is going to become available because big momma diesel is getting the chop. I’m going to need about 20 gallons or so of potting mix for the wedding cake and strawberry cough that are going in the oven next. Im going to take it from the bins, worms and all.

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Tonight’s menu is featuring 1/4 lb weed ‘sludge’ - leftovers from oil infusion. I’m going to feed my plants back to themselves. What a hobby it is being a weed gardener. There was a time when I wouldn’t have dreamed of tossing this in the compost. Probably wouldn’t have dunked it in olive oil either. :rofl: