Compost,Worms and Soil

Add a Comment

Comment by Rob Collings on January 2, 2017 at 8:14

Here's a lengthy video showing the way a Californian farmer (Bob Cannard) grows the food he supplies to top restaurants in his local area.

Click Here For Link

Comment by Rob Collings on January 2, 2017 at 7:55

There are no details about specific weeds in this clip. Just a good brief introductions to the edible and soil benefits of weeds.

Click Here For Link

Comment by Mark Braz on March 8, 2016 at 19:22

Welcome  to the CSW group Sophie feel free to input or ask this is a think tank with a low water level and no pressure

Comment by Mark Braz on March 8, 2016 at 14:16

While leachate can have value as a liquid fertilizer it should be treated with caution. For every story extolling the benefits of using leachate there is one lamenting the problems from having used it. If you decide you want to use the leachate, I recommend taking some extra steps.

1. Do not use it if it smells bad! It should smell like earth (and not gross) when it comes out of the worm composter. If it smells bad, pour it out on an area where it cannot harm living plants or animals like a roadway or driveway.
2. Dilute it ten parts water to one part leachate (10:1).
3. Aerate it with an air pump if available.
4. Use it outdoors on shrubs, ornamentals or flowering plants only. Do not use on plants you intend to eat.

Comment by Mark Braz on March 8, 2016 at 14:12

In case your not sure!!

Unfortunately there seems to be misleading information provided by some worm bin manufacturers (and website owners). The terms “worm tea,” “worm compost tea,” “castings tea,” or “vermicompost tea” should actually refer to the liquid fertilizer created by steeping (soaking) quality castings/compost in water (often aerated) for a period of time. The problem is that many people refer to the liquid that drains out from a worm bin as “worm tea.” This is incorrect, the proper term for this is actually “leachate.”

As water passes down through a worm bin it can pick up all sorts of unstable metabolites (various products/intermediates of the decomposition process). If for example, you have some fairly anaerobic zones in your worm bin, you can end up with various phytotoxins (toxins that can harm plants and humans). Some of these toxins are created by bacteria. Every worm bin has good and bad microbes. This is perfectly fine and is even expected, provided, of course, that the good ones outnumber the bad ones. Some leachate can contain harmful pathogens because it has not been processed through the worms intestinal tracts. It is often recommended that it should not be used on garden plants you plan to serve to your friends and family.

Comment by Natalie Nussey Prior on March 7, 2016 at 17:02

Yes please, Mark.

Comment by Mark Braz on March 7, 2016 at 15:30

Hi Natalie,

Maybe you should consider Black soldier fly in the worm farm. They munch a lot more scrap than the worms and much faster.

I can give you a name to order worms and he will post them to your door.

Comment by Natalie Nussey Prior on March 7, 2016 at 14:31

Would like some advice about starting up my worm farm again. I have had the worm farm for some years now but stopped using it for various reasons. I have been putting food scraps into the compost, but I've had a lot of problems with rats getting in to the compost heaps in search of veggie peelings. I have a big rats nest under my shade house, but have not been able to get rid of them because I have dogs, and don't want to put out bait.

I hate throwing out the peelings, so I thought I would give the worms another go. I have the farm but I need the worms--can anybody suggest a good place to buy them from? I am suspicious about buying them from the hardware shop, because I have no idea how long they have been there. I see in another post that people have used kookaburra worm farms, but is there somewhere closer ?

Comment by Andrew Cumberland on February 28, 2016 at 22:59

They turn up naturally (sometimes) Dianne.  They compost organics at an amazing rate.  The larvae tend to look like a very segmented and almost armoured little worm, about the size of your finger nail.  Eventually, they turn into a black soldier fly and hopefully return to make more babies.  

Comment by Dianne Caswell on February 28, 2016 at 18:45

Sorry about that, I will have to put that in my little book, BSF. No I have not found any Black Soldier Fly, but can you please tell me a little about them and how you breed them etc, have you found some .

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• Next ›
• Page