I Just Bought 1000 Red Wigglers. Munch away, little worms, so my garden may be beautiful this year!

I just ordered 1000 Red Wigglers from Uncle Jim's Worm Farm.

I can't wait for them to come so I can build the compost bin described in the video below:

Uses for the Red Wiggler:

• Worm Composting or Vermicomposting
  • Vermiculture
  • Compost Bin
  • Worm Tea
  • Organic Fertilizer
  • Lessen Garbage
  • Vermicompost Bin
• Fishing Worms
• Attracting Wild Birds
• Feeding
  • Pet Birds
  • Turtles
  • Iguanas
  • Aquarium Fish
  • Pond Fish
  • Salamanders
  • Snakes
  • Frogs
  • Raising Trouts
• Raising Worms at Home
  • Worm Farms
  • Worm Bins
  • Worm Kits
  • Can o Worm Composters
• Nourishing Garden Soil
  • Vermicompost or Worm Compost
  • Gardens (Bigger Tastier Veggies)
  • Organic Gardening
  • Lawns (Greener Healthier Grass)
  • Flower Beds (More Colorful Blooms & Stronger Stems)
• Fertilize House Plant soil
• Hanging Plants
• Potted Plants
• Garden Plants
• Soil Enhancing (Black Gold soil)
• Eliminating Chemical Fertilizers
• Food Additives and Red Worm Recipes ...Really
  • Home
  • About

  Red wiggler!

  2011 JANUARY 8

  tags: compost, diy, Garden, organic, soil, tutorial

  by Justine

  Dirty, you say? Exactly. Today’s topic: soil and compost.

  Earthworms will eat the soil and cast it back with 5 times more nitrogen, 1.5 times more calcium, 3 times more magnesium, 7 times more phosphate, 11 times more potash and 40% more humus.

  I was raised a farm girl, so there’s a part of me that’s constantly aching for nature. Dealing with the restrictions of rental properties and lack of yard during my last eleven years in the big city of Seattle, has made my dream of managing my own garden virtually impossible. Until now. My current place has a balcony, a garage (for my tools, pots, soil, etc), and a driveway (which gets a fair amount of sunlight), so last Spring I decided it was finally time to take a leap into container gardening.

  While it’s easier to control conditions with container gardening, it’s quite pertinent that you stay in complete control. Enough water and nutritious soil will yield the happiest plants. Through my research I learned what a value earth worms are in enriching and aerating soil. Yet, worms aren’t innate to a container garden. Thus, it’s important to add those nutrients periodically.

  

  While attending a gardening demonstration by Seattle Tilth last summer, I became really excited by seeing their worm composting bin. Such beautiful soil those little wigglers were producing! Light, fluffy, and full of nutrients. Apparently earthworms will eat the soil and cast it back with 5 times more nitrogen, 1.5 times more calcium, 3 times more magnesium, 7 times more phosphate, 11 times more potash and 40% more humus. Well, it souuuunds good, anyway.

  Aside from the new year getting me excited for my 2011 garden, I was prompted to start a worm bin after contemplating what to do with a boat-load of produce pulp. I started the year by purchasing a juicer. It’s a decent juicer and uses most of the fruit, but there’s still a lot of pulp that comes from it! In Seattle we are fortunate enough to have roadside yard waste/compost pickup, but I really wanted to get the most out of all that pricey organic produce I was buying. I thought of making muffins or something from the pulp, but after reading that the pulp loses most of its nutrients in the juicing process, I decided the wormies might benefit from it more than I. Worms can more easily process pureed and softened organic matter, so it’s a win-win.

  From my quick Google search, I didn’t find many sources nearby that sell red wigglers (they’re apparently one of the best for composting). Luckily, the source I did find in Seattle was really close to me. So, yesterday I took a little jaunt to Stoneway Hardware and brought home my first army of 200 worms.

  

  Now that the main ingredient is in hand, it’s time to build my bin. Here are all the ingredients you’ll need:

  • Rubber tub (you can also use metal or wood)
  • Shredded newspaper
  • Worms (preferably red wigglers)
  • Soil
  • Water
  • Organic materials (produce scraps, leaves, etc.)

  

  Start by drilling several holes into the sides and bottom of the tub for ventilation and drainage (don’t want those babies drowning!).

  

  

  Then comes time to fill the tub with layers of goodness. First, lay down a piece of cardboard. It will soak up some of the moisture and prevent soil and mush from leaking out the bottom holes. (If you’re cutting down a box be sure to remove any tape or other non-compostable elements.)

  

  Now, fill with a few inches of newspaper, and moisten.

  

  Finally, it’s time to add the worms and a bit of soil.

  

  And for the last step in the process, add your organic matter. Here, I’ve added various produce scraps, including pulp from my juicer. Mmmmmm, tasty.

  

  Now, place the lid back on the tub, and set worm bin on a lid or tray to catch an drainage. That wasn’t so hard, was it? Munch away, little worms, so my garden may be beautiful this year!

  If you’d like a useful list of what worms enjoy and don’t enjoy to munch on, look here.

  Most of the information for this demonstration was gleaned from the following web source: Wikihow