Corn cob cat litter – amazing stuff!
This is yet another blog series that I haven’t been updating as regularly as I had hoped. I’m sure some of you have been wondering how my cat litter vermicomposting experiment has been going. Well, I am happy to report that it is indeed still going. In fact we’re only just getting warmed up here.
I’ve decided to really take my time with the project, not only because of my own time constraints but also for the sake of making sure the system I am using stays relatively balanced (a challenging feat for most new vermicomposting bins). That being said, I have actually upgraded the system to a 55 liter tub (previous was ~ 20 liter container), and have added a lot more material – including a lot more cat poop. I should mention that I’ve decided to not add the urine clumps to this bin given the fact that is a relatively small system with no drainage. Urine contains inorganic salts which can accumulate in the system like this, potentially causing harm to the worms. In a large outdoor system this wouldn’t be nearly as much of an issue (and I’ll definitely be demonstrating this once spring arrives).
While I still haven’t directly added many worms to the system, I have added a lot of spent worm bedding (ie most of the worms were harvested from it) that actually seems to now have a major abundance of smaller worms in it. The worms that were already in the smaller bin seemed to be doing very well (have grown in size etc), so I suspect that I will have a thriving bin in no time.
I will more than likely now leave the new bin to sit for a month or two without adding much of anything to it (other than the occasional sprinkle of water since it is an open system), but will of course provide some updates along the way. Once the worm population is nicely established, I will definitely start adding the cat waste on a more regular basis.
As far as the cat litter itself (PC Green Cat Litter) goes, I really can’t say enough good things about it! Now that I’ve used it for a couple months, I know for a fact that I will never go back to normal litter again. While it may seem like it is a more expensive product, I’m convinced that it actually costs about the same amount, since it lasts longer in the litter box before stinking too much (still have not reached that point) – ie. the point at which you have to dump the entire remainder of the material in the tray.
With my typical litter box cleaning schedule (scooping every couple days or so) the room where the two litter boxes are located never smells excessively of cat litter – and it is a tiny bathroom, so this is no small feat. This was certainly not the case when using the regular litter! Apart from that, the cleaning and tossing aspect of the regular clumping cat litter was vastly more annoying. Not only is it much much heavier stuff, but you have to toss it out with the regular garbage.
All in all, I am so happy that I decided to make the switch!
Previous Cat Litter Composting Posts
Cat Litter Vermicomposting
Cat Litter Composting – Update
Cat Litter Composting – 12-02-08
Note: Cat litter composting warrants some caution, and should generally only be attempted by those with previous composting experience. Any dog or cat waste composting system should be separate from your ‘regular’ composting systems. Cat litter shouldn’t be handled at all by pregnant women or young children.
Written by Bentley on January 5th, 2009 with 6 comments.
Read more articles on Home Vermicomposting.
Happy New Year everyone! As you can probably tell, I didn’t have as much time for blogging as I would have liked over the holidays. I definitely want to get the new year off to a good start though. And what better way, than with a worm sale??
Before Christmas we had our ‘Christmas Red Worm Shipping Sale’, so it’s only fitting that we hold a sale for the European Nightcrawlers as well. If you are in a hurry, feel free to check out the worm sales page for updated Euro pricing (down below the Red Worm section), otherwise you are more than welcome to stick around for more info below.
Similar to the first sale, this one is all about greatly reduced shipping costs – in fact (unlike the previous sale), this time around you pay no shipping on 1 lb of Euros, and we actually pay YOU for the shipping on 2-5 lb orders! In other words, if you’ve been thinking about ordering some European Nightcrawlers, now is definitely a great time to do so. [NOTE: Unfortunately, I couldn't actually use negative shipping rates when setting up the Paypal order buttons, so you will see the reduced price with zero shipping once you click-through]
As per usual, apart from excellent worms (with the usual guarantee), you are also getting full (and fast) customer support for as long as you need it!
For those of you not all that familiar with the European Nightcrawler (Eisenia hortensis), these are the larger cousin of the Red (Wiggler) Worm (Eisenia fetida). They are also know as ‘Belgian Nightcrawler’, ‘Euros’, or ‘ENCs’. Don’t let the name fool you though – they are definitely NOT the same thing as ‘Canadian Nightcrawlers’ (Lumbricus terrestris), which are also originally from Europe.
Like the Canadian Nightcrawler, the Euro is much better suited as a bait worm or food worm for larger creatures (fish, reptiles, birds etc) than Red Worms. Unlike CNC’s however, Euros can easily be raised and bred in an indoor ‘worm bin’. Many fishermen who have used them as bait would also likely suggest that they are a superior bait worm (to both Reds and CNCs) since, they are not too big or too small – they are just right!
By the way, my supplier has informed me that these particular Euros are somewhat smaller than some (since grown in high densities) – but this simply means you will likely get more worms per pound! Once they are in a ‘regular’ home system, you should see them increase in size to their normal maximum range (obviously assuming the proper set up of you system etc).
Academic research has suggested that they grow and reproduce much more slowly than Red Worms, but after growing them for a year myself I’m not so sure about this. As mentioned in a recent post, I started up a second Worm Inn using only European Nightcrawlers. While I haven’t really had the opportunity to determine their effectiveness in this type of system, I have been amazed by the number of cocoons and baby Euros I’ve been finding – quite surprising given how recently the bin they were transferred from was set up. I am hoping to set up a small experiment soon to compare growth and reproduction rates in Euros and Reds (yeah, I know I’ve mentioned this before – haha!).
Some may wonder if Euros and Red Worms can be mixed together in a worm bed. While this is certainly ok (they won’t harm one another), over time you may find that the Reds gradually outcompete the Euros – plus it will be a real pain if you ever want to separate them. On the positive side, when Reds and Euros are in the same system, you may notice that the Euros tend to stay down below where the moisture content is highest, while the Reds are closer to the surface. In other words, there may be an increased chance of processing all the waste materials added to the system.
Like Red Worm castings, those produced by Euros are exceptional for plant growth promotion – you might even want to try out this species in a vermicomposting trench running next to your garden(s). I haven’t tested them out in this capacity yet myself (hope to do so this spring), but I suspect that they would be better adapted (than Reds) for life in a partial-soil system.
Getting Back to the Euro sale…
Once again, be sure to check out our worm sales page for the updated pricing (below the Red Worm section).
The Euro Shipping Sale will run from Monday, January 5th to Sunday January 24th
If you have any questions/concerns etc, don’t hesitate to get in touch!
Written by Bentley on January 5th, 2009 with 4 comments.
Read more articles on Announcements.
282 lb of Food Waste, and Counting!