A number of weeks ago I was contacted by Frank Aragona, owner of Agricultural Innovations Inc, and host of the Agroinnovations Podcast, inquiring if I’d be interested in taking part in an interview for the weekly show. I was very flattered by the request, and heartily agreed to take part, despite the fact that I was a tad nervous about the prospect of being interviewed.
Frank and I had a few back a forth exchanges trying to figure out a time that worked well for both of us, and thankfully we were finally able to nail down a specific date and time (two weeks ago today). As you’ll likely notice, I was indeed a tad nervous to begin with, and tended to wander a bit from time to time, but I REALLY enjoyed talking with Frank (who had lots of great questions and some interesting insights), and think everything came together nicely. Since I did tend to provide rather lengthy responses, the interview ended up running for an hour, so Frank has decided to break it into two parts – part one being posted today.
Frank was also kind enough to grant me permission to actually host the audio file here (you will find the play button at the bottom of this post), but I definitely want to urge everyone to visit his website and see what he is doing. While I’d personally never heard of the Agroinnovations Podcast prior to receiving Frank’s email, it is readily apparent (when you visit the site) that he has put a LOT of work into this project. I have no doubt that he must have a pretty serious following of podcast listeners and fans in general as a result. There are lots of interesting topics covered in past podcasts, but RWC readers may be particularly interested in the interview Frank conducted with Jerry from the “Black Soldier Fly Blog” (an excellent resource for those interested in learning about BSF, by the way!). Here are the links to the two parts of that interview: Episode #78: The Black Soldier Fly (Part I) Episode #79: The Black Soldier Fly (Part II)
Ok, enough chatter – here is the first part of my interview (just click on the little play button). Hope you enjoy it!
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
You are of course more than welcome to listen to the podcast on Frank’s site (where you will find a brief description of the content as well) if you prefer. Here is a direct link to that podcast post: Episode #84: Red Worm Composting (Part I)
It’s been quite some time since I responded to any reader questions here (hope to start doing so more often), so I was inspired to do so when I came across this interesting question from Anna:
I’m interested in constructing an outdoor windrow or bin for
my worms this summer but am afraid that the mole (or it’s relatives)
who was feasting in my cold compost pile this summer will come back
for a repeat performance. I’ve considered hardware cloth on the
bottom and sides of the enclosure but am afraid this will not stop the
moles.
I’d also like to add that I really love the content on your site.
I’ve read through my library system’s entire list of books on
vermiculture and still feel like I know nothing. Your site has helped
plug some of the massive holes in my worm-knowledge.
Hi Anna,
Thanks for the question! While I am happy to report that I’ve never personally dealt with moles myself, I’ve certainly heard from vermicomposters who have. Interestingly enough, a good worm farming friend of mine recently sent me an email informing me that moles were wreaking havoc on his outdoor composting worm population (worms he’s been raising trouble-free for years I might add). So, needless to say, I understand how much of a threat these pesky varmints can be in some locations.
I think you are on the right track in terms of preventing moles from feeding on your worm herd. You mentioned potentially setting up a windrow or bin. Of the two, it’s safe to say that an enclosed bin of some sort will certainly provide the best protection. To be totally safe, you may want to put your bin/box up on blocks/legs of some sort, or place it on a concrete/asphalt surface (ie keep in on a patio, driveway etc) – although, I’m sure you’d be fine with a rugged plastic bin sitting directly on the lawn, assuming it was enclosed at the bottom (other than some drain holes).
If you want to have some sort of in-ground bed, you should probably either set a solid bin in the ground or plan to put a very serious effort into lining the bottom of your bed. I would think that a double layer of heavy duty landscape cloth and perhaps a layer of wire mesh would do the trick.
I have read that various types of plants can deter moles – two examples are Castor Bean (Ricinus sp) and the “Mole Plant” (Euphorbia lathyris). Be sure to check out this article to learn more: Companion Planting: Organic Pest Control Against Moles.
I’ve read that other natural repellents, such as onions, garlic, peppermint and hot peppers can work as well.
Alternatively, there are also commercially available repellent mixtures and even electronic devices designed to get rid of moles, although I have no idea if any of these are effective.
Anyway – best of luck keeping your mole(s) at bay!
Back at the end of January, I started up my “collembolacomposting” experiment – with the aim of determining whether or not springtails can do much in the way of “composting” on their own.
Judging by the ecosystem that seems to be dominating the habitat in the bin these days, I think “acarinacomposting” might have been somewhat more appropriate! The springtail population hasn’t even really taken off for some reason, yet there is an incredible population of mites.
In thinking about all of this some more, and witnessing how little in the way of processing seems to be occurring in the bin, I’ve concluded that, apart from the microbes, the worm DO indeed deserve the lion’s share of the glory when it comes to vermicomposting (somehow I doubt that will surprise too many people – haha). Just the physical activity and fragmentation of waste materials alone likely plays a very significant role in speeding up the composting process.
I think it’s only natural that the next step should be to set up a comparison experiment. Worms vs no worms, so we can see for sure just how much of a difference there is. This may help to demonstrate the value of adding composting worms to a “regular” backyard composter as well!
Anyway – I will let everyone know once I’ve set up the experiment!
For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Bentley (“Compost Guy”) Christie and I’ve been a crazed worm composting fanatic (or “vermiholic” if you prefer) for more than 12 yrs now. I created this website back in 2006 with the simple intention of sharing my passion with the world. So far so good! Things have certainly progressed since the early days, though, and the website has provided me with an amazing opportunity to get to know a LOT of other “worm heads” from across North America and around the world!
One such person, who is now a member of the RWC team, is none other than “Mark from Kansas”. Back in the fall (2009), I convinced Mark to become a contributor here, and he became become quite well known (and appreciated) for his OSCR worm bin series. You can learn more about Mark >>HERE<<.
If you are brand new to vermicomposting, I recommend that you start on my “Getting Started” page where you will be introduced the “fundamentals” of worm composting, and shown how to create & set-up your own worm composting system. If you would like to browse some of the more popular topics discussed on the blog, I highly recommend you check out the “Hot Topics” page. Speaking of the blog, if you would like to browse the latest blog posts, simply scroll down from this msg (assuming you are on the home page, that is).
Last, but certainly not least – if you would like to stay in touch with us and generally learn more about worm composting, please sign up for our email newsletter!
Of course, you can also feel free to drop us a line anytime!
I decided to record a video featuring my vermiponics system today. For those of you who have been following along from the beginning (when I first started writing about the topic of vermiponics, and the set up of this system), a lot of this won’t be new information. You may still find it interesting though since you will see the system up close and personal (not just via photos) and actually get to listen to my (awe-inspiring – HaHa) commentary as well.
I should mention that while my lettuce doesn’t look as good as it would in an outdoor system (or at least a system with better lighting), I can assure you that it doesn’t actually look as bad as it does in the video. As always, I am using my trusty point-and-shoot digital camera here, so the video quality isn’t exactly top notch. Those poor lettuce plants looked downright yellow, when in actuality they are a lot greener.
As you will see, I made an interesting discovery when I opened up the feeding tube and looked inside the burlap bag!
