March 2015
Vermicomposting a Ton of Coffee Grounds?
Question from Andreas:
I live in an eco-village and weยดve been contacted by a large music festival who would like to give their coffee grounds to us. They say they will have somewhere around a ton. Iยดm kinda tempted to take it on, but I only have a few small systems – do you think there is any feasible way to handle the grounds with worms?
Hi Andreas,
This takes me back to the times I 1) decided to take all the compost-friendly food waste from a very popular local restaurant, and later, 2) started taking all the coffee grounds produced by a local coffee shop!
Good times…goooood times!!
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Joking aside, these were both very valuable learning experiences, and – all in all – they resulted in a lot more “good” than “bad”! But as you might already have guessed, I will definitely recommend that you proceed with caution.
If I am understanding you correctly, this sounds like (more…)
**Want Even More Fun With Worms? Sign Up for the RWC E-mail List Today!**Tiny Tub Challenge – 3-26-15
Yeah, things have been a bit quiet around here as of late (considering my last blog post was my last Tiny Tub update)! Yikes.
I finally checked on my tubs last night.
Here are my cocoon counts:
Bin #1 โ 18 cocoons
Bin #2 โ 0 cocoons (remember, my worms disappeared early on and I decided to keep it as a comparison bin)
Bin #3 โ 22 cocoons
Temperature down in the basement is still around 17 C (~63 F).
The adult Red Worms in the two worm bins are still looking big and healthy. STILL no juveniles – but some of the cocoons looked just about ready to hatch.
Food levels were looking pretty low, so I added some frozen kale to all 3 tubs. Adding some new bedding to a couple of the bins as well.
We had a bit of a scare with my daughters bin (remember – she is keeping a different TTTWC bin up in her room so we can compare). What’s funny is that she had been at me repeatedly to check on it and I kept delaying it (was never at the “right time” – plus I figured there wasn’t much to check up on yet).
Guess I should have listened to her! When we finally did check on the bin, the (more…)
Tiny Tub Challenge – 3-13-15
I checked on my “Tiny Tubs” today.
Here are my cocoon counts:
Bin #1 โ 13 cocoons
Bin #2 โ 0 cocoons (remember, my worms disappeared early on and I decided to keep it as a comparison bin)
Bin #3 โ 15 cocoons
Temperature down in the basement is still around 17 C (~63 F).
The adult Red Worms in the two worm bins are still looking big and healthy. No sign of juveniles yet.
Food levels were looking pretty low, so I added some frozen kale to all 3 tubs.
It’s important to note that (more…)
Lonnie’s Outdoor In-Ground Worm Bed
My good friend, and Worm Farming Alliance member, Lonnie Sibley, recently wrote an article describing the in-ground worm bed he built last fall for raising Red Worms.
After seeing the heap of rocks he had to remove from the excavation site, I promise I will never complain again about the one or two field stones I tend to encounter when digging a new vermicomposting trench!
I can honestly say that I’ve never had to use a pick axe to create a worm bed!
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Lonnie gets some pretty cold winter weather where he lives in Missouri – and he mentions that the top 4-5 inches did freeze. But thanks to (more…)
Papaya Vermicomposting Update
Quick update on the papaya vermicomposting front. I actually almost forgot about this one (surprise – lol) – but a comment on the first post reminded me to go have a look today.
The papaya is definitely pretty well processed by now – and a LOT more worms seem to be taking an interest in it as well. I have included my Day 0 image below for comparison.
DAY 0
DAY 8
As you can see, (more…)
Tiny Tub Challenge – 3-02-15
I just got finished checking on my “Tiny Tub Two Worm Challenge” (TTTWC) bins. Things seem to be coming along.
Here are my cocoon counts:
Bin #1 – 7 cocoons
Bin #2 – 0 cocoons (remember, my worms disappeared early on and I decided to keep it as a comparison bin)
Bin #3 – 6 cocoons
Temperatures down in the basement have been hovering around 17 or 18 C (~63/64 F) – so still on the cool side.
The Red Worms in the two worm bins are (more…)
Dan’s VermBin48 System
Dan Lonowski, a WFA member and owner of the VermBin Plans Package recently shared this video with me.
I am REALLY impressed with his set-up! The bin looks fantastic (puts “The Beast” to shame) – and he is clearly doing a fantastic job with the worms as well.
Of course, I totally appreciate the (unsolicited) plug for the plans package at the end! Dan is just that kind of guy.
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