Waste Optimization – Day 6

Melody Silverberg
#1. February 16th, 2012, at 5:06 PM.

I have been chopping my veggie/fruit waste into small sizes and freezing it for a few days prior to feeding for some time. The worms seem to work through that preparation much more quickly than adding fresh matter or larger chunks. In addition, it seems to keep the fly and gnat populations down. Also, in the summer when I have lots of veggie matter out of the garden, the worms can’t keep up, so freezing assures me of a continuous food source for them during the winter months.

suzan
#2. February 16th, 2012, at 10:34 PM.

what an interesting experiment Bentley !!! does anyone know how long does it take for worms to eat the food after it’s in the bin ?? my worms seem to be eating the food really slowly & it’s mush by the time i put in in there.

thuan
#3. February 17th, 2012, at 2:23 AM.

Suzan,
In my worm inn, frozen vegetable gets eaten up in about 3 days, about 4 days with frozen pumpkins and melon rinds, frozen apple bits about 5 days, frozen carrots about 7 days… The fastest is frozen leafy vegetable and frozen pulps from juicing fruits and vegetables. Unfrozen apple takes forever, especially if I don’t cut them up! Ambient temperature about 40 at night and 65 during day time.

Peter
#4. February 17th, 2012, at 7:57 PM.

If it’s mushy from freezing but uncomposted (no bacteria), then as it’s mush sometimes it can get nasty inside as it ages since it can’t breath. It all goes eventually but worms will work more slowly from outside in. In those cases mixing it with bedding, even if means mush covered cardboard but with air spaces, will speed it up. Or maybe added it more often in smaller amounts to stop any anerobic activity.

I also like freezing my food (also have a Worm Inn) to keep flies and gnats out and have been playing around how best to handle mushy feedings. btw you can always take some old harvested VC and mix it into the mush to kickstart the process.

Patrick
#5. February 17th, 2012, at 9:43 PM.

My freezer is not big enough to freeze everything, but I did freeze a few pumpkins, cut into 2″-3″ slices last year. I was nowhere near as “scientific” as Bentley (lol) but the frozen vs. fresh went much faster, even with the fresh being in my 5 gallon bucket systems for longer than the frozen.

Gerry Benedict
#6. February 18th, 2012, at 7:43 AM.

Interesting experiment. For the past year I have been using a food processer (…purchased at at Thrift store) to chop up all my kitchen scraps. I think it speeds up the process. Every 3 – 4 days I stir up and aereate the top 1.5 inches. There is alot of worm activity in the top 3 inches of my homemade top loading, buttom unloading bin.