Comments on: Laundry Line Bean Gardens http://www.redwormcomposting.com/gardening/laundry-line-bean-gardens/ Red Wiggler Worms, European Nightcrawlers and loads of helpful Worm Composting Information Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:46:37 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Bentley http://www.redwormcomposting.com/gardening/laundry-line-bean-gardens/comment-page-1/#comment-22398 Bentley Mon, 14 Sep 2009 13:22:11 +0000 http://www.redwormcomposting.com/?p=1150#comment-22398 No worries, Mary - always glad to help out! Like I always say, a fellow 'worm geek' in need is a friend indeed! :lol: (ok, I've never said that, but I think it's going to be my new motto - haha) No worries, Mary – always glad to help out! Like I always say, a fellow ‘worm geek’ in need is a friend indeed!
:lol:
(ok, I’ve never said that, but I think it’s going to be my new motto – haha)

]]> By: Mary http://www.redwormcomposting.com/gardening/laundry-line-bean-gardens/comment-page-1/#comment-22395 Mary Mon, 14 Sep 2009 11:23:41 +0000 http://www.redwormcomposting.com/?p=1150#comment-22395 Thanks so much for getting back to me so quickly. I feel much better now, and I am promising myself to take much better care of my little wormies from now on! Nothing but the best manure for them! :) This is the best site. I may not post much, but I check it daily, just like a good worm geek should. :) Mary Thanks so much for getting back to me so quickly. I feel much better now, and I am promising myself to take much better care of my little wormies from now on! Nothing but the best manure for them! :)
This is the best site. I may not post much, but I check it daily, just like a good worm geek should. :)
Mary

]]> By: Bentley http://www.redwormcomposting.com/gardening/laundry-line-bean-gardens/comment-page-1/#comment-22392 Bentley Mon, 14 Sep 2009 01:15:08 +0000 http://www.redwormcomposting.com/?p=1150#comment-22392 MARY / AL - I can relate to both of your experiences, and key here is that these are definitely different scenarios being talked about. What I have discovered this summer Mary - primarily due to the fact that I am not constantly adding pounds and pounds of wet food waste (as I was last summer) - is that vermicomposting systems associated with growing plants, while hugely beneficial for the plants, are not all that great for the worms. Unless of course you have a very regular schedule of feeding and watering. The problem is that the plant roots grow right into the vermicomposting bed, quickly robbing these zones of moisture and nutrients. If you get any sort of heat spell this problem is magnified. When moisture content drops worms tend to shrink in size, thus in the really neglected zones of my trench systems I tend to find loads of really small worms. What cool though is that if I dumped a big heap of wet, aged manure on top, I would likely see huge numbers of nice sized worms in this material fairly quickly. SO, Mary - I definitely wouldn't give up hope just yet. If your growing season is over, maybe think about consolidating as much of the material (containing tiny worms) as possible, and then focus on getting the worms back in good shape with lots of food and moisture. Al - your situation reminds me of what I'm seeing in my potato boxes. The worms in these systems have done extremely well! Far better than those in trenches and other vermigardens. I've done relatively little to take care of them, but I'm in the process of harvesting the bins and am blown away by the numbers of juicy worms in these relatively small wooden bins. Anyway - I definitely want to write more about all this (hopefully in upcoming blog posts). Very interesting stuff. MARY / AL – I can relate to both of your experiences, and key here is that these are definitely different scenarios being talked about.

What I have discovered this summer Mary – primarily due to the fact that I am not constantly adding pounds and pounds of wet food waste (as I was last summer) – is that vermicomposting systems associated with growing plants, while hugely beneficial for the plants, are not all that great for the worms. Unless of course you have a very regular schedule of feeding and watering. The problem is that the plant roots grow right into the vermicomposting bed, quickly robbing these zones of moisture and nutrients. If you get any sort of heat spell this problem is magnified. When moisture content drops worms tend to shrink in size, thus in the really neglected zones of my trench systems I tend to find loads of really small worms. What cool though is that if I dumped a big heap of wet, aged manure on top, I would likely see huge numbers of nice sized worms in this material fairly quickly.
SO, Mary – I definitely wouldn’t give up hope just yet. If your growing season is over, maybe think about consolidating as much of the material (containing tiny worms) as possible, and then focus on getting the worms back in good shape with lots of food and moisture.

Al – your situation reminds me of what I’m seeing in my potato boxes. The worms in these systems have done extremely well! Far better than those in trenches and other vermigardens. I’ve done relatively little to take care of them, but I’m in the process of harvesting the bins and am blown away by the numbers of juicy worms in these relatively small wooden bins.

Anyway – I definitely want to write more about all this (hopefully in upcoming blog posts). Very interesting stuff.

]]> By: Al Wright http://www.redwormcomposting.com/gardening/laundry-line-bean-gardens/comment-page-1/#comment-22390 Al Wright Sun, 13 Sep 2009 21:56:18 +0000 http://www.redwormcomposting.com/?p=1150#comment-22390 I have seven ammo boxes full of worms now (about four feet by 18" wide by 6" deep) and I neglect them horribly, only tending to them about weekly, maybe every ten days or so and I find that they have absolutely NO problem being left alone. I do dig up and mix the bedding material when I do check them, which aerates the bins and mixes everything up pretty well. Even though some boxes are getting "old" I make sure to add more bedding at one end and feed them in between, so they can choose to go to the new side. Most stay in the old side but about 1/5 of them migrate over. I figure if I feed them in the new end they would hang around there but it's up to them. Nature does quite well by herself, and it seems to take alot to mess her up. I have cocoons and baby worms in each bin although each is a bit different. They REALLY like wetted chicken mash and watermelons. The mash is available in a big bag for little money and you mix it like oatmeal. I take leftover watermelon and cantaloupe rinds face down and there is nothing left but a thin skin once they get done. I have seven ammo boxes full of worms now (about four feet by 18″ wide by 6″ deep) and I neglect them horribly, only tending to them about weekly, maybe every ten days or so and I find that they have absolutely NO problem being left alone. I do dig up and mix the bedding material when I do check them, which aerates the bins and mixes everything up pretty well. Even though some boxes are getting “old” I make sure to add more bedding at one end and feed them in between, so they can choose to go to the new side. Most stay in the old side but about 1/5 of them migrate over. I figure if I feed them in the new end they would hang around there but it’s up to them. Nature does quite well by herself, and it seems to take alot to mess her up. I have cocoons and baby worms in each bin although each is a bit different. They REALLY like wetted chicken mash and watermelons. The mash is available in a big bag for little money and you mix it like oatmeal. I take leftover watermelon and cantaloupe rinds face down and there is nothing left but a thin skin once they get done.

]]> By: Mary http://www.redwormcomposting.com/gardening/laundry-line-bean-gardens/comment-page-1/#comment-22389 Mary Sun, 13 Sep 2009 21:05:51 +0000 http://www.redwormcomposting.com/?p=1150#comment-22389 OMg! I have to ask you about your comment on "loads of teeny tiny worms, living in less than ideal conditions"!!! I had my son take my somewhat-close-to-done compost out of my compost trench. I was very interested to see how many worms I had, and also wanted to put as many as possible into my second trench that I had started. We had a wheel barrel (about 5 cu ft) filled with compost from the trench. To my HORROR I only found about 10 adult worms, but hundreds (possibly thousands) of teeny tiny worms. I feel terrible about this because I thought I was taking such good care of them. It was about 4 hours of going through the compost, about 4 cups at a time. I know I didn't miss too many. It's too late to do anything about it, but my question is, will little worms survive if I monitor their environment better, or should I just go ahead and order more worms? Looking back on it, I feel I did great until about a month ago when I wasn't monitoring the moisture level as well as I should have been. We went through a pretty good dry spell. OMg! I have to ask you about your comment on “loads of teeny tiny worms, living in less than ideal conditions”!!! I had my son take my somewhat-close-to-done compost out of my compost trench. I was very interested to see how many worms I had, and also wanted to put as many as possible into my second trench that I had started. We had a wheel barrel (about 5 cu ft) filled with compost from the trench.
To my HORROR I only found about 10 adult worms, but hundreds (possibly thousands) of teeny tiny worms. I feel terrible about this because I thought I was taking such good care of them. It was about 4 hours of going through the compost, about 4 cups at a time. I know I didn’t miss too many. It’s too late to do anything about it, but my question is, will little worms survive if I monitor their environment better, or should I just go ahead and order more worms? Looking back on it, I feel I did great until about a month ago when I wasn’t monitoring the moisture level as well as I should have been. We went through a pretty good dry spell.

]]> By: Bentley http://www.redwormcomposting.com/gardening/laundry-line-bean-gardens/comment-page-1/#comment-22388 Bentley Sun, 13 Sep 2009 17:39:36 +0000 http://www.redwormcomposting.com/?p=1150#comment-22388 Hi Sarah, Glad to hear that I've helped to inspire you a little here and there. As for my wooden system, it is indeed still sitting empty. I have a lot on the go at the moment so I certainly haven't missed. My MAJOR recommendation is to make yours not only larger (ie greater surface area for each tray), but also substantially deeper (and maybe just go with three levels). My major issue with the one I have is how quickly it dries out and the minimal volume each tray holds. Just my 2 cents 8) Hi Sarah,
Glad to hear that I’ve helped to inspire you a little here and there.
As for my wooden system, it is indeed still sitting empty. I have a lot on the go at the moment so I certainly haven’t missed.
My MAJOR recommendation is to make yours not only larger (ie greater surface area for each tray), but also substantially deeper (and maybe just go with three levels). My major issue with the one I have is how quickly it dries out and the minimal volume each tray holds.
Just my 2 cents
8)

]]> By: ForestGardenGirl http://www.redwormcomposting.com/gardening/laundry-line-bean-gardens/comment-page-1/#comment-22383 ForestGardenGirl Sat, 12 Sep 2009 18:02:25 +0000 http://www.redwormcomposting.com/?p=1150#comment-22383 Bentley, Your laundry line bean garden is a great idea! I will be setting this up before next spring, you can count on it!(among other great ideas that I have culled from your brain without your knowledge, Haha!) Thanks, Sara aka ForestGardenGirl. ps. (unrelated, but something I have been wondering about for a while, sorry) I am still using a rubbermaid type system (2 active and fully mature bins that I am harvesting today, hehe!) and I was thinking of splitting them to begin a new (third) system soon, for which I was considering building a wooden stacking worm bin similar to the one you bought. I have the skills and the tools, but was wondering- how is that bin working? You used it for the four worm repro experiment, and then an update on the system in December- Is the system still sitting empty? I would love to hear any additional feedback about the system - do you think the size is ideal- any features you wish it had- any problems inherent with a wooden stacking system- you know, the things I should consider before building one so that I can improve on the basic design (if any improvements can be made). I would love to hear your feedback, or see a new post on your blog dealing with this system. Thanks again! Sara aka ForestGardenGirl. Bentley, Your laundry line bean garden is a great idea! I will be setting this up before next spring, you can count on it!(among other great ideas that I have culled from your brain without your knowledge, Haha!)

Thanks, Sara aka ForestGardenGirl.

ps. (unrelated, but something I have been wondering about for a while, sorry) I am still using a rubbermaid type system (2 active and fully mature bins that I am harvesting today, hehe!) and I was thinking of splitting them to begin a new (third) system soon, for which I was considering building a wooden stacking worm bin similar to the one you bought. I have the skills and the tools, but was wondering- how is that bin working? You used it for the four worm repro experiment, and then an update on the system in December- Is the system still sitting empty?

I would love to hear any additional feedback about the system – do you think the size is ideal- any features you wish it had- any problems inherent with a wooden stacking system- you know, the things I should consider before building one so that I can improve on the basic design (if any improvements can be made). I would love to hear your feedback, or see a new post on your blog dealing with this system.

Thanks again!
Sara aka ForestGardenGirl.

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