Question from Alicia:
I am a newbie, but have had a great time with my container worm farm.
This season means more organic materials for me, specifically watermelons which I did not like in my bin.So, I dug a hole, put down a ton of bedding, dumped in the rinds, and added a couple of handfulls of material and worms to the mix after your inspirational trench farm method.
However, after re reading the post, I am worried that my worms will need follow up feeding.
Have I just sentenced my worms to death?
Thanks for the great info.
Hi Alicia,
Your methods sound pretty good to me, especially if you made sure that the bedding materials were nice and moist. Food wastes like watermelon rinds are a great choice since they will help to maintain moisture levels – something that can be a challenge during summer months.
Based on your wording, I get the impression that you had only planned to feed the worms once. If at all possible, additional deposits of water-rich food wastes and absorbent bedding materials are recommended, but even some chopped up green wastes (weeds, lawn clippings etc) mixed with bedding and added near the top, plus regular waterings should keep the worms going. Another fantastic material aged horse manure, if you can find a good local source. Again the key is to layer it up near the top.
Your main challenge, as alluded to, will be loss of moisture. These are very hardy worms – as long as they have SOME sort of food (even bedding becomes food), and some moisture, they can survive for a long time. And if you can add some food waste deposits every now and again, so much the better!
Hope this help!
😎