I recently wrote about the rather unique “Vernmenting” concept. As touched on, something that really stood out for me was this idea of “composting rolls” – for use in more of a batch type of system (where everything is added at the start and then basically left alone).
Yesterday, I happened to have a large amount of frozen-then-thawed kitchen waste – that had been sitting for a bit (aka getting a wee bit funky) – in need of a “home” so I figured this would be perfect for testing out my first composting rolls.
I outline everything in the video, but in a nutshell…
-> I fragmented the larger pieces and mixed in some stove pellets (soak up liquid, add carbon), poultry feed (boost long term nutrition a bit), and rich living material (beneficial microbe injection).
-> Mixed everything up really well
-> Put a big dollop of the mix in the middle of a small newspaper (from a local university) and wrapped up into a nice parcel
-> Started with some newsprint and living material down in bottom of the bin, added alternating layers of the rolls and the living material (last layer being LM).
-> Added some wormy material from an indoor bin (some worms in the LM already but this was just to boost numbers a bit), and a bit of cover bedding.
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The two bins I created – apart testing out the composting rolls concept – are intended as vermiculture bins, providing me with a supply of Red Worms during the winter when I can’t access outdoor beds. I have a sneaking suspicion that composting rolls are going to work really well – lots of nutrition in there, but more of a slow-release scenario (would be pretty hazardous if I just dumped all that waste in a worm bin).
I love “set it and forget it” – if you’ve followed me for any length of time you will know I am good the “forgetting” part (LOL). At least this way the worms have everything they need to really thrive!
Should be interesting to see how things proceed.
Stay tuned
😎
P.S. It feels great to get back in the saddle again with YouTube videos. Definitely some room for improvement (lol), but I look forward to making a lot more videos in the months ahead. If there is a particular topic you would like to see covered don’t hesitate to let me know!
Hi Christie,
Nice experiment! I’m looking forward to see the results.
Should it not be nice to investigate the difference between “normal vermiculture” and vermiculture with composting rolls, for instance when you look at cocoon production or amounts of red worms ? Because how are you going to determine whether this is a success or not?
Greetings,
Theo
This is the experiment I’m most interested in right now. Mostly for easy ‘insurance bins’. Also when you know life is about to get extremely slow on worm tending for a time.
Hoping this works well in a minimally modified Rubbermaid or similar. I want to see processing of main ‘meat’ in the rolls. Preferably at some point not using living material directly inside the rolls though, for ease of freezer to bin use.
Also would like to see breeding and count increase if under stocked.