Comments on: The Insurance Bin – 10 Months Later

By: Bentley

Bentley — Tue, 08 Jan 2019 18:01:31 +0000

Caleb
1) Good question! I haven’t actually taken a close look, but really should. They are used straight out of the package (allowed to soak up moisture and turn to sawdust before use typically)
2) Ash can be used in gardening – can help boost K. I would be very careful about using it in worm composting systems though – I’d worry about it potentially being harmful for the worms (may be K-OH formation if I remember correctly). Maybe ok in small amounts though
3) I shred by hand so the strips end up pretty big in comparison – the size you mentioned sounds great! I have not yet tried a comparison of different sizes – but it sounds like a cool experiment!

As for Insurance Bins – the beauty of them is they can be very small and well-hidden. Literally in the back of a closet etc. I’m not suggesting you purposely deceive your wife (lol) but maybe a “do it anyway, apologize later (if need be)” stance might work well in this case. Put FULL blame on me!

[Just make sure it’s not some place where she will confuse it with some other bin – that probably wouldn’t be fun for her! lol]

By: Caleb

Caleb — Fri, 04 Jan 2019 22:50:29 +0000

Awesome to see the insurance bin still alive and kicking strong!
Couple questions:
1) Stove pellets – I’m assuming these are completely untreated with no chemicals? Are you using them raw or after being burned?
2) expanding on “after being burned” question, I have a smoker that uses pellets, and have often wondered about adding ash to my worm bin. Do you have thoughts or experience with adding ash into any of your mixes? I’ve seen some people use it as a way to offset acidity in soil, particularly mixing wood ash with coffee grounds as a neutralizer of pH.
3) What size of corrugated pieces do you find is the most optimal? I have a shredder that can do cardboard thickness (even double sheets, its a beast), that puts out about 1 inch by 1/4″ long strips. But typically I see you do like 2″x2″ squares approximately. Do you just rip by hand? Have you experimented with size of these at all and found any meaningful difference?

What I’m tempted to do, because my wife is very much a “no worms in the house” kind of person (she screams when she sees a silverfish haha), is create an insurance bin and bury it in a corner of the yard.

By: Bentley

Bentley — Thu, 06 Dec 2018 02:44:28 +0000

John K – thanks for the kind words!
😎

By: john

john — Thu, 06 Dec 2018 02:12:38 +0000

YOU ARE A TRIP skilled on the computer and a great writer i do worms and the way you present it is fun John Keenan

By: Bentley

Bentley — Tue, 04 Dec 2018 19:33:43 +0000

JOHN – yeah, it’s a super easy way to keep a worm culture going. And no need to even neglect the worms the way I have. Even a bit more bedding and food once a month would leave you with a thriving system (still with no hassles)
——-
PRISWELL – That is really interesting re: the pellets! I am thinking about testing them out (along with the wood chips) as a main bedding for my Urban Worm Bag 2.0 (hoping to get started soon)

By: Priswell

Priswell — Tue, 04 Dec 2018 14:46:33 +0000

Interesting to hear about this ongoing project. I know of many that use cardboard as their only bin filler.

I like stove pellets in my bin as a way to absorb extra water in case of overwatering. I’ve found that my worms like pellets as no more than about 1/3 of total bin filling when you are starting a new bin.

By: John W.

John W. — Tue, 04 Dec 2018 03:01:41 +0000

Will be very interested to see how this one ends. Makes me think I need to make an insurance bin for when i get to busy to keep my main one alive