tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42116715028187249642024-03-08T06:02:18.079-06:00Wacky World of Worms BlogWacky World of Worms www.wackyworldsof.comRising Mist Organic Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11862262052519510219noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4211671502818724964.post-74160707452636756602012-10-06T12:04:00.001-05:002012-10-06T12:04:43.884-05:00Hello world!<br />
<br />
Things are winding down at the farm. Still, we have to winterize the worm hoop houses. The plastic needs to be unpacked and stretched over the frames. At 16 feet high, 20 ft wide, 48 ft long, this is a 4 person job. It has to be done on a windless day or you would likely be flung 60 miles away.<br />
We have 50 degree days and 35 degree nights. The Worms are lovin' it.Rising Mist Organic Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11862262052519510219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4211671502818724964.post-39529069731622765612011-03-17T12:14:00.000-05:002011-03-17T12:14:33.492-05:00MARCH IN KANSASMarch came in like a lion, a snow lion! <br />
<br />
It’s been a very cold windy start to the beginning of the garden season. Right now I have to go to the cellar to get my spring green fix where seedlings are happily growing under the lights. In another couple of weeks it should be warm enough at night for some of them to move out to the greenhouse where they will really start to take off. It would be great if they could move out quicker because I need the room for my next round of starts. Right now I have cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, onions, leeks, lettuce, parsley, thyme, anise hyssop and a half a dozen different flowers residing on a table under 3 shop lights. Later this week I plan to start peppers and eggplant, then next week it will be flats of tomatoes, basil, and more flowers. <br />
<br />
There is so much to do but it can be hard to get motivated when it is cold and gray, really I don’t think the seeds even want to come out of the packages on a days like this. The weather man has promised sun by the end of the week so I won’t get too far behind schedule.<br />
<div class="yiv1051876906msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;">Maybe I should go sit under the lights too! </div><br />
<div class="yiv1051876906msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;">. </div> Rising Mist Organic Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11862262052519510219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4211671502818724964.post-31238202196903244672011-02-24T09:34:00.000-06:002011-02-24T09:34:16.643-06:00Shaker-style worm harvestingMoving on, a simple inexpensive tool for harvesting your worms and castings is a framed screen. I recommend using "hardware cloth" with 1/8" holes. This separates most of the baby worms as well as the bigger ones. It also gives you a more pure worm castings product.<br />
<br />
Make your screen with slightly larger dimensions than those of your wheelbarrow. You can place the screen on the edges of your wheelbarrow to load worm material onto. Then simply move the frame back and forth so that the castings fall into the wheelbarrow and the worms and unfinished material stay on top of the screen.<br />
<br />
One thing to keep in mind with this method is that your material must be dried to a point where the worms are still fine and the material is crumbly and damp. This will allow the castings and vermicompost to separate. The worms and material left on top of the screen is then added to the fresh bedding. When the process is completed, you should end up with a wheelbarrow full of high quality worm casts and compost that is ready to add to your garden!Rising Mist Organic Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11862262052519510219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4211671502818724964.post-18983497268702500672011-02-13T08:24:00.000-06:002011-02-13T08:24:49.547-06:00Hill and Sort Method<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The hill and sort method is a bit time-consuming. But for the home worm bin enthusiast, it works well. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">**Empty the contents of your bin onto a table covered in plastic or a light-colored vinyl tablecloth. **Place a bright light over the material. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">**Now separate into small hills and scoop off the tops repeating the procedure every 20 minutes. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">**The worms will continuously dive away from the light until all that’s left are the worms in a small amount of the compost. Place them into your freshly prepared bedding and start recycling again. There will still be some worms left in the separated compost. You may decide to dry your vermicompost<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>enough to enable you to sift it through a screen collecting the remainder of worms. </span></div>Rising Mist Organic Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11862262052519510219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4211671502818724964.post-21508140659284216022011-02-08T15:58:00.000-06:002011-02-08T15:58:32.319-06:00Bedding For Worm BinsWe have loads of choices of materials we can use in <a href="http://www.wackyworldsof.com/worm-bins/">worm bins</a>. First though, lets go over the worm's requirements:<br />
<br />
*Composting worms are surface dwellers. This means their living environment is oxygen rich and fairly loose.<br />
*Worms take in air through their skins and to do this requires that they live in consistently moist material. So, the bedding must hold moisture.<br />
*A worm bin is generally a small space for a large number of worms to live. There can be nothing in the material that would distress <span style="background-color: yellow;"><span style="background-color: white;">your</span></span><span style="background-color: white;"> <span style="background-color: white;">worm</span>s as they would have nowhere to go to get away from the irritant.</span><br />
*Worms use the equivalent of a gizzard to process nutrients. So, include small amounts of grit or sand in any bedding.<br />
<br />
The bedding material, while being light and fluffy, should also have enough substance so that you can bury your garbage and cover it knowing that you are not attracting unwanted pests and that no odors escape.<br />
<br />
Materials that fit the bill:<br />
<br />
*Coconut coir<br />
*Peat Moss (although this is not a renewable resource)<br />
*Aged sawdust<br />
*Shredded newspaper (mix this with compost to avoid matting) avoid color pages as the inks may be toxic<br />
*Compost, choose organic but avoid compost containing cotton burr (I do not know why this is an irritant)<br />
*Shredded leaves<br />
*Cardboad (combine with compost)<br />
*Grit should be added in small amounts with any bedding<br />
<br />
If your goal is to keep the worms in a "natural" habitat, compost and shredded leaves is the answer and don't forget the grit.If you don't have the time and/or materials to make up a natural bedding, we provide <a href="http://www.wackyworldsof.com/html/worm_bedding.html">worm bedding</a> on our site that meets all of the worms' and the worms' owners needs. It comes as close to a natural habitat for the worm as we can make it.Rising Mist Organic Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11862262052519510219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4211671502818724964.post-4969654119313387042011-01-20T12:51:00.000-06:002011-01-20T12:51:29.273-06:00Garden Dreaming<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">It's the New Year, the holiday festivities are over and the seed catalogs have arrived just in time to add brightness to a dreary January.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cold winter nights are the perfect time to curl up in a cozy chair and plan out the garden season ahead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>I sip hot herbal tea and makes lists of everything I want to plant this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course since the real work is still a couple months away I can be as impractical as I want. I add anything that catches my eye to the list.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>There always seems to be a whole new bunch of tomato varieties that look too good to pass up, all the different colors and shapes. I must have one of each.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How many types of summer squash can I get away with this year? What about the beautiful eggplants and the peppers and all the different greens, and I haven’t even started looking for flowers. The list keeps getting longer and longer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Eventually reason will start to take hold again and I will whittle my orders down to an almost manageable level. This year’s garden in my January mind is way different than the April reality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will probably once again plant the onions too late and maybe not get to that last packet of morning glories but oh how wonderfully lush and unique is my imagined garden! </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Pamela<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>Rising Mist Organic Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11862262052519510219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4211671502818724964.post-37319992685419134912011-01-03T08:25:00.001-06:002011-01-04T08:41:45.290-06:00Worm HarvestingThis is an email I recieved about worm compost way too wet for separation at harvesting time:<br />
<br />
I just purchased one of your <a href="http://www.wackyworldsof.com/harvester/">worm harvesters</a> and I am anxious to use it. I teach second grade and I keep my bin in my classroom. My kids help to manage the bin. I really would like them to begin harvesting the compost using the harvester but...my worm poop is very wet and not dropping through the screen. I know you suggested drying it a bit but exactly how do I do that? I find when I have dried the compost it dries in hard clumps.<br />
How do I create light, dry, loose compost and castings. We would like to sell it at school as a fundraiser but I want it to be just right.<br />
<br />
Thanks for your help!<br />
<br />
L.<br />
<br />
<br />
Your material is way too wet I think. Here are some ideas. Tear newspaper into chunks (not shredded). Mix it into the material well until wet then remove. Do this several times with new paper each time. You should be able to absorb a lot of moisture this way. <br />
<br />
The material should be more manageable after this. Now put the material on a tray with shallow sides (to keep the worms in) and run a fan on this. Periodically run your hands through this to break up clods and stir the material so that it all dries evenly. Soon you should have harvestable compost.<br />
<br />
I hope this helps. The kids will get such a kick out of harvesting time :o)<br />
<br />
DebbieRising Mist Organic Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11862262052519510219noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4211671502818724964.post-71805580021364755982011-01-01T09:15:00.001-06:002011-01-01T09:48:39.554-06:00Worm Tea for Diseased PlantsDear Debbie,<br />
<br />
Thanks for asking about worm tea effects - I waited so I could give a true report over time.<br />
I found your website indirectly through google because I was looking for a natural fix for blight on the plants I had in the containers on the deck.<br />
<br />
I'm not a farmer, not a gardener -- just went to Wal-Mart and a couple of other places and got some tomato and squash and eggplant plants.<br />
<br />
I don't know if you heard out there, but on the east coast there was a huge blight problem because Wal-Mart was selling infected tomato and squash plants, from some grower in the South. Hmmm.<br />
<br />
So this is what I think. Worm tea did not cure the blight.What it does do is cause a spurt of growth, leaf growth,which helps to make the plant stronger.<br />
IF (big word) I had applied worm tea more often and more consistently, I might have been able to save the plants. But I was both lazy and not sure if it would help, so I first started out applying a bucket once a week and this slowed down into every other week or every 2 or 3 weeks.<br />
<br />
The squash plants died. All of them. Even the pumpkins that I had grown from seed and set off in the yard, far away from the infected squash-from-Wal-Mart plants. So maybe the blight is not necessarily from the squash/tomato plants. Or maybe it travels far in the air.<br />
<br />
The tomato plants did not die. But they were sickly and scraggly and produced puny fruits, many of which were covered in black spots. I think this is one of the symptoms of tomato blight.<br />
<br />
But I am a happy customer. I do believe worm tea is a very good thing for plants -- it's like a perkup for them, gives them a little push, maybe like a good strong cup of coffee.<br />
<br />
So if I was doing it all over again, I would make worm tea every day for them while they were very young and in the danger period of suffering from blight.<br />
Thanks,<br />
<br />
E DempseyRising Mist Organic Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11862262052519510219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4211671502818724964.post-74520361589154704362010-09-29T17:55:00.001-05:002011-02-08T15:00:39.423-06:00Home Worm BinsFood for a home worm bin:<br />
<br />
<br />
Fruit and vegetable scraps are always a safe bet .<br />
<br />
Collecting kitchen scraps in small lidded bucket allows them to age for a while<br />
before adding them to the bin. Aging encourages microbial colonization while <br />
the food is breaking down. This will happen in the worm bin actually but the <br />
worms won't start feeding on the materials until they are starting to rot.<br />
<br />
You can also add tea bags and coffee grounds with filters to your bin. Be moderate with this material as it can be very acidic. Worms love orange veggies! Pumpkins, butternut, as well as any variety of melons.<br />
<br />
These materials will break down into liquid so watch that your material doesn’t get too wet for the worms. Too much water robs the bedding of air.<br />
<br />
Foods to avoid: dairy; meat; onions, citrus fruits and garlic.Rising Mist Organic Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11862262052519510219noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4211671502818724964.post-16878520083962951722010-09-04T12:20:00.001-05:002010-09-06T10:12:47.468-05:00Pet Waste Composting with Worms (How-To){Do Not add worms right away. Let your waste and materials set a while (10 days). This will allow the worms to acclimate easier and cut the risk of harming the worms (uric acid, amonia).}<br />
<br />
To begin your pet waste vermicompost pile, dig a good sized hole in the ground, approx. 3' accross and <br />
2'-3' down. Less depth is okay if you are not able to dig any further. Line the bottom of the hole with a thick layer of shredded leaves.<br />
<br />
Then you simply start adding your pet waste. Each time you add waste, do so with more bedding material and water if needed. <br />
<br />
Cover the pit with black plastic sheeting to retain moisture, keep the worms shaded and to control the amount of water the pet waste recieves.<br />
Once the worms are acclimated, they should thrive on all of the rich food. This will allow you to add waste without fear of harming the worms.Rising Mist Organic Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11862262052519510219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4211671502818724964.post-33041449753960720902010-09-01T08:58:00.001-05:002011-01-01T09:01:44.182-06:00Pet Waste Composting with Worms (How-To)Let your worms manage your pet waste! <br />
<br />
Start up a completely separate system, preferably outside.<br />
<br />
There is a health concern. Cat and dog wastes contain<br />
<br />
potentially nasty pathogens. Cat wastes have an added danger. It can also<br />
<br />
contain a parasitic protozoan called Toxoplasma gondii. This can be a serious threat for pregnant women<br />
<br />
or those with compromised immune systems.<br />
<br />
All of that being said, the worms still manage to turn your pet poo into valuable vermicompost for flower <br />
<br />
gardens and lawns. My next post will have the how-to information for starting this composting system.<br />
<br />
Stay tuned :O)<br />
<br />
Debbie (Worm Lady)Rising Mist Organic Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11862262052519510219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4211671502818724964.post-51784952850651833882010-08-31T17:00:00.001-05:002011-01-01T09:50:59.087-06:00Best Worm for CompostingThere are a few species of worms used for composting. By far the best worm to use is the Red Wiggler worm or Eisenia fetida. They will consume organic matter quickly, half their body weight every day. So, if you start with 1 pound of red wigglers, each day they are consuming 1/2 pound of food.<br />
They multiply quickly increasing your vermi-composting capacity. With conditions remaining good, red wigglers will double in population within 60-90 days!<br />
These worms will not "move out" as long as there is plenty of food and moisture. Small spaces do not bother them making them excellent to live and thrive in home worm bins.Rising Mist Organic Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11862262052519510219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4211671502818724964.post-89935007184259018742010-08-25T20:49:00.000-05:002010-08-25T20:49:52.955-05:00Worm Farming QuestionDebbie,<br />
<br />
<br />
My worms are needing harvested, so I'm anxious to get everything put together. What fun it has been watching these creatures do their magic.<br />
<br />
Do I need to do anything with the castings to insure they are clear of<br />
insects that would be harmful to plants? The worms seem really healthy <br />
and have procreated beyond my wildest dreams the last 6-8 weeks, so I think<br />
the community is relatively healthy.<br />
<br />
However, I've seen what I believe to be a mite once in a while. This has me terrified <br />
and I'm not sure how to safely and hopefully organically deal with the issue if it's a problem.<br />
<br />
Any help on this would be greatly appreciated if you have time to respond.<br />
I don't want to introduce something to my garden that would necessarily need to be eliminated.<br />
<br />
Much thanks for everything,<br />
<br />
Jill<br />
<br />
<br />
Hi Jill,<br />
<br />
<br />
The worms' material will have nothing in it harmful to plants unless man <br />
has put it there. Castings are Nature's Design. Adding anything would possibly<br />
take away from the positive microbial life throughout the castings Which<br />
gives your soil and plants incredible strength and resilliance. <br />
<br />
Anytime you see an overabundance of one particular composting critter, the best way of<br />
control is to change out their bedding or add another material into their<br />
bedding. It's amazing how easily the ecology of the worm composting material<br />
changes.<br />
<br />
Usually there is nothing to panic about since the solution is simple. Just know <br />
that all of the creatures play a role in the composting.Trying to X out the bad <br />
guys is taking away from a balanced system and, consequently,<br />
your plant's defenses.<br />
<br />
Sorry for the long-winded response. Hope this helps.<br />
<br />
DebbieRising Mist Organic Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11862262052519510219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4211671502818724964.post-82064974201679625032010-02-10T09:28:00.000-06:002010-02-10T09:28:14.947-06:00Composting passionWe have been vegans for about 15 yrs and recently tried the raw foods lifestyle. Delicious recipes! We can only follow this diet during the growing season of our garden. One problem is it does produce a great deal of veggie waste. And, of course, the worms go through veggie waste extremely fast. So worm bins are excellent for the vegan and raw foods lifestyle. <br />
<br />
<br />
I've become a believer in the tumblers also. We started carrying a compost tumbler <a href="http://bit.ly/awojWp">http://bit.ly/awojWp</a> on our site which necessitated using it. We use this for everything and it composts quickly! I know it's written, but, you do not have to worry about the brown matter ratio with a tumbler. It composts really well reducing the matter so that you can keep adding. Another point is, there is a certain amount of brown matter within all the veggie waste.<br />
<br />
Composting is a passion with me. Hope this helps.Rising Mist Organic Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11862262052519510219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4211671502818724964.post-73216903428378699302010-01-19T13:11:00.003-06:002011-01-01T09:52:52.583-06:00Wintering WormsYes! The days are getting longer, the temps becoming more reasonable, and our worms are starting to become active. This time in the season, I'm able to take a look at how the hoop house worms are doing. Great! I see a lot of healthy pink and several mating pairs of worms. There are already formed worm cocoons everywhere. <br />
<br />
When you see two worms entertwined with one another, they are mating. Try not to disturb this process. They will stay together up to 8 hours and each worm will produce a capsule (cocoon) containing 5-21 baby worms.<br />
<br />
Spring is not too far away.......<br />
<br />
Worm LadyRising Mist Organic Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11862262052519510219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4211671502818724964.post-50367293318339234472010-01-14T12:41:00.002-06:002010-01-14T12:41:29.433-06:00Hi Everyone!<br />
<br />
Leaves make a great insulator for exposed worm bins this winter. Keep Warm!Rising Mist Organic Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11862262052519510219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4211671502818724964.post-72219798709334136802009-12-13T08:27:00.004-06:002011-01-01T11:30:47.858-06:00Redworms for ChristmasWorm Bin/Composters are making a splash this season. Excellent green gift for the garden enthusiast! Snowy Sunday. We will hit the high 30's today, yeah! Hoping to finish off a small compost harvester and start a new worm habitat in our winter worm room (kept at a balmy 40 degrees unless power goes out).<br />
<br />
The hoophouses are warming nicely as long as the sun comes out.<br />
<br />
Any worm questions?<br />
<br />
Debbie (Worm Lady)<br />
<a href="http://www.wackyworldsof.com/">http://www.wackyworldsof.com/</a>wormladyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12643942906057527803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4211671502818724964.post-62921708182580452812009-12-09T08:52:00.005-06:002009-12-09T09:18:49.586-06:00Hi All,<br /><br />This is a good day to officially start this blog! We've had about a foot of snow along with temps in the single digits. I still get to play with our indoor worms so, all is good. Yesterday and today is about moving castings for harvest and starting 3 more "bins". The bins are made from 55 gallon drums cut in half long ways. This works really well housing a lot of worms in each.<br /><br />Our outside worms are spread throughout 3 hoop houses which have become an excellent way to increase our season and insure the worms' safety through the winter.<br /><br />Two of our hoop houses are quonset style while the third is gothic. If you are considering hoop houses, I recommend the quonset style hoop house as the snow slides off before creating any problems. Our third one has to be manually scraped, (which I spent 3 hours doing yesterday), so the entire structure does not collapse in on itself.<br /><br />Glad to be here doing the blog thing. I should be able to contribute often. Please send comments and/or questions.<br /><br />Debbiewormladyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12643942906057527803noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4211671502818724964.post-71624465447915361702009-11-15T12:03:00.001-06:002011-01-01T09:20:16.549-06:00Composting Red Worms<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, "sans serif";"></span><br />
<b><span style="color: #ff9900;">My<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Worms Are Here. Now What?</span></span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The worms will be travel-weary when they arrive and should be put into their bedding right away. Gently pull them apart and put them them into your bin(s) or compost pile. They can't go into a hot compost pile, of course, but will be happy in cooler piles.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><b><span style="color: #ff9900;">I have an inside worm bin. What can I use for bedding?</span></b><span style="color: black;">Shredded newspapers, compost, or a synthetic peat moss. Magic Earth is a synthetic peat moss that the worms love. Fill the bin with bedding and water it before adding the worms.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="color: black;">Punch drainage holes in the bottom and water the worms occasionally to make sure the bedding stays moist-about like a wrung-out washcloth. Worms like a dark environment, too, so keep the bin loosely covered or in a dark room.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="color: #ff9900;"><span style="color: black;"><br />
</span><b>What do I feed the worms?</b></span><b><br />
</b><span style="color: black;">Worms will eat almost everything that has lived and died. If the worms are inside, feed them food scraps. They especially love orange vegetables</span></span> (squash, pumpkins), cantaloupe, apples, flour, coffee grounds, and cornmeal. Everything gets eaten.<br />
<br />
You can finely chop everything and they'll eat faster and multiply more quickly. However, we at Rising Mist have never bothered with the chopping. We just put the food scraps in the way they are.<br />
<br />
If the worms are outside, you can also include straw, grass, leaves, weeds, and animal manure. If the manure includes a lot of urine, however, it may be toxic.<br />
<span style="color: #ff9900;"><span style="color: black;"><br />
</span><b>Is there anything I should NOT feed the worms?</b></span><b><span style="color: white;"><br />
</span></b>These foods can be toxic in large amounts, so avoid them for small inside bins:<br />
<ul><li>onions and garlic</li>
<li>aromatic herbs</li>
<li>citrus fruits</li>
<li>tomatoes</li>
<li>anything very salty</li>
<li>anything very vinegary</li>
</ul><span style="color: white;">Meat and heavy fats must break down a bit first with putrefaction, which causes odors in a house bin and can become an unhealthy environment for a small space. In a compost pile or an outdoor bin that is large, however, you can toss meat and fat scraps in, sparingly. Be aware that animal scraps will attract mice.<br />
<br />
Worms can't tolerate food substances that have been treated with chemical pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers, including grass and weeds.</span>Rising Mist Organic Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11862262052519510219noreply@blogger.com0