Worm Poop and Bean Sprouts

Posted on August 28, 2009 by Brian Gallimore

I set aside a small number of red wiggler worms inside a 2 gallon bucket and kept it by the back door in the garage. Turns out this worm farm is doing much better than my big outdoor bin. I decided to harvest the worm castings today. Wow, I was impressed. All this nutrient-rich fertilizer was newspaper and kitchen scraps just a short time ago. These worms are amazing creatures, they really go through the food and multiply in quantity very quickly. I’m having issues with ants, roaches, and other crawling critters in my outdoor bin, I think these little indoor buckets are the way to go.


In other exciting news, my cover crop of beans sprouted. I hope this pumps the soil full of nitrogen for a good spring crop next year.

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3 Responses to Worm Poop and Bean Sprouts

  1. What Pigs Don't Know says:
    May 28, 2011 at 12:28 pm

    Brian – when you moved some of the worms into the garage – did you put holes in the 2 gallon buckets? I don’t think my worms will survive outside all summer in the heat. But I worry about bringing the bin inside b/c I do have some gnats or fruit fly type things living in there right now. And I certainly don’t want them all over my house.
    Any thoughts? Thanks -Carrie

    Reply
    • Brian says:
      May 28, 2011 at 1:03 pm

      Carrie, I drilled some holes in the lid, but none on the bottom. They did good for a while, but all died for some reason. The worms outside survived just fine, but I re-did my worm bin a few times: 1- added some expensive foil/bubble wrap insulation to the bin, 2- buried the bin down in the ground 6″ or so, 3- drilled large holes in the bottom of the bin, 4- built a shade cover over and around the bin so that sun never hits it. I agree with the flys…. my bin has various bugs that I really wouldn’t want in the house either! haha I like the fact that my worm bin is large enough and has enough wet shredded paper in it that I can leave them alone for months and they will still be alive. This year I’m going to try to start harvesting the castings every 2 months.

      I think the most important thing for the worms to be outside is that they are in a shady spot, and can dig down deep enough to get away from heat.

      Reply
  2. What Pigs Don't Know says:
    May 28, 2011 at 3:40 pm

    Thanks for the tips, Brian.

    Reply

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