nancypants Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 Hee hee! :D Really, we are going to start indoor worm composting with red wigglers. I'm gathering all the info. we need and am about to place an order with an Ecostore downtown. I'm just deciding if I should order half a pound of worms or a pound. We are a family of six... so I'm thinking we may need to get a pound of worms maybe. Does anyone here do worm composting? Any secrets I should know about that aren't mentioned on the informational websites? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K&Rs Mom Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 How cool! Personally, I'd send the kids outside with a shovel and a bucket to get free (and local!) worms. OTOH, I am one who likes the *idea* of worm composting but am not willing to have actual worms inside my house, where I live. I have no idea how many worms one might need, but in Compost This Book the author says many of his escaped over the first month or so, so I'd say order more than you need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clwcain Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 Half pound. Remember, the point of the indoor breeding operation is to...well, breed them. If you get a full pound you'll start them off with a colony famine. There's a book by a now-deceased woman titled "Worms Eat My Garbage". I'm pretty sure its still available over teh Intarwebz. I highly recommend it. Here it is. My wife talked me out of doing this a couple of years ago, but as our oldest starts expressing an interest in pets we're revisiting the possibility. Our big problem is temperature stability. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nancypants Posted May 29, 2008 Author Share Posted May 29, 2008 Half pound. Remember, the point of the indoor breeding operation is to...well, breed them. If you get a full pound you'll start them off with a colony famine. There's a book by a now-deceased woman titled "Worms Eat My Garbage". I'm pretty sure its still available over teh Intarwebz. I highly recommend it. Here it is. My wife talked me out of doing this a couple of years ago, but as our oldest starts expressing an interest in pets we're revisiting the possibility. Our big problem is temperature stability. Thanks! I had heard about the book but didn't realize it was on the web! Cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clwcain Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 How cool! Personally, I'd send the kids outside with a shovel and a bucket to get free (and local!) worms. Backyard worms are earthworms. They don't eat rubbish, organic or otherwise. Different species of worms are needed, best bought from a specialist. Might even be a different genus, but I never could keep biological names straight... :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unsinkable Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 No advice but have fun! We have a compost tumbler. All our compost is comtained, off the ground and can't be accessed by unwanted critters. Because it is outside, we can only compost from late spring to early fall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy in Ky Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 Ooooh! I want to raise worms so badly!!!! It would be great chicken feed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammyla Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 Oh, my gosh...I read pin worms....Regular old worms sounds much, much better. Hee hee! :D Really, we are going to start indoor worm composting with red wigglers. I'm gathering all the info. we need and am about to place an order with an Ecostore downtown. I'm just deciding if I should order half a pound of worms or a pound. We are a family of six... so I'm thinking we may need to get a pound of worms maybe. Does anyone here do worm composting? Any secrets I should know about that aren't mentioned on the informational websites? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nancypants Posted May 29, 2008 Author Share Posted May 29, 2008 Oh, my gosh...I read pin worms....Regular old worms sounds much, much better. Oh man... I am ROFLOL!! :lol::smilielol5::rofl: ((wiping tears from eyes)) Thank you for that laugh!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly in FL Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 Look for the book at your library. I just looked and ours has it. ~Holly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maria from IN Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 Sounds like fun! Is anyone else reminded of that commercial they used to play on the radio station on WKRP (SUCH a child of the 70's here)... "Red Wigglers, the Cadillac of Worms. We're theeeeeeee Cadillac of Worms!" :tongue_smilie: Thanks for bringing back a funny memory... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audrey Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 I'm excited! We are getting pet worms! Does anyone here do worm composting? Any secrets I should know about that aren't mentioned on the informational websites? We love our worms. I'd go with half a pound. Start small and let them breed to suit the environment. My only real complaint about pet worms is that when you're teaching them to roll over, it's really hard to tell if they're getting it or not. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin in Tx Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 Oh, Nancy dear... I hate to burst your bubble but there is a difference between a pet and a contained animal! LOL On second thought, maybe this is a good solution for Colleen's problem with a son who badly wants an indoor pet :). Sorry, couldn't resist! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nancypants Posted May 29, 2008 Author Share Posted May 29, 2008 Oh, Nancy dear... I hate to burst your bubble but there is a difference between a pet and a contained animal! LOL On second thought, maybe this is a good solution for Colleen's problem with a son who badly wants an indoor pet :). Sorry, couldn't resist! LOL Don't worry. I wouldn't be caught dead petting one of them! To me they would just be fertilizer makers! :lol: I'm really quite selfishly thinking only of my flower beds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCMom Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 But this time we are doing it a little differently. We are going to be using the "worm tea" and not the castings per se. I hate changing them (will have to do that anyway some though- they will die if you don't) but this will be a nice experiment. Got it from this book in case anyone is interested... Organic Farming page 43 :) happy vermi-composting! georgia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kay in Cal Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 Please post how it goes... we've come close in the past to doing this, and I keep wanting to take the plunge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nancypants Posted May 30, 2008 Author Share Posted May 30, 2008 Please post how it goes... we've come close in the past to doing this, and I keep wanting to take the plunge. I will. So I called and placed the order. It feels really funny ordering worms over the phone. :lol: So we are going to do this finally! We've been talking about it for a couple of years. I hope these worms have big appetites. We make a lot of compost worthy garbage! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clwcain Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 I'll be keeping tabs on this, too. :D The last time my wife and I were going to do this, we opted for a tumbling composter. That's been fine, but I still want to do worms. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unsinkable Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 I'll be keeping tabs on this, too. :D The last time my wife and I were going to do this, we opted for a tumbling composter. That's been fine, but I still want to do worms. ;) Is it warm enough in Arling. to do the compost tumbler year 'round? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clwcain Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 Is it warm enough in Arling. to do the compost tumbler year 'round? Yes, in our experience. January to February can get iffy, but we just let it go for that 8 weeks or so this year. We have a Tumbleweed. It didn't freeze up, and the heat generated seemed sufficient to keep the insect population lively. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julpost Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 That's so cool! I want to do the same! Have fun!!:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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