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I got my worms!

Posted by Ecopal none (My Page) on
Wed, Feb 1, 12 at 15:18

Hey Everybody
Today I got my 500 red wigglers from Uncle Jims worm farm. They appear to be very lively and in good health and it only took about four days for delivery. I followed instructions on how to start a worm bin except that instead of newspapers I used dry leaves. Is that O.K.? Also I have been told that worm castings make excellent fertilizer. But is that enough for my tomatoes and other vegetables or will I need to get other kinds?


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RE: I got my worms!

Hip hip hooray!

I got my worms from Uncle Jim's a year or two ago and the farm is still going strong. I feel like a proud worm-herder.

Dry leaves should be fine--I use some dried leaves in my worm bin, and some nice, clean corrugated cardboard, ripped up. I like to mix a few different kinds of bedding in. Also, I'm careful about how "clean" the leaves that I use are, since I don't want to get the dreaded centipede (a worm carnivore) in my operation.

Whether the wormery compost will be enough for your veggie operation depends on how big a veggie operation you have. Most likely, especially until the worms get eating and multiplying, you will probably need other sources of compost. I keep a big bin composter going outside with shredded newspaper, leaves, manure, and any garden scraps that the chickens don't like.

Certainly you will need some other fertilizers, since the NPK values of compost tend not to be very high. I use blood meal for nitrogen, bone meal for phosphorous, and wood ash for potassium.

Depending on what you choose to do later, you might expand your worm operation to make more compost, but at least this spring and you'll need another source.


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