Common sense would tell me that you should spread the compost and worms around the yard with your _hands_ instead of blowing it up and injuring the worms.

Please tell me this is a joke post.

PetBakery, if you're a regular lurker here, you surely know by now that some...no, a lot...no, most of my posts contain a good deal of stuff that I embellish to take a little of the edge off this forum's devotion to the seriousness of worms-manship.

Because today is the firecracker fourth, and my bin DID become ant infested yesterday, I expressed the degree of my dissatisfaction with my own little disaster by stating what I would do to the bin. That was while I was sorting out a large portion of the worms. The more I sorted, the more logical my detonation whim became. With more ants left than worms, I decided to go for the big bang.

Less drastically inclined opinions were brought to the fore, however, and my ignition sequence was aborted when the little women told me my days of co-habitation would be over with the big bang. At that point, I realized the folly, and "cut off your nose to spite ...." of my endeavor, and slunk to the detonator to unplug it.

While I really believe a well placed charge will spread them more econonically, and with minimal loss of worm, than anything I've tried so far, my efforts will be confined to smaller tests in secret that the little women will not be aware of.

Thank you, though, for your concern.

Chuckiebtoo

FIRE IN THE HOLE11

bruce

Chuckiebtoo,
YOu let us down! I was looking forward to a full description and pics of the Flying Worms:)

Good luck, with the worm woman. I stopped telling my
wife my worm activities a while ago.

Jim

still very new to this ( I don't have any worms yet...) but what I have read is, the worms from a worm farm do not survive in garden soil. so weather or not the blast destroyed them, wouldn't the soil do the same? I am really looking forward to the reviews of your "smaller tests" as surely the "in secret" does not apply to us. and I know, don't call me shirley...

As all of us who are men, and more specifically husbands, know, and all of you others who refuse to acknowledge it, in any truly monumental confrontation between the two, regardless of how insignificant, the wife/mother/home-maker emerges the victor.

Such it was with my aborted detonation.

Balancing the pros of the blast with the cons became an exercize in futility. I came up with pros: 1, cons: still compiling the direct ramifications, as well as the more subtle little ones that continue long after you've forgotten the reasons for them.

The little woman's condemnation of my plan seems odd since she despises each and every one of my worms. But then, oddness is normalcy around my house when a line is drawn in my formerly grass-covered yard.

Gotta go separate my ants from my worms.

Chuckiebtoo

Aliens in the bin, blowing up worms,ants, and whatever else might be in there, possibly baby aliens. I have fun checking on my worms, but Chuckiebtoo seems to be having alot more.

Yes, Sean, but since we also have more fun when Chuckie checks on his worms it's all ok!

Vstech, the idea that the worms we use in worm bins will die if put in the garden is a myth being perpetuated by multiple internet sites, even on some managed by otherwise knowledgeable people. One wonders where those who promote this bit of misinformation think these worms lived for the hundreds of thousands of years before man evolved on our beloved little planet and discovered that they could be cultured in bins! Do you suppose these poor, misguided folks had some notion that bears and gorillas were out there tending worm bins for delicate annelids?

Bottom line, the worms we use in vermicomposting systems are alive and well and thriving in soils througout the world just as nature intended.

Kelly S

Ah, yes, seanfl, I do strive to have lots of fun in all indeavors, including posts to this and other forums (forum?, fori?) I enjoy.

With regard to my experiences with ants and aliens, I will absolutely say I much prefer aliens. They slip in and out with little fanfare...my close encounter was purely luck...while ants are intent on wreaking havoc on the bin and worms.

I strongly advise everyone to take extreme caution ant-wise. Aliens? Just refueling, I think.

Chuckiebtoo

Oh come on. Isn't it obvious?

Aliens would splat into a vermiculturist's compost for just one reason....

They needed new WORM GEAR!! :)

PA

PA, alien craft HOVER to touchdown...they don't splat. Or I should say the one in my experience didn't splat. If yours splatted, it must have been completely devoid of fuel and on it's last...uh, legs.

Chuckiebtoo

"Then, when it half splattered and kind of floated down into my pile"

Maybe a leg and a half? :)

Gotta watch those worm gears, they don't give out often, but when they do....

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...please don't call her the "little woman!" Not once, but TWICE! I know she doesn't like it because I HATE IT!!! What if she called you the "little man?" LOL

Susan

lol socks, the *little man*, oh yes, can you imagine chuckie spending the next few months preoccupied wondering what she was referring to? the poor worms would be neglected while he was trying to figure out, exactly what she meant by that comment! ;)

chuckie, on a serious note, I think your "alien visitors" have figured out a way to turn worm manure into a fuel source and thats what is really going on here, the truth is out there :)

Susan, trancegemini:

In forum posts laced with facetiousness and irony as mine often are, using the term "little woman" would be, and is for me, a blatant exaggeration of obvious real-world truths in this society, as in most. It no more reflects an accurate description than does "a little pregnant", "wedded bliss", "somewhat drunk", or "equal opportunity employer", "considerable wealth", and things like minor heart attacks and strokes.

That being said, when, not if, she refers to me as my "little man", I know, after 37 "little" years of "wedded bliss", exactly what she means, and doesn't.

My apologies, however, to those of you who get a "little nuclear" when you-know-what is said.

Chuckiebtoo

cool, so the red wiggler worms will be fine in the soil? that is good, escaped worms dying was weighing heavily on my Conscience. ok. I am trying to get this going and I am researching everything I can. my girls are really happy that I may be getting worms to eat the garbage. COOL! My 8 year old is syched, my 2 year old wants anything that I or the 8 year old thinks is cool. WOW Chuckiebtoo 37 years! you better know her.

"My apologies, however, to those of you who get a "little nuclear" when you-know-what is said."

relax chuckie, if you re-read my post youll see there was a lot of tongue in cheek there (and not much else) :)

Now, here in north texas, they'd BAKE if they hit the ground imho. At least in July they would.

Broadcast by Hand. If Chuckie stuck his hand in that bin, he'd have nothing left but a blistering stub! As I mentioned in another post today. When we say 'ant' we mean NO OTHER creature than the Fire Ant.

I can appreciate the science behind proper placement of the charge to evenly disperse the fallout.
If I would have caught this post earlier, I would have suggested leaving the lid on the bin with the attachment of a few bottle rockets mounted horizontal to the ground. The initial charge would have lifted the bin off the ground a few feet, and then the rockets would ignite to put a good spin on the bin. A good spin on the bin would have surely dispersed the contents evenly around the yard. With any luck, one of your bins will acquire ants next fourth of July so that your scientific research may continue.