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equinoxequinox

Juicing for Worns

equinoxequinox
11 years ago

Apparently juicing produces a lot of pulp. Those who juice have a ready made, even amount of yummy pulp for worms. Anybody juicing for worms?

Comments (23)

  • Nini_TreeHugger
    11 years ago

    Hi.
    I do, actually... I did lol. Until that problem with the dead worms. Will definitely be doing that again once the worms are ok... Keeping in mind the acidity of fruits may harm the worm. Good for me, good for my worms :)

  • 11otis
    11 years ago

    I regularly p/u pulp from a Juice place. I mixed in crushed egg shells and let the buckets sit for a week or two (sometimes more if the squirms couldn't catch up). I even use whatever is left from oranges after juicing them. i make sure these are soft/mushy/moldy before I put them in the bins about 2 or 3 oranges each time. I do not mix this with the other pulp, just in case it would still cause trouble and I can remove them easily. So far, the worms love them.

  • Shaul
    11 years ago

    I also do a lot of juicing (oranges, grapefruit and pomegranates mainly). I usually have enough other stuff to keep the worms well fed. Luckily, my town has a city-wide, organic waste recycling project to which all the juicing waste gets donated.

    Shaul

  • JerilynnC
    11 years ago

    For a minute there I thought you were talking about juicing the WORMS. Whew! :)

  • PRO
    equinoxequinox
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Do you toss the whole pomegranate into the juicer or just the nuggets?

  • Shaul
    11 years ago

    I guess Juicer is too general a term. I have two Juicers, a Champion which deals with Apples, Carrots, Beets, Cucumbers, etc. etc. and a manual Juicer (heavy duty, cast iron, 20" high in closed position) which takes care of the Citrus and Pomegranates.

    Shaul

  • Shaul
    11 years ago

    For some reason, it didn't grab the picture of the Champion. Here it is.

    Shaul

  • organicpanik
    11 years ago

    Where did you purchase that heavy duty citrus juicer if I may ask?

  • Shaul
    11 years ago

    Actually in California. We were there several years ago for a Wedding. I found out that Champion (based in Calif.) makes a 220v model and ordered it in advance of our trip. On the trip home, we were questioned several times by airport security as the suitcase made its way through the x-ray machines and it arrived home in perfect shape.

    Shaul

  • organicpanik
    11 years ago

    Thanks. I live in California so I'm going to look for one.

  • organicpanik
    11 years ago

    Sorry to ask again but my question was about the manual one for the oranges that uses no electricity. I already have one of the electric masticating juicers. Thanks in advance.

  • JerilynnC
    11 years ago

    ""electric masticating""

    :gasp: you can go BLIND from that. Wait, never mind, I was thinking of something else.

  • Shaul
    11 years ago

    "the manual one for the oranges that uses no electricity"

    It's Made in Israel
    Here's a link to their website:
    http://www.holit.net/site/index.asp?depart_id=189709
    Just so there's no confusion, the picture above is not the Citrus juicer I have, I just used it as illustration. The one I have is just as heavy, it was rather expensive but IMHO it was worth it. It juices every kind of Citrus as well as Pomegranates. You can see it at the above link.

    Shaul

  • organicpanik
    11 years ago

    Thank you Shaul.

  • PRO
    equinoxequinox
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    So my wormies can eat better, I have been spurned on to eat better for myself too. The rest of this post is just about juicing not worms.

    Omega VRT 350 HD has been my tool of choice. I chose it last week because it is very quiet and slow. I wanted to get the nutrition from greens such as kale, collards, chard, spinach, turnip, wheat grass, and beet. To this I might add something for added neutral flavor and liquid volume such as those long cucumbers, cauliflower, lettuce of all types, daikon radish and celery. To this juice I might add something sweet such as carrot or apple. To brighten the flavor I add one lemon or lime and a tiny bit of fresh ginger or garlic.

    I have made separate juices from pomegranit, green melon, grapefruit, a tiny bit of mango and apple.

    Still need to try bok choi, cabbage, cantaloupe, orange, pineapple, watermelon, grapes, cherries, wheat grass, pumpkin, butternut squash, zucchini squash, yellow squash, onion and any other thing I can find in produce.

    Bananas (frozen), strawberries, blueberries, raspberries all frozen work good for smoothies that are made in a blender with addition of yogurt, or milk, or almond milk, etc. Or with out the liquid for "ice cream". (I think the Champion is supposed to do this excellently, the Omega not so good).

    I also have but have not used in a long while an inexpensive squeezie juicer similar to the one pictured above for oranges and grapefruits. I will have to get it out again.

    Luckily when buying produce in bulk, organic if at all possible, it comes in cardboard boxes.

    Am I doing this right? Anything juice wise I should be adding to this for the wormies?

    My juicer has a steep learning curve. I spent about 10 hours watching youtubes on specifically how to use this juicer. If I had not I would have had difficulties with it. It needs items such as kale, celery or apples cut up into small pieces. People who want to put a few whole kale leafs in then the whole celery bunch in and then a whole apple might prefer to select a different style of juicer.

    This post was edited by equinoxequinox on Thu, Jan 24, 13 at 3:59

  • Priswell
    11 years ago

    I juice every day and my worms get the pulp. It's an arrangement we've had for about 20 years. It seems to be working out well for all of us. ;-)

  • Lisa.H
    11 years ago

    We just bought the Omega 8006 today. The pulp seems like the absolute perfect worm food! I'm eager to see if they go through it quicker than their usual, non-pulverized fare. I hope so, because we plan to start juicing daily, and I don't know if I have room in my freezer for all of the pulp we'll produce. I guess I may just have to get more worms!

  • georgie430
    11 years ago

    I'm so glad I found you guys. I have always loved to garden but never had the time to make it a way of life.
    do now. My children bought me a worm "house" with
    I think 5 floors. I will post a new thread for lots of advice.

    Priswell- I see you juice everyday, and for 20 years, WOW
    May I ask how much worm compost you put out in a month? You must have a very huge vege garden.

    I live upstate NY and like so many and hopeful for the housing market to improve. Have wanted to move to the Carolina's since I was 15!!

  • Priswell
    11 years ago

    >>May I ask how much worm compost you put out in a month? You must have a very huge vege garden. I really don't know how much compost we put out per month, I usually harvest compost by the year. Once the worms get a hold of the juice leavings, it seems like there isn't much per month, because they are like little trash compactors, but I guess we get 10-15 gallons of compost per year. We will be getting our yearly harvest in a couple of weeks. I'll try to pay attention to how much we actually get.

    I usually harvest my bins from side to side. When we harvest this year, it will be from one side of the bin, then I'll fill that side of the bin in with leaves and other bedding, and start migrating the worms over to that side. Next spring, we'll harvest compost from the side that the worms are at now.

    The worms get not only the juice leavings, but also whatever other biodegradable scraps that would normally make their way to the garbage can, including paper, dead fridge rejects and veggie clippings.

  • georgie430
    11 years ago

    Thank you priswell

    I should have explained myself a little better, I just got the worm "house". And just got a juicer, the Omega 8006 like Lisa H.

    I actually have several direct questions and some that are more subject to variables.

    I have read that citrus can be harmful to worms, If I mix the pulp as I do with my juicing leafy greens, cukes or zuchini, carrot or beet, apple lemon and lil ginger. This is what I juice now, learning, are these all safe "pulp" for the red wigglers?

    So far I'm the only person in my home who juices, I would say approx a quart a day, I'm going to start with 2 lbs. I wanted to compare notes a little. But I can probably see how much excess I have and then hopefully purchase more worms.

    Does anybody know if the worm bin attracts mice?? I know if I maintain it correctly there shouldn't be any foul smell. I live in a very rural area, upstate NY, and will have the bin in my home for the colder months??
    Thanks again.

  • LoveComposting
    11 years ago

    A worm farm shouldn't attract mice but may if it isn't operating properly. Adding too much organic material may attract unwanted guests.

    Worms generally steer clear of citrus and onions however as the citrus you have used is combined with the pulp from other fruit it may be okay. With the omega 8006 you could actually just remove the citrus pulp as you are juicing.This would be a bit of a nuisance but it could be done. Good luck. I would be interested to know how the worms react to the citrus in the pulp.
    I love the Omega j8006. There's a review here that's pretty detailed (although it doesn't mention worms :)

    Here is a link that might be useful: Omega j8006 juicer reviews and best price - is it worth the cost

  • PRO
    equinoxequinox
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    I disagree with many of the sentences of the above post.

  • Priswell
    11 years ago

    >>This is what I juice now, learning, are these all safe "pulp" for the red wigglers? I wouldn't worry too much about it. Worms will pretty much accept "anything" if it will rot. Even if they aren't fond of orange peels, they will break down and they'll stop noticing what they didn't like. My worms always push onions out of the pile. I'll put it back under, and sure enough, it'll be back at the top in the morning. I don't think they like them much, but after they break down enough, they evidently become more palatable.

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