|
|
It's Dungeness crab season here on the west coast and I'm going to try adding crab shells to my worm bin this year even though it's not conventional worm food. They should compost sort of like egg shells, right? I'll bury them deep and we'll see how stinky it gets.
In the past we've stored them in the freezer until garbage pickup day. Here's a list of everything that went into the bin after dinner last night: crab shells
|
Follow-Up Postings:
|
| I've fed my worms on large prawn shells in the past, no problems. And rotting smoked fish, and rotten eggs!! I reckon as long as you have enough worms to eat things fast, and you cover the potentially offensive material with some finished Vermicompost to absorb smells (and provide extra micro-organisms, you should be okay. Also the more varied your feed, the better you VC out the other end. (richer in micronutrients) But wine corks- I've fished them out whole after a year!! |
|
| I have fed shrimp shells and garlic to my worms from time to time and never found any recognizable bits when I harvested. I am also unsure if the wine cork will break down in a timely manner. Please let us know what the outcome is when you harvest. |
|
- Posted by rom.calgary.ab 3a (My Page) on Tue, Dec 8, 09 at 0:14
| Aren't wine corks treated so that they don't decompose? Otherwise you'd have a dry bottle wouldn't you? |
|
| Come to think of it, I've recently discarded shrimp shells into the garbage. I'll have to try to remember to put those into the worm bin too. I suspect the wine corks will take as long as a chunk of wood to break down. I'm not aware that they're treated. I'll either keep sifting them out of the castings and back into the active composting box, or simply bury them in the garden with the castings. |
|
| Amazing Crab shells are like gold in the compost world |
|
- Posted by rom.calgary.ab 3a (My Page) on Fri, Dec 11, 09 at 15:02
| I've used crab shells buried in the compost and found that after about 2 weeks most were quite soft and hand breakable. The crab smell was pretty much gone after about a week or so. I read somewhere about adding chitin (crab shells are a source of this) to compost to encourage the bacteria that feed on chitin to multiply. As their food source is depleted they feed on other chitin in the form of nematodes in the soil that attack plant roots. I don't eat crab that regularly but any that I do have is getting busted into small bits and put in my worm bins from now on. |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Vermicomposting Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.