Vermiposting

Vermiposting is composting with help from worms! ~Pictures at the end of post~ Today Ade and I went out in the yard and dug up sections to look for worms. For about 3 weeks now I have been watering this one section of the yard extra good... flooding it actually. I wanted to be sure the water was getting deep down in the soil to maintain moisture to attract worms. So today I got a shovel and dug up that whole area and flipped it over to find worms. I got a plastic bin from Walmart it was no more than $7. Then I shoveled in dirt from the yard that was relatively rock and weed free. I added water but not too much. Its always better to water less than more in my opinion. Worms like moist soil. Then Ade and I picked through the dirt and found about 30 worms or so. We put them into the bin and then added a bag of old lettuce mix, coffee grounds still in filter (the filter will break down), and we shredded up some Scentsy packing paper that I had been saving. The point is for the worms to eat, process & breakdown waste materials, poop (worm castings), and breed. "Castings added to the soil carry to the root zone a rich compliment of soluble plant nutrients and growth enhancing compounds, a diverse and populous consortium of microbial life and a substrate of organic matter harboring a storehouse of nutrients that are not lost to rain and irrigation. The plant is delivered an ongoing, reliable food source when bacteria and microscopic fungi feed on the organic matter, releasing some of the nutrients to the soil and storing others for their own energy and reproduction." http://mypeoplepc.com/members/arbra/trinity/id14.htmlWe had a lot of fun searching for worms together today =D Vermiposting is much faster than a compost pile at breaking down materials into nutrient rich soil. Rich soil = awesome plants. Awesome plants = awesome free food. I am excited for gardening this year and plan to do a potted garden. Be sure to keep your bin lidded BUT drill hold in the lid, a few on the sides, and holes on the bottom so the water can drain. The drain water is called worm tea and collecting it to pore in your garden/potted plants is an excellent idea. To collect the drain water have the bin set in a big shallow container or an extra bin lid. Since I live in Arizona and the temperature here is currently 80 degrees in the day and 50 at night I have decided to leave the lid off during the day and keep the bin in a shaded area and replace the lid at night. The bin must have enough surface area for the worms to inhabit, so it should be longer and wider than tall. Do not add onions, broccoli, meat, bones, dairy, acidic things such as oranges or onions or oily foods, no processed foods like mac and cheese or pop tarts. It is good to chop up things into bits and not add in say a gutted 1/2 watermelon rind lol because I did that once and my compost bin became too hot while trying to break down the excessive additive. In the pictures the white warm is a grub worm... I always throw them out of the yard I don't like them. And I covered my bin with a towel because the lid broke last year. Idealistically I'd love to have a wooden box because it is more breathable for necessary oxygenation.

So I created a Garden group on facebook and just wrote this. Before I paste it in here I do know a lot of this info is repeated but I feel it is more simplified that earlier. Vermiposting is composting... with worms included. Here is my personal advice from experience You will need a plastic storage bin with a lid that is wider than it is tall... lost of surface area at least 10 inches deep. Drill holes in it to make sure that it is well aerated. water a section of your yard for 2 weeks to attract worms to a specific area of the yard. Worms like moist soil. If you find you have no worms then buy some and buy some cheapo soil. If you don't have worms in your yard don't add your yard soil... obviously worms don't like to live there. Add in some shredded paper with little to no ink, cardboard is good too but not pizza boxes because of the grease. Add yard clippings, kitchen scraps, and some water. Also do RESEARCH and figure out what works best with what you have on hand, your budget and how much time you are willing to invest. Vermiposting is faster than a traditional compost pile in creating rich soil for your garden.