Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

livingontheland - Re: [Livingontheland] Worms & Winter Compost Tea

livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Healthy soil and sustainable growing

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Harvey Ussery <huboxwood@earthlink.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Worms & Winter Compost Tea
  • Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2007 12:22:23 -0500

> We are in a snowy cold Winter here in Colorado and would love some advice on
the practical use of worms for compost use.

Some preliminary questions would be :

Can they survive in the pile in Winter?

If you invest in them will they freeze come hard Winter ?

What about the location for a worm bin ? Well house ?
Can we replace the fish tank and pipe the fumes outside ?

For those with a greenhouse (or thinking of investing), it is the *ideal* place for vermicomposting. My greenhouse is 20x48 ft. I put five 4x8 ft worm bins down the middle of the g h, dug into the earth 16 inches and lined on the perimeters with 4-inch hollow concrete block. Each 8 ft bin has two 4x4 lids (3/4-inch plywood on 2x4 framing), over which I routinely roll a fully-loaded wheelbarrow. Since I need access down the center of the g h anyway, I didn't lose any significant amt of growing space to the worm bins.

Given this setup (bins dug 16 inches into the earth *inside* a large greenhouse) and my climate (Zone 6b), my happy worms keep working the bedding (pony poop from a neighbor who breeds/boards horses) and reproducing right thru the dead of winter. I'm harvesting worms to feed my chickens, and castings for garden fertility--by the pickup load.

Next issue of Backyard Poultry will have my article describing my g h in greater detail, complete with pictures. (Will try to get some pix on the website as well. In fact, if there's interest here, I'll make it a priority.)

~Harvey in northern VA
http://themodernhomestead.us/article/Home.html




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page