Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[Harvey Ussery <huboxwood@earthlink.net>]

 > 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