Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["Terry Wereb" <frostedacres@gmail.com>]

it is my understanding that all manure can be used-- I would avoid using concentrated poultry manure if it is fresh, for the same reasons one avoids using it on young plants--too hot! Mix that poultry stuff with ample bedding, and then you are safe.

  one of the advantages of vermicomposting is the plus of the worms accumulationg toxins--you just dont want the worms dying off, re-releasing the toxins into the compost.

  many people say not to compost manure from animals that eat meat-- like dogs, cats, and humans-- but humanure, or 'nightsoil' has been an ammendment for centuries. If the carnivorous/omnivorous animals are fed a diet that contains added chemicals of any sort, it would be adviseable to  heat compost the manure, rather than vermicompost it.

  I throw my compost and worms into the garden area to improve the soils structure-- including it's ability to drain moisture. My garden area is technically a wetland. I want those little tunnel diggers to not only fertilize, but aereate and 'tile' the area--especially since the septic systems' leachbed will be going in just slightly 'downhill' to the north-west- so if the worms can help encourage the drainage to theW- NW side, neither garden nor leachbed should flood the other out during periods of high soil moisture.  The two separate areas will shed to their own sections of the property.

 

Seems some snow melted today-- i am anxious to see the most heavily composted areas later--see if any owrms are within the top 6 inches there, as well.

 

Terry W

Frosted Acres

 

 

On Dec 6, 2007 10:55 AM, TradingPostPaul <tradingpost@riseup.net> wrote:

Manure to feed the worms which are eaten by the poultry is part of the
integrated farmstead where the output of one part is the input for another.
 A closed cycle is a big step up from simple growing which is what I've
done, and it makes for a far more productive operation. My own past
experiments with worms haven't turned out so I'll look forward to learning
more. Maybe we can find time to add the poultry cycle next year. Importing
manure from neighbors means it won't be a closed system, but it does keep
some of their manure from being wasted. I'd rather move up to a closed
cycle, which leads to the next question: what kind of manure is best for
worms, and can we avoid the expense and time we don't have for large
animals?

paul tradingpost@lobo.net

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 12/6/2007 at 9:08 AM Harvey Ussery wrote:

>>
>> what are some good sources to learn about vermiculture?
>> All the weblists I've found have been taken over by spam. If some of you
>have
>> experience with this, I'd like to hear about it.   ~Ralph
>>
>> In a snowy-winter climate, I'd be
>> concerned about how to keep the worm boxes
>> protected from the cold for several months.  ~Ralph
>>
>> I've tried it in containers four times in the last 35 years.  None were
>successful, so I wouldn't recommend that.  Harvey Ussery (on this list
>sometimes, I think), does it in his greenhouse.  He did a story on it, I
>thought in Mother Earth News (but I can't find it).
>>
>> E. E. "Mitch" Mitchamore
>
>Ralph, I'll be writing a full piece on my vermicomposting operation as
>soon as I can get to it. As Mitch said, my setup is in my greenhouse--no
>dormant period in the winter (here in Zone 6b)--the worms remain active
>and even reproducing. Below are two snippets from pieces I've written
>(one of them the recent Mother Earth piece on my greenhouse that Mitch
>mentioned) which include brief descriptions of my system. It works
>great--I'm really pleased with it. If you don't have a greenhouse, might
>go with a pit dug in the earth and protected from moles (love
>earthworms) and chill in winter. As for info, if you've had problems
>with vermiculture discussion sites, just google "vermiculture" and
>"vermicomposting" and I'm sure you'll get plenty of hits. Also, some of
>the sites that sell earthworms for composting have information pages.
>Mary Apelhof's "Worms Eat My Garbage" is the classic, though geared
>toward pretty small projects. But you can start small and scale up,
>that's what I did. The truth is that you don't need much info, the basic
>principles are few and quite simple.
>
>As said, I plan a complete article on my vermicomposting system, just
>not sure how soon I can get to it. Once it's written I will be glad to
>share.
>
>~Harvey (see quoted material below)
>
>    ***I experimented with a 3x4-ft worm bin for several years. The
>greenhouse renovation was the time to step up to more serious
>vermicomposting. We dug in two courses of 4-inch hollow block for the
>bins, 40 feet right down the center of the greenhouse. Every 8 feet, we
>put a cross wall of block, to give five 4x8-ft bins 16 inches deep, each
>with two 4x4-ft lids made of 3/4-inch plywood on 2x4 framing. When the
>flock is out of the greenhouse over the summer, their two 8x8 pens are
>used for an additional 128 sq ft of vermicomposting bin.
>
>Since I needed access down the center anyway, I didn't lose much growing
>space to the new worm bins. And those substantial 4x4 lids over the bins
>have been a godsend. I routinely roll a fully loaded wheelbarrow over
>them. They are a great place to lay out work projects (the Lady of the
>Manor having forbidden doing so on the front porch since we re-decked
>it). We've even set up a table on them and had a picnic there; and I
>addressed a seated class of sixteen on them one raw March day.
>
>Of course all the kitchen throw-offs that don't go to the flock get fed
>to the worms. But the scale of my operation since the expansion is way
>beyond the ``worms eat my garbage'' scale. I haul in pony poop by the
>pickup load from a neighbor who breeds and boards horses. In the process
>of providing responsible manure management, the worms convert the manure
>into castings (earthworm poop), one of the best of all natural
>fertilizers. Last winter, the populations were finally high enough to
>make regular harvests of earthworms to feed the flock, a nutrient-dense,
>high-protein addition to their diet.
>
>    ***I mentioned vermicomposting above as an excellent way to practice
>responsible manure management, produce fertility for our soil (earthworm
>castings), and even to provide a source of live, nutrient-dense food
>(harvested worms) for poultry (or pigs). Two years ago, I installed 40
>feet of worm bins (4 feet wide, dug 16 inches into the earth), right
>down the center of my greenhouse. Since I needed that center access
>anyway, I didn't lose much growing space to the worm bins. The
>heavy-duty lids over the bins have been a great place to lay out
>construction projects, as well as to set up a table for a winter picnic,
>or benches for a class on a raw March day.
>
>There is no better place to site a vermicomposting operation than in a
>greenhouse---the activity of the busy earthworms, including
>reproduction, continues through winter, without a dormant period.
>
>--
>Harvey in northern Va
>www.themodernhomestead.us
>
>"How we eat determines, to a considerable extent, how the world is used."
>~Wendell Berry
>
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