Urban Homesteaders and Homeschoolers

Apr. 29, 2006 - Vermicomposting

Guess what came in the mail today? You never will, so I'll tell you. Worms--about 1,000 red wigglers to be precise. I decided to have a go at vermicomposting, or composting with worms, because the chickens love my compost heaps, but I never get anything out of them, as they scratch it all away. Undoubtedly, to get at the worms I put in there about a year and a half ago.

I have decided to try vermicomposting out of their reach. Most of my friends have big wooden worm boxes that, apparently, don't work that well for some reason or other--adverse weather, neglect, etc. So, I decided to try a homemade version of the very expensive layered vermicompost systems I have seen. I took a cheap plastic three-drawer unit and my Dh drilled holes in the bottoms and upper sides of the top two drawers. Theoretically, the worms when finished composting in the middle drawer will migrate to the top one when fresh kitchen scraps are added there. The holes on the sides are for ventilation. The bottom drawer is left intact to hold the "compost tea" that is a by-product of the process.

All this sounds great in theory, but the proof is in the pudding--or the worm castings. We'll see how it goes . . . The kiddos had a blast playing with the worms, at any rate!

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Comments

Apr. 30, 2006 - Untitled Comment

Posted by sagerats

We are waiting for our worms! I can't wait to get them. We have never tried Vermicomposting before, but I think it will be perfect for us. We'll become worm farmers!

Abiding in the Vine!

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Apr. 30, 2006 - neat project

Posted by msack

I got a kit called wormvue wonders. We are waiting on the mail to bring us our worms any day now.

Where did you get your worms?

I wonder what our mail man thinks of the packages we receive? WE got a live tadpole last week!

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May. 1, 2006 - Untitled Comment

Posted by gottsegnet

let me know how it goes...I wanted to start a compost pile, but then we put our house on the market. Part of me isn't so worried about selling it, because I want the children to be able to eat the fruit of their labors in the garden. If not, I think we'll be doing a lesson in some sow and others reap, regarding witnessing. We already gave my parents some of everything we had sprouted inside so that we can taste something. But it won't be the same as picking it out of our own garden we've cared for all summer.

I love your ducklings. We are looking at (hopefully) five acres when we move. I'd love to play house with some baby chicks...it'd be way more fun than Barbies. So long as I don't have to dress them (when I was a kid, I use to dress all my dolls and then just exchange the heads when it was time for a change of Barbie activities.)

btw, I think you should submit your duckling post to the carnival of Kid comedy. It's a lot of fun...here's the link to the current one with links to how to submit in the sidebar.

http://inashoe.blogspot.com/2006/04/carnival-of-kid-comedy-8.html#links

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Homeschoolers "working the land" in a city environment.