The Wormguy

Dec. 29,2008

   Today we shall go over what I feed my worms. There are so many different opinions out there on how and what you should feed your worms. I thought I would tell you what I know works. Some worm growers say dont feed your worms, egg shells because they cant digest them, dont feed banana peels because it draws fruit flies, No fruit or fruit rinds because of the fruit flies and the acid, dont feed colored paper, no newspaper because of the ink, now shiny paper because of the ink and no bread or bread products because of mold. Im sure there is a lot of other, dont feeds.

   Ill tell you what I have been feeding my worms both reds and euros and have know trouble at all. I have two plastic containers, about the size of a 2# coffee can with the lid, under my kitchen sink. All week long a put the kitchen scraps in these two containers and once a week I empty them. In these plastic containers I put eggshells, banana peels, fruit and fruit rinds ( watch the acid). I save the newspapers, without the colored and shiny paper. The newspaper I put in my shreded. I dont use any diary products or meat.  Those two plastic containers are then put in my blender with some water and I pulse the blender till it makes a slurry Then the slurry some newspaper are fed to my worms. I separate the bedding and put the food in there and cover it back uo with some more newspaper. I separate the betting in different spots every time.  This has worked for me. If anybody has a different idea that they think is better by all means let us know.

   As a special treat I give them my special formula which I give them to help in there health, size and reproductive capacity.

Dec. 28, 2008

  Today is going to be a record warmth. Its suppose to be 60 degrees can you figure? Most of our 2 feet of snow is gone thanks to the warm weather and fog.

  New Year is coming up. I want to wish everybody a great New Year.

  Now back to worms.  Today we shall discuss kitchen scraps ( nitrogen)

  Most worm bins are appropriately sized to compost one households kitchen waste. Yard and garden waste is best dealt with in an outdoor bin ( your worms will not handle that much volume) You can feed your worms any kind of vegetables scraps ( either raw or cooked), coffee grounds, tea bags, pasta, potato peels and eggshells ( crushed). To avoid fruit flies, make a habit of putting all fruit in your outdoor compost bin, bread( it absorbs moisture and gums up) meat and diary products, oils and any very fatty food ( difficult for worms to digest)

 You can feed these scraps to Red Worms Or Euro Nightcrawlers.

 FEED YOUR WORMS AND STARVE THE LANDFILL

  Well Christmas is finally over and a lot of the snow is gone. Christmas day was in the 40s and very windy, How was your Christmas? I hope it was very good for everybody but I know it was not for some.

  Well lets get back to worm farming

  Today we shall discuss bedding material. Just like in a regular compost bin its important to have a balance of carbon and nitrogen inside your bin. The purpose of the bedding material is to provide a balanced food source for the worms, to moderate moisture levels in the bin, to control odor and to ensure the proper aeration. The bedding material is usally newspaper, shreded leaves, peat moss and shreded cardboard.

  To avoid odors and keep the worms working efficently, add a handfull of this carbon rich bedding material each time you add kitchen scraps. This is easy if you stockpile a few trash bags full of shreded newspaper or dry leaves. To prevent matting, pieces should be no longer than  aboutn 1 inch, so if you are using paper from a shreder, you may have to chop it up into shorter lenghts.

 On this page I would like to see if anybody is interested in discussing and trying to resolve any problems we have had.

  Today it was very windy and cold up here in Maine. The temperature was in the 20s.

  I can only imagine how many people out there have run across some kind of problem on the internet. Weather it be buying, selling, Ebay, Google, Yahoo , etc.

 So to start this thing off. You can email me at walkerdog2@gmail.com and I will publish them unaimously here. Wether it be problems or concerns and we shall all try and come up with an answer, if nothing else but educate people about them, so they dont let it happen to them.

  Let me start this off Uncle Jims Wormary. I was ordering worms from them quite regularly. The red wigglers were quite small so that I could not resell them right away. I told Uncle Jim that I was reselling them. They said the worms were bed run and thats all they could do.

  My last order with them was for 2lbs. of worms. The order was in the mail 15 days at Priority Mail from the US Post Office. The post office guarantees 2 to 3 day delivery on Priority Mail. I called Uncle Jim that same day and told them I recieved the worms dead and that they were in the mail 15 days. So they could have put a claim into the Post Office. I didnt get any responce and after many, many Emails and phone calls about 2 months later i recieved the smallest red worms you have ever seen.  When I called them again they said they were bed run worms. If they were bed run at least ther would have been one breeder in the lot.

  I have been on the internet since Dec. 2006 and have run into many, many problems. I will keep telling my problems until I run out. If any body wants to join in please do so.

Dec. 17, 2008

      Tomorrow we are expecting 12″ of snow and more on Sunday. Im sick of winter already. I havent gone out back yet to check the deer and turkey population, but I will Some dat unless the snow gets to deep. My snowshoe days are over.

      Today ill talk more on worm composting

Dec. 21, 2008

                       This is the second snowstorm in three days. We must have about a foot of snow on the ground and its still snowing. This is bad news for the ice fishermen because the snow acts like a blanket on the ice and it doesnt become real solid ice. Maybe we wont be fishing on Great Bay this year. If it dosnt get solid enough by the end of   January I dont bother. A good feed of Great ay smelts sounds good right now.

 Well enough about ice fishing and smelts lets get back to worms. Just a couple of notes today.

 3 Reasons to try worm Composting

     Composting kitchen scraps in a worm bin is very easy and beneficial. Even if you alredy have an outdoor compost bin, having one inside makes sense. Heres why:

WORMS WORK FAST: Worms can convert most kitchen scraps to finished compost in two weeks or less.

WORMS WORK ALL WINTER LONG:

Keep a worm bin in your basement, garage, pantry or under the kitchen sink ( above 55 defress and below 89 degress) and your worms will keep making compost all winter long 24 hours a day.

 WORM CASTINGS ARE RICH: Top dress any indoor or outdoor plant with some finished worm compost and see the difference. Youll get beter results than with any nasty chemical fertilizer. Now you can throw away those nasty chemicals and go organic.

   STARVE THE LAND FILL AND FEED YOUR WORMS

   HAVE A HAPPY HOLIDAY

Dec.17,2008

                    Tomorrow we are suppose to get 12″ of snow. Im sick of winter already. I havent gotten out back yet to check the deer and turkey population yet. I will,if the snow doesnt get to deep. I gave up the snowshoes years ago.

     Well lets get back to worms. Today I shall discuss Worm Composting.

     If you are going to try your hand at worm composting here is some of the things you will need to know.

      The worm bin. There are two basic options. The first is to have a series of shallow, stacked bins with drain holes on the bottom of each bin. When the worms have finished digesting the food in the first bin. They will move into the bin below in search of fresh undigested food. Once the worms have moved out, you will have finished compost in the first bin, this can now be removed. Move the empty bin downand refill it with fresh bedding material and kitchen scraps A commercial version of this is caled Gusanito worm factory or worm  Chalet.

      The other option is to use one large, shallow box with a lid, ventilation holes on the sides and drain holes in the bottom. The drain holes in the bottom are also used to catch the worm tea, The bin should be opaque ( worms do not like the light) and have a cover to retain moisture  and to keep the light out. Food is added to one side of the bin at a time so the worms have time to consume and digest each new addition. A large plastic storage container works quite well ( 20″x 30″ x10″ is a good size to start with), Remember to drill plenty of holes in the bottom of the bin and about the same amount  in the sides> Put a tray or smething underneath to catch the worm tea. (liquid worm poop)

      Tomorrow we shall discuss the bedding material. Any question or concerns be sure to contact me here or on my website www.berwickwormfarm.com or today.com The Wormguy.

      Remember  FEED YOUR WORMS AND STARVE THE LANDFILL

 December 9 2008

                                I missed yesterday because I could not get into my account for some reason,but Im back today.

                                 I didnt get a chance to check my deer population the other day because it barely snowed. Not enough to cover the ground for tracking. We are suppose to get a major ice storm today and tonight. That means no power out here in the woods. Time to crank up the wood stove.

                           Well enough about the weather, lets get onto worms. We talked about feeding fish the other day.  Today we shall discuss  Why Worms.

           Worms have long been known to provide the soil with essential enzymes and nutrients. They do this by consuming large amounts of decaying matter and leaving behind their excrets or castings(black gold) as they are called in the industry. There are thousands of species of worms in the world, but most common are recognized in one of three groups.

         1 The Nightcrawler

         2 The Earthworm

         3 The Redworm

          All of these types of worms are used for fishing bait with the nightcrawlers and eartworms being the most popular because of their size.

          The story changes when it comes to composting. The redworm, although being the smallest, is by far the most voracious eater of the three. Underideal condtions it has been reportedthat a red worm can consume its body weight daily, in the real world they consume about half their body weight daily. A good rule of thumb is 1000 redworms a pound, therfore we can expect 4lbs. of redworms to consume 14 pounds of waste per week (3lbs. a day x 7 days)

           Wjen used in a home composting system, a typical family could expect to divert 728lbs. of organic waste from the lanfdfill every year. This is just from using a 2″x2″ worm bin. It takes about1 sq. ft. to accommodate 1000m worms. By using a 2″x4″worm bin a family could divert over 1400lbs of waste each year.

         Tomorrow we shall talk about setting up your worm bin.

        For more information visit my blog at Today.com  Red worms and Euro Nightcrawlers or my website www.berwickwormfarm.com

    MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR

    STARVE THE LAND FILL AND FEED YOUR WORMS       

            For more info visit my blog

   at Today .com   Red Worms and Euro Nightcrawlers

 December 17 2008

                                 Im sorry I havent been writing but we just went thru the ice storm of 2008 as you may have heard. We lost power from  11.30 pm on December 12 2008 t

 ill  1.30 pm on December 16, 2008.

       Its quite a strange feeling without electrical power. Its awful quite all of a sudden. Plus no heat, no water, no toilet, no cable tv and so on. All those things you take for granted. You dont know what you have till you lose it.

    Thank goodness for the wood stove and the Coleman lantern. They gave us heat and lights.

    The first couple of days it was pretty cold then it warmed up to 55 degress and we lost most of our food on the back porch. The landscape was quite beautiful with the ice and fallen branches and trees. But it was even more spectacular at njght with the full moon.

    I dont know if it was the Christmas season or not but people really came out to help each other in a situation like this. Our neighbor has a old fashioned hand well pump he let us use for water to drink, cook and flush the toilet.

    If anybody has any questions about worms or vermincomposting feel free to ask. You can also go to my website www.berwickwormfarm.com.

    We are expecting three snow storms in the next four days.

     Im thinking of moving my worms outside next year. Does anybody have any suggestions or comments. Any comment will be appreciated.

      MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR

      Remember  FEED YOUR WORMS AND STARVE THE LANDFILL

  Good Morning,

                            It didnt snow yesterday but it is snowing now. Whats the matter with the weather men? Its good and cold . Maybe this afternoon Ill take a walk out back and check the deer population. Last fall I started out with 6 deer, this spring there were only two pregnant does left. So now I should have four.  Ive got to bring some more wood in today. Ive used a lot so far. Id also like to watch a football game. I dont think Ill get all that acomplished.

    Well lets get back to worm farming and feeding your fish.

   1 Feed the worms as they are to your larger fish like Pond Koi, Oscars, adult Angel fish and your more agressive fish will take live worms when offered. Feed only what your fish will consume in a few minutes time. Any food especially worms, will eventually foul the water.

    2 Feed the worms dried and crushed to whatever size you need for the fish  youre feeding. In order to dry the worms, you need two old window screens, or make two simple wooden frames and cover it with screen. Place the worms in a single layer on one screen, then cover with the other screen You can sun dry these  in the summer in a day or so. If you have a basement, garage or work shop you can dry them all year long in an out of the way location. Once they have dehydrated, remove the dried worms and crush to the desired size. Then place them in an old fish food containers. If you are industrious you can dry a large amount in the summer and place the excess in your freezer to retain freshness longer.  Since ther are no preservatives or chemicals,  These worms will be good for all fish year round.

    Nothing could be easier than drying and storing worms as a source of protien and vitamins essential to your fish. I have more guppies than iI can count, and they are all thriving on this dried worm diet. Try it for yourself. By adding the worms to your tank at regular feedings, you should see an improvement within 30 days. Larger more robust spawns and offspring, better color and larger sized adults are all part of the benifit  of this improved diet. Even catfish and other bottom feeders scramble when the dried worms fall into the tank. We are pleased to offer this this suggestion as one of the many ways you can utilize the organically grown worms we sell.

     3 Another tip: if you plan to grow your own worms to feed your fish, make sure not to try any raw meat in your compost heap to feed them with. Raw meat or any vegetables with chemicals on them can pass on nasty things to your worms like parasites and pesticides.

   Good luck and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

   STARVE THE LAND FILL AND FEED YOUR WORMS