My latest project on "The Happy Wiggler Worm Ranch" is a bedding variation. I take a 2 page sheet of newsprint and lay it out on the bench in my compost room (Yes, Lynn booted me from the living room, but she got me an oil radiator heater to keep em at 72 degrees, so I figure she still loves me :>) ), on the paper I put about 2 inches of shredded newsprint strip bedding. In the center, I lay in a 3in wide path of refuse slurry with about 20 wigglers. Fold the sheet in and over and roll it up like a burrito. I lay this roll in an empty bin and pour water over it, to saturation, letting the excess drain so as not to drown the worms. I then put it in one of my 4 production tubs and turn it twice a day. I add water to the outside wrapper to keep it moist.

I have made 2 of these rolls so far, and have opened 1 after a week to check the worms, which were active and robust. Also , about 1/3 of the slurry pack appeared to be turned to castings. My hope is that I can accelerate my vermicompost time to that of a tumbler system.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), January 15, 2001

Answers

I knew this one had to be yours, Jay, just from the title.

Your burrito is very interesting, but I guess I am not getting something here. How does this burrito help accelerate the vermicomposting time? Or is it just a convenient way to keep track of how long it takes to go from newly-made burrito to vermicompost?

-- Joy Froelich (dragnfly@chorus.net), January 15, 2001.

Its less of a mess and I have noticed that the wigglers always burrow to the bottom of the bins (even though all the written material indicates they are "top layer" feeders unlike night crawlers that go deep). By using the roll, I am able to turn it easily to keep them traveling through the mix. When checking the bins, I noticed some of the same worms not moving through the mix ( I "tagged them with a non toxic ink stamp to identify them). With turning the mix, the same subjects were migrating back to the bottom. Something else I have started using in additition to the ground household refuse slurry is tropical fish flake food that I bought at BigLots for $1 for a 10 oz can. I add a pinch for crude protein when I use a lot of potato skins for slurry. With 3 boxes of it, I should have enough for about 2 years. Currently the length of my adults are averaging about 4 inches, this is about twice the length of the worms in the seed boxes I got at the bait shop.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), January 15, 2001.

Jay, I don't know why you would not want to eat them as they sound well fed with nutritious food. Grasshoppers are good fried in olive oil. You are always looking for a new project. Fry up some of your worms, bet they are good.

-- JLS in NW AZ (stalkingbull007@AOL.com), January 15, 2001.

Jay, whatever do you do in real life???? Research scientist??...I am really enjoying your adventures in "worming". You must write a book. I am thinking about going back through the threads and cutting and pasting so I have them all together when I start my own "worm ranch??". thanks

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), January 15, 2001.

JLS,

First off let me say, I think the French are some of the bravest people as they showed us that grasshoppers and snails are edible. While I am experimenting with worm blood as a bonding agent in my organic bricks and considering slurrying the dead ones up as feed for the rest (could it cause "mad worm desiese"?). I'll leave the culinary aspects of them to that fastfood chain that was in the news about 30 years ago for supposily adding worm protein to burgers. :)

diane,

Im just a country geek, that enjoyed biology and chemistry and electronics in high school and junior college.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), January 15, 2001.

Jay, sorry the French come in second. The Ute Indians ate grasshoppers as a primary source of protean long ago. Some archaeological evidence goes back at least 1000 years, perhaps 12- 1300 years indicating grasshoppers were stored as a winter food ration.

You ought to try a basic desert survival course. You would learn that worms, grasshoppers, termites (yum, yum) and most insects are an easy and abundant food source. If you eat right, water is not a problem, at least in the Southwest.

-- JLS in NW AZ (stalkingbull007@AOL.com), January 15, 2001.

Jay, I'm trying to picture you "tagging" these worms. Be honest-they have names, don't they?

-- Cathy in NY (hrnofplnty@yahoo.com), January 15, 2001.

Cathy, I was suspecting that too!

-- Joy Froelich (dragnfly@chorus.net), January 15, 2001.

"Big Un", "Slider", "Knot" and "MoJo" are the standards for the test, the other subjects are just numerically color coded. I have noticed the roll is appearing to accumulate CO2, so I am going to have to better ventilate the next one.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), January 16, 2001.

I am new to almost everything and I was happy to find this "worm subject". My husband and I were just discussing worms last night. I got interested in worming from watching a gardening show on TV, only I missed the important part. On the show the lady they were interviewing was raising worms in those storage tubs. I missed the part about how to start them. How many worms to start with, etc. What is slurry? Is it better to start worms in some kind of tub or etc or just throw them out in the dirt in your garden? WE had a friend who threw some out in his garden and said he never saw worms afterwards. See, I don't know nothun' ! Thanks cindy

-- Cindy Palmer (jandcpalmer@sierratel.com), January 16, 2001.

Cindy, use a search engine (I use www.metacrawler.com), enter word VERMICULTURE. You will get TONS of resources with info and methods.

Short answer: Red worms (red wigglers, manure worms, etc.) eat organic food scraps and turn them into nutrient-rich castings (great plant food). They are also good for fishing bait (which is Jay's main objective I believe -- sorry if I'm wrong Jay). Our more well- known "angleworms" or "earthworms" live in different conditions (cooler temps and eat mostly leaf mold, I think). Red worms also have to be kept from freezing. I'm not sure if they're native to this country or not.

-- Joy Froelich (dragnfly@chorus.net), January 17, 2001.

Cindy,

I started my setup with one 20 gallon plastic tote , bought at BigLots for $6.00 and two $2.25 cups of fishing worms from the local bait shop. You can order redworms from mail order sources, but they will only be more expensive, not any better for household vermicomposting. Since my initial investment, I have expanded with 3 more totes, moving worms from the first one to seed the others. I have made only 1 addition of extra bait shop worms to the bins when my neighbor brought some left over bait to me.

I am still experimenting with my stock and building up the operation, however, I have started moving worm cast out of the production bins to holding boxes to remove any young ones before using the cast in my raised beds. Next season at the latest, I intend to transplant some worms to the beds also.

To make a simple bedding bin, punch a few drain holes in the bottom of the bin (no larger than 1/8 in. ) Place the bin up on supports so that a catch pan can be used under the drain holes. I use the lid on top of my bins, however , you can use the lid as a catch tray, but if you have house cats, they will use it as a litter box. also the lid will help retain moisture in the medium. Punch vent holes in the lid. Next approx 2 in up the sides from the bottom, using a heated sewing needle, make a series of fine air holes around the circumference of the bin. This will assist in aerating the medium, reducing CO2 buildups. The 2 in space between the airholes on the side and the bottom will channel the water out. Tear newsprint into 1/4 to 1/2 in wide strips and layer about 2 in deep in bin. Mix in a handfull of leaves and scatter a cup of sand (worms need grit). mix in fresh veggie scraps (I grind mine to speed up the process, but it isn't neccessary). Wet the bedding to saturation, let extra water drain out. Add worms and cover with 1 inch of topsoil. Keep at about 72 degrees, water sparingly to keep medium moist, but not to drown worms. Feed them once a week, turn the medium occasionaly . You have a worm ranch! As the bedding disappears, sort out the worms, add fresh bedding and use the worm cast soil for your plants.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), January 17, 2001.

Yeah, if you have cats, keep it covered. Even if they don't see it as a potty, they may see it as entertainment. I even had a cat that ATE earthworms (ick). Keep the crawler/toddler age kids out too.

BTW, I did see a worm box AS a cat box. But you'd want to use anything from that box strictly for fertilizing ornamentals or fruit trees. Can pass on infectious ickies otherwise.

-- Joy Froelich (dragnfly@chorus.net), January 17, 2001.

Yesterday while harvesting cast from the bins, I layed Lynns back massage wrap underneath the bin and turned it on low. The vibrations drove all the wigglers to the surface, fiddle style. Put em in a small tub and mixed em back into the bin with fresh bedding. I think my next experiment may be on the effects of various vitamins when added in the slurry. Which vitamins produce growth, reproductivity, etc.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), January 18, 2001.

Thanks Jay for the great detailed instructions ! I had heard that fishing worms were different. Now that I know they are not I am not afraid to invest in a tub or two and give it a try. I have some storage bins that are empty. How exciting ! I have been thinking about trying this for awhile and now I feel confident about doing so. Thanks for the housecat warning too. My cat lives outdoors/garage and we haven't any small children except for when the grandkids come to visit. Thanks again, I can't wait to try it ! Cindy

-- Cindy Palmer (jandcpalmer@sierratel.com), January 18, 2001.

The "burrito" rolls don't appear to be working as well as the open bins. The test subjects are not as active as a week ago in the original roll. The aerated one that I built on the 16th is a little better, but not much. Some of the subjects are dying in the compost roll. I am going to let this test run another couple weeks, but as of now, I don't consider the rolls as a viable alternative.

I have begun vitamin saturation of the medium in one of the bins. I will post my initial results on that in a couple weeks to a month.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), January 21, 2001.

Worm Burrito.....On the menu at Martin Luther's Diet of Worms.....

I'm sorry. I just couldn't help it.

-- Laura (gsend@hotmail.com), January 21, 2001.

Do keep up the experiment, and maybe make a new post as to your findings. I have often wondered about worm farming, your post gives me something to go on, thank you.

-- Tina (clia88@newmexico.com), January 21, 2001.