Posts Tagged ‘compost’

Mark your calendars, it is time to get composting.  May 2-8 is Compost Awareness Week.

If you have been dreaming about how lucky you would be if you could just have some black gold of your own, this is the time to stop dreaming and start doing!  There are many ways to compost your leftover kitchen and garden waste. You can use old pallets to construct a simple compost bin or you can use a compost tumbler to decrease the time it takes from start to finish.

Tumbleweed Composter

Worms are a great edition to any compost pile. They help to breakdown the material quicker than traditional composting alone. A compost pile is a great place for red wigglers to hang out. They can stay nice and warm in the middle of a pile in the dead of winter, and migrate to the outside of the pile in the summer heat when your pile really starts to cook. The added benefit of worm castings adds a natural fertilizer to the finished product.

Worm bins are also a great way to compost your leftovers and create the blackest gold around – worm castings. Worm’s devour the materials you put into their bin and deposit the nutrient rich castings as they go. This is a quick and efficient method of recycling all your newspaper, junk mail, rice, vegetables and stale cereal.

These days many cities are now offering curbside recycling for your kitchen waste. These cities have to use precious resources to haul your garbage off to the landfills and recycling centers. They also offer you the chance to buy it back in the form of compost for your gardens. Why not cut out the middle men and start your own home recycling program right in your back yard. What a great way to help save the environment and your pocket book at the same time.

So treat yourself to some black gold this summer and start composting!

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Red Wigglers:

Red Wigglers (Eisensia fetida) are the most common composting worm.  They measure between 1½ and 2½ inches in length and can eat half of their body weight in food a day. In the compost bin, they are most active at temperatures between 59-77°F (15-25°C).  They may still work their way through a bin at temperatures as low as 50°F. Below freezing temperatures will kill them off, however, their eggs will keep in the compost heap through the winter to revive the population come spring.  Since red wigglers can survive colder temperatures than many of their composting cousins, they make great fish bait.  They can stay alive in the water hours longer than your average earthworm.  They can resist temperatures as low as 35° and as high as 95° F Red Wigglers tend to be very active on the hook and are a great choice when fishing for trout or panfish.

Red wigglers are also known as:  Redworms, Manure Worms, Trout Worms, Tiger Worms, Compost Worms and I am sure you could come up with more to add to the list.  Because of the versatility of these worms they are not only great for composting and fishing but also make great treats for your turtles, birds, and other worm loving pets you may have in your home.  Your pets will thank you for such a tasty treat.

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