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Now Available At
These Fine Locations
The Gift Garden:
327 Pacific Avenue, Bremerton
(360) 377-3989
Country Nursery
& Garden:
2075 Seabeck Hwy N.W. Bremerton
(360) 478-0288
Harmony Acre Farms:
6852 New Brooklin, Bainbridge Island
(206) 842-9672
Our new worm sifter!
Thanks to Lester Robinson
of Port Orchard, we have a motorized screen that sorts worms from the vermi-compost. Red worms harvested from the Big Bin can be used in established worm bins and well aged manure piles.
ATTENTION!
Worms will not survive if tossed in the garden or added to 'hot' compost piles or the black rolling containers.
To learn more about red worms, read Worms Eat My Garbage by Mary Alppelhof, probably the best book written about using worms
for making vermicompost.
Find it on-line at:
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Kitsap E-Z Earth uses a special variety of red worm called Eisenia fetida. These are not garden variety worm like you will find in your garden...those are called earth worms. You cannot put a container of Eisenia fetida red worms in your garden because they will disappear and wiggle off to find a good aged manure pile.
If you want to have a worm bin filled with worms that will eat your garbage and make castings and rich organic fertilizer, you need Eisenia fetida red worms. Kitsap E-Z Earth red worms are bred to eat de-composing food and manure. Follow these simple rules and your worms will live for a long time and be very, very happy and productive.
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3) Do Vermicompost Worms Need Special Care?
Red worms want a warm, dark, moist place to live. They thrive in a worm bin when you feed them a variety of chopped up left overs....vegetables, coffee grounds, a little fruit, bread. Worms love composted (not fresh) cow (their favorite), horse, donkey, llama, and sheep manure. You can always make them happy by adding a thin layer of shredded wet newspaper over their food, or soak some cardboard, tear it into small pieces and add it.
What turns worms off?
- Worms do not like light! Too much ultraviolet light will kill them. Never leave your worm bin in the direct sun light.
- Worms do not like heat which means you cannot put them into a hot compost pile. It will make them sick...or worse.
- Worms do not like water because they breathe through their skin. Keep them moist, but not wet.
- Worms do not like meat, cheese, too much citrus fruit and they do not digest tomato seeds.
- Never feed red worms any sort of domestic animal waste...dog, cat, pig.
- No egg shells please. Avoid fatty foods.
Important: To maintain maximum production, worms need to be kept at 55-75 degrees. Lower or higher temperatures may cause them to slow down, or even die. Take good care of your worms and they will multiply and makes lots of beautiful odorless, non-toxic vermicompost fertilizer.
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4) What Are Worm Castings?
A worm casting (also known as worm cast or vermicast) is a biologically active mound containing thousands of bacteria, enzymes, and remnants of plant materials that were not digested by the earthworm. The composting process continues after a worm casting has been deposited. In fact, the bacterial population of a cast is much greater than the bacterial population of either ingested soil, or the earthworm's gut.
An important component of this dark mass is humus. Humus is a complicated material formed during the breakdown of organic matter. One of its components, humic acid, provides many binding sites for plant nutrients, such as calcium, iron, potassium, sulfur and phosphorus. These nutrients are stored in the humic acid molecule in a form readily available to plants, and are released when the plants require them. Mary Appelhof, Worms Eat My Garbage, 1982, p. 68
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5) Why Are Worm Castings So Good For Plants and Gardens?
Castings contain slow release nutrients which are readily available to plants. Castings contain the plant nutrients which are secreted by the earthworms. They dissolve slowly rather than allowing intermediate nutrient leaching. The product has excellent soil structure, porosity, aeration and water retention capabilities. The product can insulate plant roots from extreme temperatures, reduce erosion and control weeds. It is odorless and consists of 100% recycled materials. "Vermigro" Premium Earthworm Soil Product, sold by Canyon Recycling, San Diego.
The activity of the earthworm gut is like a miniature composting tube that mixes, conditions, and inoculates the residues. Moisture, pH, and microbial populations in the gut are favorably maintained for a synergistic relationship, and then a terrific end product. Dr. Bill Becker, "The Benefits of Earthworms," Natural Food and Farming, July/August, 1991, p. 12
Earthworm castings are the best imaginable potting soil for greenhouses or house plants, as well as gardening and farming.
Earthworm castings will not burn even the most delicate plants and all nutrients are water-soluble, making it an immediate plant food. Earthworm castings, in addition to their use as a potting soil, can be used as a mulch so that the minerals leach directly into the ground when watered. The effects of earthworm castings used in any of these ways are immediately visible. They make plants grow fast and strong. Nematodes and diseases will not ruin gardens or plants if the soil is rich enough for them to grow fast. It is the weak plant in poor soil that is destroyed by nematodes and diseases. R.E. Gaddie and D.E. Douglas, Earthworms for Ecology and Profit, Vol. I "Scientific Earthworm Farming" 1975, p. 175.
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6) What Types of Nutrients Do Worm Castings Contain?
Castings contain: 5 times the available nitrogen, 7 times the available potash and 1 1/2 times more calcium than found in 15cm of good top soil. Castings are supplied with available nutrients which are water soluble and immediately available to plant life. You will find that most potting soils have nutrient life of 2-5 days. Compost made from worm castings will last up to 6 times longer than other types of potting soils. You would need 5 times as much potting soil to do the same job as the worm castings.
Worm castings are much cheaper and do a much better job. Worm castings hold 2-3 times their weight in water. That means you water less and the pot will stay damper for a longer period. Worm castings will not burn your plants; unlike using any fresh raw manures (cow, horse, etc.) which can burn root systems if it is not applied properly. Kids for Landcare: Wormwatch, Education Department of South Australia, 1992, p. 35.
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7) What Is Vermicompost and Vermi Conversion?
"Vermigro"™ Compost is produced using two composting processes. The first, thermophylic composting, has been in use for more than 60 years in the US. The process raises the temperature to over 131 degrees F. to help ensure a product free of weed seeds and harmful organisms. The second, vermi-composting, adds valuable attributes such as water retention, texture, nutrient availability, a rich earthy fragrance and an ability to fight soil-borne plant diseases such as root rot. Resource Conversion Corporation, San Diego, CA.
"Vermicompost outperforms any commercial fertilizer I know of..." states Dr. Clive A. Edwards, who began his earthworm research in his native England in the early 1970s before coming to Ohio State. "I think the key factor is microbial activity in the worm castings is 10 to 20 times higher than in the soil and organic matter that the worm ingests." Dr. Clive Edwards, in "Worldwide Progress in Vermicomposting" by Gene Logsdon in BioCycle October 1994, p. 63.
Though the science of vermiconversion is not new, using earthworms to convert waste into soil additives, has been done on a relatively small scale. "Nobody is doing it on a large commercial scale" says John Beerman, the general manager of the operation [Canyon Recycling in San Diego.]
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8) Is Vermicompost A Widely Used Product?
The soil additive is marketed in the form of mulch, compost, or vermicompost, in bulk or in bags. "We can't make enough earthworm castings to meet our demand here," he says. The Orange County Register, Friday March 1, 1996. "Hard-working worms: Turning Green Horticulture Waste into Greenbacks." - John Barbour AP
Redworm castings contain a high percentage of humus. Humus helps soil particles form into clusters which create channels for the passage of air and improve its capacity to hold water. Humic acid present in humus, provides binding sites for the planet nutrients but also releases them to the plants upon demand. Humus is believed to aid in the prevention of harmful plant pathogens, fungi, nematodes and bacteria. Blueprint for a Successful Vermiculture Compost System. Developed by Dan Holcombe and J.J. Longfellow 1995.
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9) What Is Worm Tea & How Do I Make It?
For centuries, farmers have been straining water through vermicompost and calling the liquid worm 'tea'. When prepared properly, worm tea should be virtually odorless and is a valuable organic amendment for the soil, in potted plants, for use in organic gardening. In the last few years, research into the soil food web has lead to the development of worm tea brewers.
Worm tea is brewed using vermicompost and other organic materials such as molasses, sea kelp and other compounds as a starter and then water is added. A pump with special nozzles is then used to to oxygenate the mixture over an 18-24 hour period. The microbes (good guys) are increased exponentially and the mixture, with a shelf life of 15 hours, can be sprayed on lawns, flowers, trees with complete safety.
There is evidence that worm tea will cure tomato blight, leaf curl on fruit trees. It can also replace conventional fertilizers used in areas such as schools, municipal parks and playgrounds. Many of these products are unfriendly to the eco system and are now, or will soon be banned because of the dangers they pose.
Worm tea is an excellent, 100% natural, non-toxic alternative. Kitsap E-Z Earth is studying the use of worm tea and intends to begin brewing and selling worm tea when sufficient vermicompost is available. Watch this space for updates and further developments in the worm teas department. For web sites offering more information about vermicompost and worm tea, visit Resources.
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