worm buckets went this season...

in total i put about 280lbs of worms/
worm pee/worm poo out into the gardens
when i was planting (and another 40lbs
went to the friend's garden).

then i had to restart all those empty
buckets from the remaining four. because
i had very little veggie scraps to put in
all those buckets i used up a lot of the
old soybeans i had on hand which i grew
back when i was making soy milk.

to restart a bucket the basic formula
went like this:

a layer of partially decomposed wood
chips (PDWC) mixed with soybeans went in
the bottom. the soybeans absorb moisture
and then since the conditions are not good
for them to sprout they eventually ferment
and then the worms will chomp them up. on
top of that bottom layer i add some garden
soil, more PDWC, worms, repeat until the
bucket is 2/3-3/4 full, top with shredded
paper scraps. usually soak it with some
water when i'm half way and then again
before i put the top layer of shredded paper
on top.

everyone looked happy and healthy the
other day when i had to put some strawberry
trimmings in a few of the buckets.

note that this is not normal worm composting
like many others use because i use a mixture
of worm species (some earthworms and some
composting worms) and have garden soil in
there. most normal worm composting uses only
composting worms and organic materials and
no garden soil.

i use my method because i want to refurbish
the garden soil that i have which is very
poor with a lot of clay. by using the worms
to process veggie scraps and by keeping their
pee/poo in the bucket (instead of draining
off so called "worm tea") it seems to be
working well (after five seasons).

that's about 1000lbs of free gentle fertilizer
(i plant right into it or bury it around the
level of the root zone). because of the live
worms i make sure it is covered by at least a
few inches of plain garden soil. as of yet
the raccoons/etc. have not determined how much
of a feast i'm putting out there in the gardens
when i plant (100,000 - 150,000 worms). shhh!
don't tell them...


songbird