thinking of purchasing a couple hundred pound of worm castings for
fertilizing vegetable garden........worms are fed peat.......I understand
peat is somewhat acidic, could this be a problem?

On Jan 11, 11:35*pm, wrote:
thinking of purchasing a couple hundred pound of worm castings for
fertilizing vegetable garden........worms are fed peat.......I understand
peat is somewhat acidic, could this be a problem?

Should be alkaline no matter what they're fed.

On 1/11/12 8:35 PM, wrote:
thinking of purchasing a couple hundred pound of worm castings for
fertilizing vegetable garden........worms are fed peat.......I understand
peat is somewhat acidic, could this be a problem?

Instead of buying castings and then the effort to work the castings into the soil, buy worms. Spread a thin layer of an organic mulch on your vegetable garden over the worms. Keep the bed moist but not wet. As the mulch decomposes, add more. The worms will aerate the soil and leave their castings.

By "organic mulch" I mean partially composted leaves and grass clippings, the output of an paper shredder, or wood chips generated from a tree service's pruning efforts. At first, you might need to add a little nitrogen to the mulch since the composting process absorbs nitrogen.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary

On Jan 12, 12:53*pm, "David E. Ross" wrote:
On 1/11/12 8:35 PM, wrote:

thinking of purchasing a couple hundred pound of worm castings for
fertilizing vegetable garden........worms are fed peat.......I understand
peat is somewhat acidic, could this be a problem?

Instead of buying castings and then the effort to work the castings into the soil, buy worms. *Spread a thin layer of an organic mulch on your vegetable garden over the worms. *Keep the bed moist but not wet. *As the mulch decomposes, add more. *The worms will aerate the soil and leave their castings.

By "organic mulch" I mean partially composted leaves and grass clippings, the output of an paper shredder, or wood chips generated from a tree service's pruning efforts. *At first, you might need to add a little nitrogen to the mulch since the composting process absorbs nitrogen.

Compost worms and earthworms are different creatures. Earthworms
are already present in garden soil, no need to buy. Compost worms
won't survive freezing -- they stay near the surface, whereas
earthworms
can survive winter by tunneling deep under the frost line. In indoor
bins, they're remarkably tough, able to survive a year or more
without
being fed. A $2.00 carton of "trout worms" from the bait store will
last forever once introduced into a bin.

On 1/12/12 4:37 PM, Father Haskell wrote:
On Jan 12, 12:53 pm, "David E. Ross" wrote:
On 1/11/12 8:35 PM, wrote:

thinking of purchasing a couple hundred pound of worm castings for
fertilizing vegetable garden........worms are fed peat.......I understand
peat is somewhat acidic, could this be a problem?

Instead of buying castings and then the effort to work the castings into the soil, buy worms. Spread a thin layer of an organic mulch on your vegetable garden over the worms. Keep the bed moist but not wet. As the mulch decomposes, add more. The worms will aerate the soil and leave their castings.

By "organic mulch" I mean partially composted leaves and grass clippings, the output of an paper shredder, or wood chips generated from a tree service's pruning efforts. At first, you might need to add a little nitrogen to the mulch since the composting process absorbs nitrogen.

Compost worms and earthworms are different creatures. Earthworms
are already present in garden soil, no need to buy. Compost worms
won't survive freezing -- they stay near the surface, whereas
earthworms
can survive winter by tunneling deep under the frost line. In indoor
bins, they're remarkably tough, able to survive a year or more
without
being fed. A $2.00 carton of "trout worms" from the bait store will
last forever once introduced into a bin.

In my garden, I have earthworms under the mulch on my beds. I was not
suggesting that "gaffer" use his vegetable garden as a compost pile. I
was merely suggesting that he promote earthworm activity by providing a
layer of mulch.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary

On Jan 13, 12:28*am, "David E. Ross" wrote:
On 1/12/12 4:37 PM, Father Haskell wrote:









On Jan 12, 12:53 pm, "David E. Ross" wrote:
On 1/11/12 8:35 PM, wrote:

thinking of purchasing a couple hundred pound of worm castings for
fertilizing vegetable garden........worms are fed peat.......I understand
peat is somewhat acidic, could this be a problem?

Instead of buying castings and then the effort to work the castings into the soil, buy worms. *Spread a thin layer of an organic mulch on your vegetable garden over the worms. *Keep the bed moist but not wet. *As the mulch decomposes, add more. *The worms will aerate the soil and leave their castings.

By "organic mulch" I mean partially composted leaves and grass clippings, the output of an paper shredder, or wood chips generated from a tree service's pruning efforts. *At first, you might need to add a little nitrogen to the mulch since the composting process absorbs nitrogen.

Compost worms and earthworms are different creatures. *Earthworms
are already present in garden soil, no need to buy. *Compost worms
won't survive freezing -- they stay near the surface, whereas
earthworms
can survive winter by tunneling deep under the frost line. *In indoor
bins, they're remarkably tough, able to survive a year or more
without
being fed. *A $2.00 carton of "trout worms" from the bait store will
last forever once introduced into a bin.

In my garden, I have earthworms under the mulch on my beds. *I was not
suggesting that "gaffer" use his vegetable garden as a compost pile. *I
was merely suggesting that he promote earthworm activity by providing a
layer of mulch.

Which is pretty much all he has to do. It'll return him
all of the benefits of tilling, with less work.

wrote:

thinking of purchasing a couple hundred pound of worm castings for
fertilizing vegetable garden........worms are fed peat.......I understand
peat is somewhat acidic, could this be a problem?

not to worry.

worms excrete calcium into their gut to
provide the bacteria with a suitable
environment.

if in doubt ask the people you are getting
the castings from.


songbird

personally that's NUTS! my all time highest price per bag that i'll pay is $4.00. (chicken manure is around $3.69/bag)

30 lbs is right around 1 cu ft. not a huge bag at all. .. just heavy'ish.

1 cu foot is about the size of every bag of manure/compost you'll find any more. . .

so $20 for one bag is way out of my budget.

i'd skip that as a source.

post on freecycle for rabbit poop or chicken poop. that's what i did last year - it's in my compost pile composting away . . .it'll be no good when you get it - just add it to your kitchen compost - and the rabbit poop will heat your 'broken' pile right up.

In article
,
Father Haskell wrote:

On Jan 13, 12:28*am, "David E. Ross" wrote:
On 1/12/12 4:37 PM, Father Haskell wrote:









On Jan 12, 12:53 pm, "David E. Ross" wrote:
On 1/11/12 8:35 PM, wrote:

thinking of purchasing a couple hundred pound of worm castings for
fertilizing vegetable garden........worms are fed peat.......I
understand
peat is somewhat acidic, could this be a problem?

Instead of buying castings and then the effort to work the castings into
the soil, buy worms. *Spread a thin layer of an organic mulch on your
vegetable garden over the worms. *Keep the bed moist but not wet. *As
the mulch decomposes, add more. *The worms will aerate the soil and
leave their castings.

By "organic mulch" I mean partially composted leaves and grass
clippings, the output of an paper shredder, or wood chips generated from
a tree service's pruning efforts. *At first, you might need to add a
little nitrogen to the mulch since the composting process absorbs
nitrogen.

Compost worms and earthworms are different creatures. *Earthworms
are already present in garden soil, no need to buy. *Compost worms
won't survive freezing -- they stay near the surface, whereas
earthworms
can survive winter by tunneling deep under the frost line. *In indoor
bins, they're remarkably tough, able to survive a year or more
without
being fed. *A $2.00 carton of "trout worms" from the bait store will
last forever once introduced into a bin.

In my garden, I have earthworms under the mulch on my beds. *I was not
suggesting that "gaffer" use his vegetable garden as a compost pile. *I
was merely suggesting that he promote earthworm activity by providing a
layer of mulch.

Which is pretty much all he has to do. It'll return him
all of the benefits of tilling, with less work.

Tilling is stupid and, destructive of your soil.

Go to a landscaping supplyer, where the prices are cheaper.

Cubic Yard to Gallon Conversion


1.0 cu.ft. =7.48 gal

32.0 gal/7.48 gal/cu.ft.=4.278 cu ft


1 cu.yd.=27 cu.ft.

32 gal. = 0.159 cu.yds

3 X 32 gal. = .477 c u. yds.

32 gallons is standard size for many garbage cans.
--

Billy

E Pluribus Unum

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower, 16 April 1953

On Jan 11, 8:35*pm, wrote:
.........worms are fed peat.......I understand
peat is somewhat acidic, could this be a problem?

Probably not. However, it would depend on your soil's present pH and
composition and your environment. So any answer is a guess without
knowing that info. Most worm casting in my area of the PNW is ~ 6.5
-7.5 & my veg bed soils range from ~ 5.4 -6.2 .

There is an article in the below wormdigest.org on worm bin pH and
peat if your interested.

Do have to say that is a bit spendy to buy couple of hundred weight


Some helpful info:
http://www.bae.ncsu.edu/topic/vermic.../castings.html
http://www.wormdigest.org/

On Jan 14, 2:00*am, Billy wrote:
In article
,
*Father Haskell wrote:









On Jan 13, 12:28*am, "David E. Ross" wrote:
On 1/12/12 4:37 PM, Father Haskell wrote:

On Jan 12, 12:53 pm, "David E. Ross" wrote:
On 1/11/12 8:35 PM, wrote:

thinking of purchasing a couple hundred pound of worm castings for
fertilizing vegetable garden........worms are fed peat.......I
understand
peat is somewhat acidic, could this be a problem?

Instead of buying castings and then the effort to work the castings into
the soil, buy worms. *Spread a thin layer of an organic mulch on your
vegetable garden over the worms. *Keep the bed moist but not wet.. *As
the mulch decomposes, add more. *The worms will aerate the soil and
leave their castings.

By "organic mulch" I mean partially composted leaves and grass
clippings, the output of an paper shredder, or wood chips generated from
a tree service's pruning efforts. *At first, you might need to add a
little nitrogen to the mulch since the composting process absorbs
nitrogen.

Compost worms and earthworms are different creatures. *Earthworms
are already present in garden soil, no need to buy. *Compost worms
won't survive freezing -- they stay near the surface, whereas
earthworms
can survive winter by tunneling deep under the frost line. *In indoor
bins, they're remarkably tough, able to survive a year or more
without
being fed. *A $2.00 carton of "trout worms" from the bait store will
last forever once introduced into a bin.

In my garden, I have earthworms under the mulch on my beds. *I was not
suggesting that "gaffer" use his vegetable garden as a compost pile. *I
was merely suggesting that he promote earthworm activity by providing a
layer of mulch.

Which is pretty much all he has to do. *It'll return him
all of the benefits of tilling, with less work.

Tilling is stupid and, destructive of your soil.

Go to a landscaping supplyer, where the prices are cheaper.

* * * Cubic Yard to Gallon Conversion

1.0 cu.ft. =7.48 gal

32.0 gal/7.48 gal/cu.ft.=4.278 cu ft

1 cu.yd.=27 cu.ft.

32 gal. = 0.159 cu.yds

3 X 32 gal. = .477 c u. yds.

32 gallons is standard size for many garbage cans.

It's even easier just to lay an inch or so of newspaper
over the rows.

The cost is very reasonable $ 0.30 per pound two hundred pounds is $60.00

On Sun, 15 Jan 2012 18:52:04 GMT, wrote:

The cost is very reasonable $ 0.30 per pound two hundred pounds is $60.00

Yeah, hardly enough for a very small flower bed... when you till that
into the ground it disappears in no time.... that's barely enough for
a 5' X 5' bed. When sold by weight at least 1/3 will be water. You'd
be far better off buying good topsoil by the sq yd, then the
earthworms will find you.

In article
,
Father Haskell wrote:

On Jan 14, 2:00*am, Billy wrote:
In article
,
*Father Haskell wrote:









On Jan 13, 12:28*am, "David E. Ross" wrote:
On 1/12/12 4:37 PM, Father Haskell wrote:

On Jan 12, 12:53 pm, "David E. Ross" wrote:
On 1/11/12 8:35 PM, wrote:

thinking of purchasing a couple hundred pound of worm castings for
fertilizing vegetable garden........worms are fed peat.......I
understand
peat is somewhat acidic, could this be a problem?

Instead of buying castings and then the effort to work the castings
into
the soil, buy worms. *Spread a thin layer of an organic mulch on
your
vegetable garden over the worms. *Keep the bed moist but not wet.
*As
the mulch decomposes, add more. *The worms will aerate the soil and
leave their castings.

By "organic mulch" I mean partially composted leaves and grass
clippings, the output of an paper shredder, or wood chips generated
from
a tree service's pruning efforts. *At first, you might need to add a
little nitrogen to the mulch since the composting process absorbs
nitrogen.

Compost worms and earthworms are different creatures. *Earthworms
are already present in garden soil, no need to buy. *Compost worms
won't survive freezing -- they stay near the surface, whereas
earthworms
can survive winter by tunneling deep under the frost line. *In indoor
bins, they're remarkably tough, able to survive a year or more
without
being fed. *A $2.00 carton of "trout worms" from the bait store will
last forever once introduced into a bin.

In my garden, I have earthworms under the mulch on my beds. *I was not
suggesting that "gaffer" use his vegetable garden as a compost pile. *I
was merely suggesting that he promote earthworm activity by providing a
layer of mulch.

Which is pretty much all he has to do. *It'll return him
all of the benefits of tilling, with less work.

Tilling is stupid and, destructive of your soil.

Go to a landscaping supplyer, where the prices are cheaper.

* * * Cubic Yard to Gallon Conversion

1.0 cu.ft. =7.48 gal

32.0 gal/7.48 gal/cu.ft.=4.278 cu ft

1 cu.yd.=27 cu.ft.

32 gal. = 0.159 cu.yds

3 X 32 gal. = .477 c u. yds.

32 gallons is standard size for many garbage cans.

It's even easier just to lay an inch or so of newspaper
over the rows.

Growing your own soil is what organic gardening is all about.

Garden Soil

You're garden soil shouldn't be more than 10%, or less than 5% organic
material.

Garden soil should be 30% - 40% sand, 30% - 40% silt, and 20% - 30%
clay. You can check your soil by scraping away the organic material on
top of the ground and then take a vertical sample of your soil to 12 in.
(30 cm) deep (rectangular or circular hole). Mix this with water in an
appropriately large glass (transparent) jar. The sand will settle out
quickly, the silt in a couple of hours, and the clay within a day. The
depth of the layer in relationship to the total (layer/total = % of
composition) is the percent that fraction has in the soil.

Garden soil needs a constant input of nutrients, i.e. carbon, e.g. brown
leaves, and nitrogen, e.g. manure in a ratio of C/N of 25. This is the
same ratio you will what in a compost pile.
-----

Let it Rot!: The Gardener's Guide to Composting (Third Edition)
(Storey's Down-to-Earth Guides)
by Stu Campbell

http://www.amazon.com/Let-Rot-Compos...580170234/ref=
sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1294901182&sr=1-1

p.39

Compostable Material Average C/N

Alder or ash leaves ............................ 25

Grass clippings ................................ 25

Leguminous plants (peas,
beans,soybeans) ............................. 15

Manure with bedding ........................... 23

Manure ....................................... 15

Oak leaves .................................... 50

Pine needles .............................. 60-100

Sawdust................................. 150-500

Straw, cornstalks and cobs .................. 50-100

Vegetable trimmings ........................... 25
Aged Chicken Manure**........................* 7
Alfalfa ................................................ 12
Newspaper........................................ 175
-----

http://www.composting101.com/c-n-ratio.html

A Balancing Act (Carbon-to-Nitrogen Ratios)


All organic matter is made up of substantial amounts of carbon (C)
combined with lesser amounts of nitrogen (N). The balance of these two
elements in an organism is called the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio (C:N
ratio). For best performance, the compost pile, or more to the point the
composting microorganisms, require the correct proportion of carbon for
energy and nitrogen for protein production. Scientists (yes, there are
compost scientists) have determined that the fastest way to produce
fertile, sweet-smelling compost is to maintain a C:N ratio somewhere
around 25 to 30 parts carbon to 1 part nitrogen, or 25-30:1. If the C:N
ratio is too high (excess carbon), decomposition slows down. If the C:N
ratio is too low (excess nitrogen) you will end up with a stinky pile.
(cont.)
------

No reason to till after the first preparation of the garden (no reason
to till the first/last time but it does speed up soil development).
Spread out your soil amendments:
€ N:
€ 18.37 lb. chicken manure/ 100 sq.ft. (2.88 oz/sq.ft.)
€
€ P:
€ 3 lb. / 100/sq.ft. (.48 oz/sq.ft.)
€
€ K:
€ How much wood ash should you use in your garden? The late Bernard
G. Wesenberg, a former Washington State University Extension
horticulturist, recommended using one gallon of ashes per square
yard on loam to clay-loam soil, and half as much on sandier soils.

http://www.plantea.com/manure.htm
€ Manure Chicken Diary cow Horse Steer Rabbit
€ N 1.1 .257 .70 .70 2.4
€ P .80 .15 .30 .30 1.4
€ K .50 .25 .60 .40 .60

€
Sheep Alfalfa Fish Emulsion
€ N .70 3 5
€ P .30 1 1
€ K .90 2 1

€ Sources: Rodale's All-New Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening, An
Illustrated Guide to Organic Gardening, by Sunset Publishing, and the
Rodale Guide to Composting.

http://www.plantea.com/manure.htm
€ Manure Chicken Diary cow Horse Steer Rabbit
€ N 1.1 .257 .70 .70 2.4
€ P .80 .15 .30 .30 1.4
€ K .50 .25 .60 .40 .60

€
Sheep Alfalfa Fish Emulsion
€ N .70 3 5
€ P .30 1 1
€ K .90 2 1

€ Sources: Rodale's All-New Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening, An
Illustrated Guide to Organic Gardening, by Sunset Publishing, and the
Rodale Guide to Composting.

Cover this with newspaper (to block light from weeds and provide a
barrier to sprouting weeds). Cover the newspaper with mulch (up to 6" in
depth). Spray the garden bed with water, and wait 6 weeks before
planting (if you can).

A dibble can help with planting. The dinky little ones from the nursery
may be of some help, but I prefer a sharpened, old, shovel handle for
making a hole through the mulch and paper for planting seedlings.

Adding drip lines takes a little time, but saves a lot of time during
the season.

That's all I know.

Good luck.
--

Billy

E Pluribus Unum

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower, 16 April 1953

Worm Castings are an excellent idea; however all you really need is to put a teaspoon full into the hole before you drop in your transplant. This will cut way down on the amount you need and it will benefit the plant, which is why you are doing it in the first place. Here is a link for worm castings, http://www.gardenharvestsupply.com/P...-Sale-c808.htm Think Spring!