"Franz Heymann" wrote:

I thought that well
trained worms disposed of vegetable matter in a trice.

Well, they do. Unfortunately, much of nature runs at a slower pace than we
type "A" humans, and therefore use a longer trice than the
platinum-irridium alloy one in Paris.

In retirement, I've had to adapt to a different trice myself, since I have
less spare time than I used to. Unfortunately, my weeds run on a greatly
accelerated trice...


Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at www.albany.net/~gwoods
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1200' elevation. NY WO G

On Mon, 18 Aug 2003 14:11:44 +0000 (UTC), "Franz Heymann"
wrote:

"Stephen Howard" wrote in message


All that would achieve is leaving behind a trail of soil packed full
od raw vegetable matter - it takes months for the worms to break the
stuff down.

Then my understanding of worm composting is cockeyed. I thought that well
trained worms disposed of vegetable matter in a trice. Or so the worm
composters have led me to believe.

No, as far as I've seen it's a slower process than the good old hot
compost heap. The advantage of worm composting is that it doesn't need
to generate the heat, and you don't need the same volume of organic
matter.
The downside is the time it takes - but the results are pretty good,
so much so that it almost seems a crime to use the compost for general
purposes. A side product is a pretty powerful liquid manure that you
can drain off from the bottom of the bin.

Why not just trench compost?
I do this through the winter months ( though there's no reason why you
can't do it throughout the year ) ...all the kitchen scraps go into a
trench of about a spit and half's depth and are covered with soil as I
go. Come spring these trenches are ideal for sowing peas on, and later
in the season the beans and courgettes take over.
By the next year the raw matter will have been well and truly
incorporated and the same area can be used for standard crops ( spuds
etc. ).

That sounds more or less like what I am talking about, if you replace the
polythene cover by a soil cover.

Not quite - you can compost on the surface ( sheet composting ),
though on the whole this is done with animal manures... bits of
broccoli stalks and old carrots seem to hang around for ages unless
buried, and it seems to encourage rodents. Not only that, but you have
to wait some time before you can plant through the mulch.

By covering the raw stuff with a good 9-12 inches of soil it gives new
plants something to get their teeth into - and by the time their roots
hit the layer of raw matter it will be well into the rotting down
process.

Regards,



--
Stephen Howard - Woodwind repairs & period restorations
www.shwoodwind.co.uk
Emails to: showard{whoisat}shwoodwind{dot}co{dot}uk

Stephen Howard wrote:

Strikes me that knocking up a number of 'darkrooms', roughing up the
soil beneath them, packing them with vegetable waste.. and then
perhaps moving them on a daily basis adds up to a hell of a lot more
work than tossing a load of kitchen scraps into a bin with a few
handfuls of soil and leaving it to its own devices.

Why not just trench compost?
I do this through the winter months ( though there's no reason why you
can't do it throughout the year ) ...all the kitchen scraps go into a
trench of about a spit and half's depth and are covered with soil as I
go. Come spring these trenches are ideal for sowing peas on, and later
in the season the beans and courgettes take over.
By the next year the raw matter will have been well and truly
incorporated and the same area can be used for standard crops ( spuds
etc. ).


Regards,


True works well.. as a variation of this sheet composting also works..
Though you will need to bring in thicknesses of newspaper or cardboard
boxes to cover the raw material. Basically you layer your waste with a
little calcified seawead then cover the whole lot with a layer of card.
and leave till spring. You then plant through the mulch into the soil
beneath.

Disadvantages. Only really works well on larger areas and when you have
enough waste so might not be so practical ona small scale.
//
Jim

The message
from Kay Easton contains these words:

In article , Franz Heymann notfranz.
writes
Thanks for an interesting note. But my whole point is to try and
find a way
of circumventing the maintaining and harvesting of a wormery by just
letting
the worms do their job in the exact spot where I ultimately want the
compost
to be.

About 6inches of compost seems to be a reasonable amount to add. 6
inches of mature compost equates to more like 2ft of kitchen scraps etc.
So what about building 2ft high mini compost heaps across where you want
the compost to be?

I've been doing something similar, using a bottomless 45 gallon barrel
to make compost pies where I want the compost. Dig a hole the diameter
of the barrel and as deep as you can be bothered. Fill with a mixture of
materials; I'm using seaweed, comfrey, grass cuttings, sheep muck and
green weeds. As you fill the hole, stick the barrel on top and keep on
filling to the top. Use the excavated earth to support the barrel sides.
Pour wee on it, and put a lid on it.

In this warm weather the pies heat up very fast and sink down. As soon
as they have sunk down enough to set the shape, slide off the barrel
and start again. It seems to be working well; the first site is now sunk
down level with the ground, full of worms (seeded by me with worms from
sack of horse manure), and I've planted blueberries in it.

Janet.

The message 1fzw3uu.f917ekqubocgN%00senetnospamtodayta@macunl imited.net
from (Jim W) contains these words:

True works well.. as a variation of this sheet composting also works..
Though you will need to bring in thicknesses of newspaper or cardboard
boxes to cover the raw material. Basically you layer your waste with a
little calcified seawead then cover the whole lot with a layer of card.
and leave till spring. You then plant through the mulch into the soil
beneath.

I put the card underneath evrything else, and hold it down with the
other material; prevents the cardboard blowing away/looking too
unsightly. It's a really good, fast way of reclaiming weedy/grassed land
for planting, and it attracts enormous numbers of worms as if by magic.

Atm I'm using card (packing boxes) under a 6" layer of fresh grass
clippings; the grass gets hot for a day or two. Within a week the grass
layer shrinks down, cools down and turns brown (so the whole thing looks
quite neat) and I can start planting.

Janet.

The message
from "Franz Heymann" contains these words:


I find my waking hours are only three trice
nowadays.

That explains a lot.

Janet

The message
from "Franz Heymann" contains these words:


I find my waking hours are only three trice
nowadays.

That explains a lot.

Janet

Janet Baraclough wrote:

The message 1fzw3uu.f917ekqubocgN%00senetnospamtodayta@macunl imited.net
from (Jim W) contains these words:

True works well.. as a variation of this sheet composting also works..
Though you will need to bring in thicknesses of newspaper or cardboard
boxes to cover the raw material. Basically you layer your waste with a
little calcified seawead then cover the whole lot with a layer of card.
and leave till spring. You then plant through the mulch into the soil
beneath.

I put the card underneath evrything else, and hold it down with the
other material; prevents the cardboard blowing away/looking too
unsightly. It's a really good, fast way of reclaiming weedy/grassed land
for planting, and it attracts enormous numbers of worms as if by magic.

Atm I'm using card (packing boxes) under a 6" layer of fresh grass
clippings; the grass gets hot for a day or two. Within a week the grass
layer shrinks down, cools down and turns brown (so the whole thing looks
quite neat) and I can start planting.

Janet.

Indeed Janet, you can mix and match to suit. The 'waste
underneath/cardboard on top' is the 'classic' way described in most
books, and more suited to 'wetter' large amounts of waste (eg
greengrocers or shop/market waste) over larger areas. It tends to smell
otherwise. But with grass as cover and being visually pleasing to the
eye it sounds like it works a treat!-)

You're right about the fact that it really does wonders to weedy land
tho;-)

//
Jim

Reply-To: "Franz Heymann"
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"Gary Woods" wrote in message
...
"Franz Heymann" wrote:

I thought that well
trained worms disposed of vegetable matter in a trice.

Well, they do. Unfortunately, much of nature runs at a slower pace than
we
type "A" humans, and therefore use a longer trice than the
platinum-irridium alloy one in Paris.

In retirement, I've had to adapt to a different trice myself, since I have
less spare time than I used to. Unfortunately, my weeds run on a greatly
accelerated trice...

Indeed, you are right. I find my waking hours are only three trice
nowadays.

Franz