Did you know that there are different types of composting? Aerobic composting and vermicomposting require ventilation. Anaerobic composting works without oxygen. How do you make compost? Which type is best for households, farms, businesses, institutions, and schools? How Composting Works Composting takes advantage of the natural process of decomposition. When leaves drop on the ground in the fall, Mother Nature breaks them down. Ants and other insects, bacteria, and fungi do their work. Soon, nothing remains except brown matter, which becomes part of the topsoil. This rich organic matter nourishes plants, helps regulate water saturation, and creates air pockets.
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How Do I Catch Worms for Fishing and Composting?
Earthworms make great fishing bait, and they also speed up composting. Maybe you are tired of using artificial lures or over-paying for small quantities at the bait shop. Or perhaps you’ve decided to start composting kitchen scraps. Adding European Night Crawlers or Red Worms to the composting bin will make the waste break down faster. Either way, you can catch the worms yourself or get them cheaper online. Types of Worms First, you want to figure out which types of worms to catch. There are around 182 taxa of earthworms in North America. Of these, two are especially useful: The European Night Crawler is called Eisenia hortensis or Dendrobaena veneta in Latin. This earthworm grows to 6 inches long. They grow to the diameter of a pencil. It has a bluish, pink-grey color with bands or stripes. The end of its tail might be pale yellow or cream. At Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm, we call them “Super Reds.” These are especially good for fishing because they continue to wiggle for quite a while on the hook underwater. The smaller Red Worms are also known as red wiggler worms, manure worms, panfish worm, brandling worms, tiger worms, trout worms, tiger worms, red Californian earth worms, and Eisenia fetida. Red Worms are smaller and thinner than European Night Crawlers. These champion composting worms are ideally suited to turning waste kitchen scraps into finished compost quickly. Get Ready for Worms When you get ready to go worm hunting, prepare a container with holes …
Read MorePros and Cons of Composting with Worms
If you are thinking about composting with worms, you will need to weigh the pros and cons first. Some folks start composting to reduce trash and help save the environment. Others are motivated by the end product: nutrient-rich compost for gardens, indoor plants, and lawns. Parents and teachers engage youngsters with a vermicomposting project. Whatever your reason, composting worms have both pluses and minuses. The most common concerns are waste reduction, odor, time, and cost. Reduces Waste Composting diverts organic waste from landfills and incinerators. You can compost food trimmings, leftovers, spoiled food, coffee grounds, compostable napkins, compostable takeout containers and utensils, garden trimmings, and certain agricultural waste. Pros: Composting requires sorting out organic matter from the trash. Sorting is easily accomplished by tossing vegetation into a container. Unsorted trash develops a terrible odor, due to anaerobic decomposition of organic matter. Foul odors attract pests. Collecting trash requires time, fuel, trucks, and expense. Landfills lack enough oxygen for proper composting. They are prone to buildup of flammable methane gas. Garbage is essentially entombed for eternity. Burning mixed trash is an utter waste of valuable organic matter. Incineration creates air pollution and toxic ash. Cons: Participants need instructions on what can be composted and how to separate it. Unlike recyclables, compostables start to break down quickly. Collection is highly time-sensitive at room temperature. Stored compostables should be refrigerated or frozen. Organic matter that has already been mixed in with other trash is difficult to separate. Composting Worms’ Odor You might be …
Read MoreComposting Worms Promote STEM in the School Classroom
A composting worms project at school provides many opportunities to teach STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) in the classroom. The school curriculum often covers the lifecycle of the earthworm. Students will retain more if they have hands-on experiences with the worms. A composting bin allows students to compost organic food waste generated at school. The composting process results in worm castings, a fertilizer for growing new plants. The project can easily pay for itself if the worm castings are put up for sale. Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm shows you how to get started with a classroom composting project. Customize the Project Teachers can pick-and-choose the scope of the project and which STEM elements to include. A minimal project would involve setting up a worm bin and depositing classroom waste. Many STEM elements can be included such as measuring trash volume before and during the project (math); worm anatomy;
Read MoreFoods That Can Hurt Composting Worms
Composting worms make food scraps break down quickly, but some foods can hurt them. Vermicomposting with worms is increasingly popular with people who want to reduce trash, produce free fertilizer, and save resources. Therefore, vermicomposting fans have a vested interest in keeping their Red Worms or European Night Crawlers healthy. Worms can break down a wide variety of organic materials, with a few exceptions. Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm explains which foods can hurt composting worms. In a Tight Space In the wild, worms will wiggle to a suitable food source. They have an entire smorgasbord outdoors. A composting bin is a tight space. We set up this
Read MoreHow Do I Compost Fall Leaves with Worms?
When you rake the fall leaves, you are handling valuable organic material. If you compost these leaves, you will have free fertilizer in the spring! Leaves and other plant waste are the perfect food for composting worms. If you have a yard or garden of any size, you can capture these valuable nutrients by composting. Composting with worms, called “vermicomposting,” is fast and efficient. It’s easier than you might think! And you can start anytime. While your neighborhood might have leaf pickup, question where that material goes. Can you get free fertilizer from it in the Spring? Chances are that you cannot. You would likely have pay and pick up fertilizer during business hours. Keep the leaves working for you by composting in your own yard. Types of Composters You will need a location for your vermicomposting project. A variety of
Read MoreHow to Grow Worms as Fishing Bait
The cost and inconvenience of buying live bait is a nuisance when fishing with worms. If you only need live worms occasionally, stopping by the bait shop is no big deal. However, frequent worm fishing requires a significant amount of live bait. You save time and money by keeping your own supply of worms on hand. As a pleasant side-effect, the worms generate compost that makes your plants grow strong. Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm offers three varieties of fishing worms and advice on cultivating each one. Types of Fishing Worms The three types of fishing worms we offer are: Mealworms European Night Crawlers (Super Reds) Red Worms (Red Wigglers) Draw on your expertise to decide which type of worm
Read MoreHow to Compost with Worms in the Summer
Many composting enthusiasts worry about their composting worms dying in the summer heat. This is a rational fear. The worms are trapped in an enclosed bin, at the sun’s mercy. However, there are several easy ways to protect the worms from the heat. It’s Not Just the Heat The main problem with warm weather is not directly the heat. The primary problem is dryness. Worms breathe through their skin. If their skin dries out, they suffocate and die. Composting worms must remain moist. A worm laid out in the direct sun can die of suffocation in just three minutes. Worms get their moisture from their bedding. Heat causes evaporation. When the bedding gets dry, the worms cannot breathe as well. They may try
Read MoreThe Anatomy of a Red Wiggler Composting Worm – Eisenia fetida
The best type of worms for your composter is the Red Worm (Red Wiggler). Their voracious appetites, medium size, and heartiness make them ideal composting worms. Falling into the genus “anulus,” meaning “ring” in Latin, the Eisenia fetida has up to 120 circular rings. The Red Worm Body On the outside of the red wiggler worm is the cuticle. Below this, the epidermis is skin-like tissue that sends information to the nerve tissue. Sensory information travels from layers of nerve tissue to the nerve cord. Data is processed in the cerebral ganglion, which is the worm equivalent of a brain. Ever notice the rings on a red worm? These rings
Read MoreComposting Worm Feeding Guide: Best and Worst Foods
What are the best foods to feed composting worms? What are the worst foods? People who compost with worms face these questions every day. Fortunately, Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm has this Worm Feeding Guide! Vermicomposting is easy if you know the right foods to feed the worms — and the foods to avoid. Qualities of Ideal Foods for Worms Composting worms are hungry for your kitchen left-overs, garden waste, and coffee grounds! The best foods for worms come from plants. This includes grains, fruits, vegetables, and beans. Plant matter is filled with nutrients and vitamins that worms need. Their excrement, called “humus,” contains digested nutrients and earth-friendly bacteria. Humus makes an ideal fertilizer for growing new plants. Worms do not have teeth. Their little mouths take in the
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