SCHWOIT

During recent posts I advised that I had used some of the composted materials in recent plantings. All of those plants are taking off. However, the rich compost is only part of the benefits of worm farming. The second benefit is the natural liquid fertiliser that is produced. This morning I decided that I would bottle that rich source of nutrients into some empty soft drink bottles.

So I went to the worm farm with two 2 litre Coca Cola bottles and one 600 mill Lipton Red Tea bottle. The idea was to drain the worm farm tank into the smaller bottle then fill the Coke bottles. Quickly I filled the 2 Coke bottles and had to get another 1.25 litre Coke bottle. That too was promptly filled, however the drain rate from the farm was greatly reduced. I then drained the remaining worm juice and half filled the Lipton bottle.

So I now have just under 5 litres of rich and natural liquid fertiliser. That will last for some time as I will be diluting it in the watering can. In fact, by the time I get through the current stocks I should be able to perform a new harvest.

Addendum
Tonight I have used some of the worm juice on the plants. It stinks to high heaven until diluted. I shall let you know the outcomes, especially around my struggling zucchini seedlings. With luck the burst of nutrients will see those plants turn around and become strong once more.

Tags: liquid fertiliser, rich nutrients, worm, worm castings, worm compost, worm farm, worm juice, worm tea, worms
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Some months ago we decided that we would like to begin worm farming as a means to remove much of the vegetable waste that we are generating through being humans. We have decided that simply throw it in the bin to go to the local land fill we will feed the worms and produce an endless supply of useable fertiliser in the form, of worm castings, for use on the garden. Much of which will in turn return the worm farm for processing.

The one we decided on had a modular system where you start with one layer, and when it is at capacity add a second layer. The process continues once more, so at any point in time there is a maximum of 3 layers in service. When you harvest you take the lower most layer, empty it, and then add it back to the top. We have been running with the 3rd layer for about 2 months and it to was approaching capacity. As a result I decided that I would look at harvesting some of the worm castings.

Upon inspection I found that there were several thousand worms working their magic still in the first layer. This was a bit surprising as the food source in this layer should have been largely exhausted several months ago. That said they must still be deriving some nutrients from this layer as each dig I performed exposed a minimum of five worms. I think they have bred as we started with a thousand worms. However, there seems to be a monumental amount in the farm.

I then inspected the second layer and found that the worms had clearly been at this level and processed everything they could. All that was in this level was about 2 or 3 corn cobs and what looked like an avocado skin. The rest was bare clean plastic. I was shocked at how well the worms had processed this layer. It also explained why there were very few worms evident in the top most layer. Clearly traversing the great plastic divide was too much for the worms.

Today, I have decided I need to check out how encourage the worms to move upwards quickly. Clearly I can not produce enough vegetable waste quickly enough to fill the layer in the next month. As such I relied on my good mate Google and found the NSW EPA Worm Farming article. Within that it provided an easy answer to my problems, shredded, soaked cardboard.

As previously discussed I have heaps of cardboard available at present and I have a few sources of rainwater at present. So I have just filled the second layer, and half filled the first layers of the worm farm with cardboard. This should provide the worms with the perfect excuse to move from the first layer to the two rich food source layers.

I hope so as my half barrels have arrived from Deals Direct and I am keen to use worm castings with them to supplement the RichGro potting mix.

Tags: liquid fertiliser, rich nutrients, worm, worm castings, worm compost, worm farm, worm juice, worm tea, worms
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