Posted by David Hare-Scott on August 27, 2010, 8:00 am
John Morrison wrote:
>> Up against our newly erected concrete garage which gets no sun as
>> its north facing we have made a compost construction of some timbers
>> which made the roof of our old brick garage.(which has been
>> demolished)
>> This "Heath Robinson" construction is 18"(1'6") deep by 18'(18ft) and
>> nobody will see it but our family.
>>
>> Now I relise that I have built this thing in haste and maybe dropped
>> a clanger as we were hoping to use this to put garden clippings such
>> as cabbage leaves, carrot tops, spent bean stalks etc..All the usual
>> garden waste AND leaves from our many trees.
>>
>> We have been told that tree leaves must be seperate from normal
>> garden refuse and that as the heap gets no sun it will take years
>> before they rot down.
> Normal compost bins rely on full sun.
No. They rely on a suitable combination of air, moisture, temperature and
nutrients to keep the microorganisms growing and breaking down the organic
matter. This does not involve sunlight. In some climates it may be too
cold for the bugs to grow well without heat from the sun especially in the
colder months but that is by no means universal. Even so you will get
breakdown eventually.
> I have a couple of 240 Litre worm farms sitting in the shade because
> they require shade.
Otherwise the worms are likely to get too hot and/or dry out and not thrive.
> Compost worms need to be purchased because normal earth worms can't
> exist in a worm farm.
Yes if you are running a compost worm system. But a basic compost heap does
not require compost worms, that is another system of breaking down organic
matter.
> Habitating compost worms. Cabbage leaves, carrot tops, spent bean
> stalks etc.
> Egg shells, tea leaves & coffee grounds, vegetable peelings in fact
> almost all vegetable are welcome except onion skins.
What is wrong with onion skins? If the worms fart will it disturb your
rest?
> My worm farms don't have the capacity to accept lawn clippings, leaves
> and branches from trees.
That may well be true but I don't see what it has to do with the question
asked by the OP.
David
Posted by <balvenieman on August 27, 2010, 11:15 am
>What is wrong with onion skins? If the worms fart will it disturb your rest?
Perhaps his livestock do not eat onion skins? I know (anecdotally)
that they do not decompose as fast as most other plant materials. I
learned to exclude dried peanut shells because they remain for years,
although, fresh shells compost readily.
I am grateful that the native worms here in Florida have not heard
the news that they cannot exist in a worm farm. In the 1950's, my uncle
farmed "regular" worms in raised beds, feeding them corn meal, for very
many years. However, I am aware that, though the castings were valuable,
he was _not_ deliberately composting.
--
the Balvenieman
USDA zone 9b, peninsular Florida, U.S.A.
Posted by Owdboggy on August 27, 2010, 12:44 pm
No Name;898630 Wrote:
> "David Hare-Scott" secret@nospam.com wrote:
> -
> What is wrong with onion skins? If the worms fart will it disturb your
>
rest?-
> .
> --
> the Balvenieman
> USDA zone 9b, peninsular Florida, U.S.A.
The kind of worms which are used in British worm farms are exactly the
same ones
as sold in Angling shops as bait and a lot cheaper than buying
them from
specialist companies too. Funny how they manage to appear in
our heaps all on
their own though.
This seems to have wandered off the original question a lot though.
About the
only thing which does not seem to rot down on my heaps is dry
straw.I never add
any fertiliser, Garotta or anything else, except the
occasional dose of urine
when I am caught short in the garden.
--
Owdboggy
XML site map
>> its north facing we have made a compost construction of some timbers
>> which made the roof of our old brick garage.(which has been
>> demolished)
>> This "Heath Robinson" construction is 18"(1'6") deep by 18'(18ft) and
>> nobody will see it but our family.
>>
>> Now I relise that I have built this thing in haste and maybe dropped
>> a clanger as we were hoping to use this to put garden clippings such
>> as cabbage leaves, carrot tops, spent bean stalks etc..All the usual
>> garden waste AND leaves from our many trees.
>>
>> We have been told that tree leaves must be seperate from normal
>> garden refuse and that as the heap gets no sun it will take years
>> before they rot down.
> Normal compost bins rely on full sun.