Helen Posted August 18, 2005 Share Posted August 18, 2005 I agree with you that they need shelter during the winter from the cold if production is to continue. We put ours in the garage too and they seemed quite happy there. It didn't smell or have those horrid little flies round it either, which are a bit of a problem at the moment as it is so warm. I had to turf a load of ants out last week who were visiting on their holidays!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motherhen Posted August 18, 2005 Share Posted August 18, 2005 Helen - I was about to suggest that you put your girls to work eating all the ants - then I remembered about the worms - they'd probably eat their way through them as well given half the chance:shock: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helen Posted August 18, 2005 Share Posted August 18, 2005 Ginger & Pepper would be delighted if I let them loose in the wormery..they show far too much interest in it even when I am having a little sort out and cleaning out the base area...do your worms drop through to the base and then get stuck there? I periodically have to have a clear out and rinse away the gunge from around the tap area(although none of it gets wasted of course, my toms in the greenhouse lap it up!!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 I have had a wormery for about two months and have just opened it today and it's full of maggots! I'm really depressed. What's going on?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Frugal Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 Feed them to the chickens Dan! They'll love the slippery beasties! I've just bought maggots for mine from the fishing shop and they're no different from the ones in your wormery! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 I am very disappointed in my compost so far. I have had one of those large plastic dustbins from the garden centre for a couple of years and have put all my kitchen veg s"Ooops, word censored!"s in it and now am adding the chicken poo and yet the heap never grows large enough to use and never gets hot. My mother has three large steaming heaps so hot that the neighbouring cats all sit on them in the winter! She does have the benefit of horse poo in hers but maybe the heaps only heat up if they are large? I have heard of a cold compost heap but what is it ?is that what I have got? and do I want it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motherhen Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 You need to turn the compost - take it all out, mix it round and bung it back in. Also it sounds as if you don't have enough 'brown' stuff in the mix to balance the green stuff. You can add straw, torn up paper and corrugated card, torn up loo roll insides - even newspapers (torn or crumpled) since the inks are soya based so ok for organic gardening. Hot heaps are the large (at least 1m sq ones) and the heat is caused by the type of bacteria. Smaller heaps are usually cold heaps but even here, regular turning will speed things up, but you are looking at 12-18 months. It normally gets smaller in volume during this time but having half green and half brown will help with texture and speed. Grass clippings layered with brown stuff are a good activator as is urine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel (& Paul) Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 That was a nice post to read over my lunch time sarnie...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 Thanks for the tips-I always have loads of newspaper after the weekends so will add those. Had always thought the ink would be toxic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 Ahh, so that's why I saw my nutty old neighbour peeing on his compost heap! Thought he'd completely lost the plot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murdo Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 Tear them up and mix them in , or scrunch them up. You get a better mix and better aeration, which helps encourage the right bacteria. I suspect a solid pile of paper on the top doesn't achieve this, although it would act as an insulator and inhibit moisture loss (not a problem here just at the moment ) it wouldn't do much to promote composting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel (& Paul) Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 Ahh, so that's why I saw my nutty old neighbour peeing on his compost heap! Thought he'd completely lost the plot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 He's one of those barmy salt of the earth types, but we fell out over his extreme and vocal national front views! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel (& Paul) Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 Sounds like a charmer............. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 SO NOT! He does that coughing and spitting thing that i hate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel (& Paul) Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 YUK YUK YUK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lera Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 Just an extra voice to say 'I have a Can of Worms and I like it'. It was a slow start, but now they're munching through kitchen waste very satisfactorily. And yes, they ate the mat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted February 6, 2006 Share Posted February 6, 2006 I've just ordered a worm composter and found ............... A worm forum - Oh! No! - I don't need another forum! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen & co. Posted February 6, 2006 Share Posted February 6, 2006 How funny, we were talking of getting a wormery at the weekend as our council is in the process of putting us on a two weekly rubbish collection, must admit, I really don't need a worm forum though Karen x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted February 6, 2006 Share Posted February 6, 2006 We've had those fortnightly collections for a while now, and after the initial anarchy, we've adapted. We have a brown bin for all the garden/chicken waste (don't have the room for a compost heap), a blue bin for all the recycling (paper products/plastic/metal) and a green bin for the household waste. It's fab, and we recycle so much that the house bin is usually nearly empty each fortnight. Converted, me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted February 6, 2006 Share Posted February 6, 2006 We chose the smallest worm composter as we already compost anything the chickens don't eat! We've gone for one with a perspex panel so that children can see what is going on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 I was sorely tempted to get one, but when I thought about it, there is almost nothing left-over that doesn't go wither to the chickens or the bunnies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 It arrived before 9am this morning I need to go and sit down now Well done The Recycle Works! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twiglet Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 Hi. just thought I'd look at this section as I'm a keen gardner, re-cycler and try to do my bit for the environment (except my car which is a nice sporty one and not at all eco-friendly I'm afraid) since the arrival of my chickens last week my friends reckon we're making "the Good Life" a come-back!! Anyway, have had lots of experience with worms etc, some good, some not-so-good. Wiggly wigglers have a really good website and sell the Can-O-Worms. The first time I used it with worms, I think it was in the direct sun too much and got all wet and mushy and so did the worms. Second attempt (you can order bags of worms to replace or add to) and the compost did really well but as winter has come on the worms don't work as fast and I find that it's not big enough to keep up with the amount of waste we have and so I'm using the big dustbin type our local council provide for £5. To be honest, as long as you turn it and add varied stuff, that one works quite well! I add the chicken poo to it now as well. So you pays your money and takes your pick. One word of warning though - we tried a hand built one first because hubby said it always worked for his dad, we added worms that we bought to it BUT it got infested with ANTS which apparently is a common occurrence and completely wipes out the worms and as any good gardner knows, isn't much good for the garden either. So you have to be careful where you position it and in the summer, either vaseline the legs (if can-o-worms) or we placed ours on a large tray kept topped up with water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynetter Posted February 25, 2006 Share Posted February 25, 2006 Thanks for the tip about vaselining the legs of the CanOWorms. We got one about 4 months ago so haven't experienced it in summer yet. I didn't realise you were supposed to put it inside over winter... good thing I didn't as I have nowhere to put it and so probably wouldn't have got it! It is working well so far, slower than I expected, but perhaps that's just the winter. Ours ate the moisture mat too and I replaced, but next time I will try the newspaper trick. We've been putting the worm juice diluted onto the garden, it smells awful but hopefully will give the garden a boost... guess we'll see the results in Spring! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
