Where are my steemit worm experts!
I think I may have made a big mistake with my garden and worm farm!
I'm still pretty new at all this and may have made another do first and ask/research later mistake!
I though the liquid that comes out the bottom of my worm farm was "worm tea" and I'd be doing good by pouring it on my garden. Well after I went and did I, I decided I want to read about how I should have diluted it. Well it turns out I poured worm leachate all over my garden, which probably wasn't good.
This is starting to sound like the time I ate all those fiddleheads I harvested then learned that I should have boiled them first, luckily I lived through that one so hopefully my luck last again.
Some of the sites I found suggest that leachate isn't that bad and can be put on the garden, while others suggest strongly against it. The good news is that I did dilute it quite a bit, likely around 10:1 and have a massive garden so each plant got maybe 30-100ml's only, plus it was in the middle of actually watering it. So I'm sure things will turn out ok.
I guess I'm hoping for a bit of reassurance that I didn't ruin my garden?
But while I have everyone here now, my other question is how to best use the worm compost I am making to get the best bang for my buck.
I have a pretty simple worm factory 360 and that's where I do all my composting. I do have a small pile of yard clippings in a pile in the yard, but otherwise I don't do any outdoor composting as it just attracts wild animals like this guy!
As you can see, my garden is kinda big. Probably around 50'x200' so I feel like the worm composts would just get pretty lost in there.
I have at least 1 maybe 2 trays I can harvest right now and of course I'd be getting a few worms along with it.
The garden is already planted, so I don't know if maybes it's best to just work in a couple clumps at the base of some certain plantings that would benefit the most? It's mostly tomatoes, peppers, squash, pumpkins, zucchini's, beans and peas.
Should I just scatter it all over the place and not worry to much about it exactly?
Should I have planned better and added it when I did the planting?
Am I just overthinking the whole thing?
Thanks in advance for any advice and help with my adventure in worm farming!
Footer by @ bearone
Ok now your talking my Language. I have 4 worm farms and just be aware, you are producing natures Gold!!
Ok some tips for you:-
Very proud of you sir!!
Cheers
GUNGA
Thanks for stopping by man, you were definitely the worm man I was thinking of when I made this post. Great advice, I read a bit about the tea last night and I'm definitely going to have to try it out.
And thanks for the advice about drying and sprinkling the casings, exactly the advice I was looking for
@quochuy could help? Good luck
Thx for the suggestion man!
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I think your doing too much work. Worms? They're in the ground already just let them be. A plain old compost bin that you mix up once in a while and add to the soil every spring is plenty good enough.
The worms really aren't that bad and it's a pretty fun experiment. I've had alot of problems with animals when I've composted in the yard in the past.
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I did the worm bin when I had just a small garden plot and some extra kitchen scraps.
Remember the bedding you have to mix it in with the scraps!
Also make sure you are rotating the trays and adding water if you have been low on wet kitchen scraps.
But ultimately if you have acreage and animals like chickens and a large garden... forget all the work of worm farming, get yourself a big old compost pile!
Where I live the ground is teeming with earthworms, all you have to do is pick anything off of the ground and there will be worms underneath it. But it's not the case everywhere.
The smell of the worm farm, all the work it takes into keeping them artificially happy, and having other bugs move into it all added to my decision to just switch to the compost heap =)
If you are tight on space or there are ordinances where you live, a barrel composter is another good option. I'd recommend the kind completely suspended off the ground so that mice can't chew into it.
I should probably reevaluate the outdoor compost, but the last few times, I've had a big problem with black bears and raccoons dragging it all over the yard.
A compost barrel that is regularly rotated and has the right balance of wet and dry matter shouldn't have a smell, and could be kept in a garage (where i kept mine cause we also had wildlife). You can put a drip tray underneath to catch any drips. I had a pet rabbit and I'd compost all of her droppings, uneaten produce, and extra timothy hay in a barrel. Bunny fertilizer is the best! I picked up both of mine used and super cheap off of Craigslist and sold them even cheaper when I moved, so maybe worth keeping an eye open on the farm/garden section or if you have a local Facebook market group that too.
With the exception of corn and potatoes, we could grow all the vegetables for a family of 7 in a 20' x 40' garden. I think you are feeding a neighbourhood. We had worms too but we raised those for fishing.