By: Chris Dailey

One of natures most underrated workers are the eisenia fetida or red wiggler worms. Commonly found in organically rich soils that they help to create throughout the world including North America and some parts of Europe, these special creatures do an absolutely amazing thing: they can take vegetation that is currently rotting and process it in a way that creates compost as the natural end product of what they do with this organic matter. Contrasting this to the regular composting process, red worms have become a staple product for organic gardening enthusiasts not only by the worms used to create their own compost, but also in the way of helping decrease waste in our landfills and at the same time creating fresh organic compost. Here is a very easy vermicomposting system that anyone can do in order to create their own worm compost machine.

Organic gardening is slowly becoming one of the most popular hobbies of not only environmental enthusiasts but people that happen upon this natural way to improve their health. Organic food is known for its ability to retain more nutrients per gram of dryweight of almost every vegetable or fruit grown in this manner. One of the key ingredients is making sure that proper amounts of rich compost are added to the soil in order to ensure that the final product is in rich with vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients that will help a persons general health through regular eating of organic foods.

Vermicompost or worm compost is an ideal additive for any garden because of not only the nutrient value, but the system that is so easy to set up which almost anyone can use to create their own natural fertilizer. Depending upon the size of your garden and your needs, you can take a simple container in the shape of a box or a large garbage can and begin this composting process.

The first thing to consider with your vermicomposting bin is that you need to have proper aeration and drainage. Remember that your container will have a living population of red worms so it is important to consider their needs. You will want to provide fresh air and also a way for water to flow out so that it does not become stagnant. You are, in essence, creating a community of workers that will create a product for you and all they ask is that you feed them organic waste from your table on a regular basis along with keeping proper moisture and ph levels.

There are several types of vermicomposting systems that you can try out. Some have a continuous vertical flow of air and water. These are stacked on top of each other in the format of trays that our filled from the bottom up. The top tray is where you will put the organic matter that the red wigglers will eat and process. The subsequent trays will be used to catch various things such as compost, worm castings, and worm cocoons. It is also okay to build your trays horizontally but this of course takes more room. Depending upon the size of your operation, and how much space you have, you could literally create a business of creating compost from worms given enough organic waste and room in which to grow.

Thinking again from the worms perspective, you want to create an environment that is similar to the natural environment that the worms are used to in a natural setting. Imagine walking through the forest and considering the temperature underneath the trees and the layers of leaves which will soon be decomposing on the forest floor. Likewise, you want to have a similar soil makeup in your bedding as well as an equivalent temperature so that the worms feel as if they are in a natural setting and will begin to process your organic waste.

Therefore, the bedding should be moist. The bedding materials that you can use that will mimic a natural setting would include peat moss, dried manure, or even newspaper from your local store. The bedding should also allow aeration so that the decomposition process, as well as the worms ability to access air, is available. The temperature should be about where humans feel comfortable or a round 60 to 70 degrees. Lastly, there needs to be a ratio between carbon and nitrogen in the bedding mix so that not only the worms, but the other organisms that will be living with and helping the worms decompose the organic material, can feel comfortable. This ratio is about thirty to one with the majority of the bedding content being carbon based and the rest being nitrogen based.

Once you have thrown all of this together which should not take longer than a few hours of your time, especially if you have access to soil and a source for worms, you should begin adding organic material to your vermiculture system and let the process begin.

A last thing to consider is the maintenance of the worms and their habitat. The most important thing to ensure the health of your population of worms is to make sure that it is aerated properly. There needs to be enough oxygen to allow their habitat to be aerobic and not anaerobic. The difference is aerobic allows for the decomposition process to occur via the worms. Anaerobic is just the opposite and that is similar to what you would smell if you left your organic material on your counter for several days or smelled meat rotting. This is more of a stagnant process whereas the worms perform a natural processing of the waste.

The entire project should cost you no more than forty dollars to get access to worms and a container, and a few hours of your time for setup and maintenance. In doing so, you will create a small vermicomposting system that will produce for you not only the freshest compost that you will ever smell but also a rich compost that will add flavor and nutrients to your organic garden products in a way that you have never seen, or tasted, before.

By: Chris Dailey

Many people are tea drinkers. Whether they are drinking Oolong tea or black tea from their local grocery store, that person has a certain image as to what it is, what it tastes like, and what it is for. There is a certain kind of tea that no one should drink but is one of the most beneficial, nutrient filled solutions that has ever existed. It is called worm tea. What is worm tea? Here are a few tips on how you can create and use worm tea otherwise known as compost tea to enhance your organic gardening needs.

Used for hundreds of years, organic gardeners and farmers that have known of the value of vermicomposting have been creating this potent nutrient filled liquid that is better known as worm tea or compost tea. This liquid which some say has a fragrant odor or is completely odorless can be used on the leaves of potted plants and also in the soil to enhance plant growth as well as help protect the plants that you grow.

It is actually a very simple process with a couple of not so simple steps if you have never done it before. Basically, the vermicast is put into a filter like a nylon and added to a jug of water and oxygenated in order to encourage microbes within the mixture to flourish and grow. Some additional ingredients to add to this tea include molasses or sea kelp. The oxygenation process will continue for about a day or sometimes longer.

Once done, it can be bottled and sprayed on plants or poured into soil at the base of the plants in order to inject a kind of a topical fertilizer that not only helps plant growth but also repels insects and disease such as spider mites and various pathogens, respectively.

There are various ways to get compost tea and one of those ways is through the collection of worm castings. Worm castings are essentially the poop of the worms. Their manure feels like soft little nodules that can be bagged up and cooked like a tea (except at room temperature water) and then used in the same manner that the worm tea was used in liquid form. Usually distilled water is used in the sifting process when using the castings and can actually be a much neater process when doing this on a large scale.

Most compost tea is concentrated so even if it does come in a bottle that looks ready to use, treat it the same way you would miracle grow or other non organic fertilizers. Castings tea should not burn the leaves of plants or over fertilize the soil but it is a good idea to use it more often in diluted form than less often in concentrated form. Red worms and their castings have become a hot commodity for all of those in the organic gardening field.

In essence, you are putting healthy microorganisms back into the soil which can then begin to thrive and multiply creating the ideal environment for your plants and a natural barrier at times for things that would come to destroy them. And unlike most nonorganic fertilizers, if you happen to spill too much into an area of your crop, it will not burn your plants.

By taking the time to create your own worm farm, and making your own tea for your garden or crops, you should see not only a positive growth in your vegetables or fruit, but a noticeable taste difference and production difference in how long it takes your crops to grow. You will also notice that your plants succumb less to fungus and other pathogens and diseases.

Also, by regularly adding this special tea into your garden area, it will also help you regulate the watering of your garden which is very important for crop growth. If you are doing this on a larger scale, you may need special equipment in order to harvest the worm castings and process them, and also to make worm tea on a commercial scale requires significantly different equipment than a small scale operation.

Overall, it will be worth your while to go the natural way and create a worm farm that will supplement the nutrient needs of your garden no matter how big or small. The use of compost tea as not only an additive of nutrients but also as an insecticide to protect your crops will make your organic gardening growing experience more pleasurable each and every year.

So the next time that you hear about a special tea that can enhance the growth of your crops, make your food taste better, and increase your overall yields, you will not think about the kind of tea that you sip quietly at the kitchen table, but of natures key that is given to us by red worms to help all organic gardeners grow more plentiful crops called compost tea.

By: Ann Knapp

We have all heard of composting. Composting is simply the decomposition of organic waste like yard waste and kitchen waste into a very rich and nutritional dirt-like substance. Vermicomposting is very similar to composting, but vermicomposting uses worms to help speed up the composting process, resulting in a final product of a soil-like amendment which is literally loaded with nutrients for plants.

The first thing to know point out is that the worms about which we are talking are not your everyday backyard worms. Those little guys would die in a minute in a compost pile. The worms needed for vermicomposting are called Red Wrigglers. These Red Wrigglers love to spend their time in piles of manure and love eating organic waste, which is why they are so perfect for the job of vermicomposting. The worms that you find in your backyard garden are usually regular field worms which would not be able to survive in a pile of kitchen waste.

When considering what size bin you want to use, the container should be on the shallow side rather than really deep. It should also be wider than it is tall. The surface of the container should be about one square foot for every pound of waste you wish to place in it each week. There should be about 500 red wrigglers equaling about a half-pound for every cubic foot of the container. The container should have plenty of air holes, since air is necessary not only for the composting process, but for the worms’ survival as well. There should also be holes on the bottom of the container to allow drainage. There should be a screen covering each air hole and drainage hole to guarantee that the holes do not become worm holes or compost holes as well as air holes and/or drainage holes. If you produce too much organic waste for one normal sized container, it is much easier to maintain several small worm containers than one really big one.

To keep your worms happy, it is important to make sure that they are in an environment with the proper temperature, ventilation, and moisture. The air holes should be able to provide the necessary ventilation. There should be enough moisture to give the compost pile the feel of a wrung out sponge – not too wet, but not too dry. The temperature should be room temperature. Although worms can survive in a wide range of temperatures, anywhere from forty to ninety degrees Fahrenheit, they will be the happiest and therefore do their best work if they are at a comfortable room temperature.

There should be bedding on the surface of the container. This bedding should consist of shredded paper if the container will remain indoors. If the container will be kept outdoors, the bedding can consist of shredded paper or organic yard waste, such as dried grass clippings, sawdust, mulched dried leaves, etc. Yard waste should NOT be placed in an indoor container, because they can cause the compost pile to heat-up significantly which may kill your worms.

You can feed your worms a large variety of foods. Red Wrigglers will eat just about any organic kitchen waste you may produce, including carrots lettuce, cabbage, celery, banana peels, and tea bags. Tomatoes, coffee grounds, and citrus peels can be added into the container but only in moderation, since the acid could kill the worms. They also like to eat small amounts of bread, pancakes, grains, and noodles. Chopping up the food before you put it in the container will help it decompose.

You should harvest the vermicompost every two months or so. You will know that it is ready to be harvested when you can no longer make out the waste or the bedding, since they will have already decomposed. A good way to harvest the vermicompost without taking out the worms is to shine a light over the pile. This will chase the worms deeper into the pile in about ten minutes. You can then scrape up the top layer of vermicompost. Keep the light on to chase the worms even deeper into the pile, and then take out the next layer of vermicompost, and so on. It is very important to not take out any worm eggs that may be in the pile. They will hatch and turn into more worms which could make your vermicompost pile better, or enable you to use them to start another vermicompost container.

Once you have the vermicompost out of the container, you can use it to help just about anything grow. You can add some into your houseplants; you can sprinkle it on your flowerbeds; you can add it into the soil in which you want to plant seeds; and you can even sprinkle it around your lawn to help your lawn grow.

By: Amy Nutt

Organic gardening is a chemical-free and earth-friendly method of gardening. Organic gardening and conventional gardening differ on how they control pests and nourish the soil. Conventional gardening uses chemical pesticides and chemical fertilizers while organic gardens use organic means of enriching the soil and organic weed killers and fertilizers.

Organic gardens follow natural practices that include:

Organic Soil: Quality soil is the main component of creating a successful garden. By providing nourishing natural substances to the soil, you will be well on your way to growing healthy plants and vegetables. For an organic garden, it is essential to add natural additives such as organic compost, manure, chopped leaves, and mulches. Before adding natural compounds, you should do a soil test to determine whether the soil has any mineral deficiencies. To improve the quality of the soil, you can add a number of natural products that are rich in nutrients. Natural additives can include organic compost, fish emulsion, and blood meal. If you do not have the time to make your own natural soil feed, there are many natural products available for purchase. Such products that are rich in nutrients include seaweed meal, straw mulch, and worm casts. Making worm compost is a great way to compost organic waste

Organic Pest Control: Every garden will attract pests that will eat some of the plants and vegetables. Conventional gardens use pesticides to control pests. These pesticides contain chemicals that are harmful to the environment, humans, and animals. Attracting or buying bugs that will eat pests such as aphids will help reduce their numbers. Bugs that kill aphids include damsel bugs, lady bugs, and lacewings, and more. There are also organic pest control products on the market. Homemade tomato leaf and garlic sprays will also repel aphids.

Diversifying your garden will help reduce pests. Planting strong smelling herbs will repel plant eating bugs. Birds and insects that feed on aphids will also be attracted to a diverse garden and will reduce pests that harm your plants. To control weeds, there are number of organic weed control products on the market. Removing weeds daily is the best way to control weed infestation.

Crop Rotation: To maintain rich and healthy soil, it is recommended that you rotate your crops. Crop Rotation involves planting crops so that plants and vegetables are not grown in the same spot each year. This will ensure that the soil does not lose its nutrients. It will also reduce the risk of disease. The nutrients left behind from one set of plants can be used by another type of plant the next year. The best way to rotate your crops is to draw a map of the garden that outlines where each plant is located. You can then refer to it the following year to make sure you do not plant the same type of plant in the same location. Crop rotation and growing diverse plants will help deter pests.

The benefit of organically enriching your soil, using organic pest control, and rotating your crops ensures a healthy garden. This method will also attract bees which will result in pollination of the plants.

The biggest difference between organic gardening and conventional gardening is that organic gardens do not use chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Successful organic gardening can be achieved by understanding how to create organically productive soil that is rich and fertile, the type of crops to plant that includes the appropriate plants for the particular climate and season, and implementing organic maintenance practices.

Because of the illnesses and diseases such as cancer that are now being linked to chemicals in fertilizers and pesticides, more people are turning to organic gardening. Developing an organic garden may seem like a bit of hard work, but the reward of creating a healthy garden will be very gratifying.