Monster Worms Blog

Will Horse Dewormers Kill Red Worms? Update #1

Beth — Mon, 24 May 2010 04:09:40 +0000

Well, it’s been three weeks now since we started our red worm experiment. As you recall, we used a small bin with three types of red composting worms…the red wigglers, the European nightcrawlers and the African nightcrawlers and fed them manure from horses that had just been given the deworming medication Ivermectin.

I am happy to report that the red worms are fairing fantastic! They are very active and healthy looking. No ill effects that we can see. We had an interesting question from a fellow vermicomposter….”Could the medication make the worms sterile?” I will keep you updated on that too. Hopefully soon, we’ll see some little baby worms.

Master Gardeners, Red Wiggler Worms and Monster Worms

Beth — Wed, 19 May 2010 04:31:55 +0000

Monster Worms now has a Master Gardener in the family. On Saturday, May 15th, Dave and 29 of his classmates received their Master Gardener Certificates. He had been taking classes and studying since January. We are very proud of him. While in class, he was also able to pass on his knowledge of vermiculture and of our red worms. Specifically the red wigglers, European nightcrawlers and African nightcrawlers. All great composting and fishing worms.

Happy Mother’s Day from Monster Worms!

Beth — Sun, 09 May 2010 17:00:15 +0000

We enjoyed Mother’s Day one day early because I had to be out of town on May 9th. I woke up to find two cute, excited girls, a wonderful breakfast and presents. My favorite present was a T-shirt that they drew on for the occasion. Each girl drew on one side and put on things that were special to them. In the evening, we went to a Mother, Daughter dance and I wore that shirt. I received a lot of compliments about it.

After breakfast, we went outside and did one of my favorite things…..worked in the garden. We normally start our garden earlier, but we were a little behind this year. In the past, I used to rototill the garden, but I feel that this is not good for the soil. What I do now is I dig out a trench where I want to plant. I then put in compost from our Dual Drum compost tumbler or from our homemade compost bin. This not only provides nutrients for the roots but needed air too because the soil is not compacted. We then put some of the soil that we dug out on top of the compost and plant our seeds or plants. Everything in our garden is from seed except for the tomato plants.

The girls helped me with all of this. They love to put seeds in the ground and watch them grow. We all enjoy eating the vegetables that come out of our garden. I had a wonderful day with my girls. What did you do for Mother’s Day?

Will Horse Dewormers Kill Red Worms?

Beth — Tue, 04 May 2010 02:54:55 +0000

A common worry among people raising red worms for vermiculture is if manure “tainted” with the deworming medication, Ivermectin, will kill their red worms if fed to them. We have decided to put this matter to rest.

Recently, the horses at the stable where we get our manure from were given Ivermectin. One day afterward, we collected a bucket of this manure and fed it to some of our red worms. We have a small tray of red wigglers, European nightcrawlers and African nightcrawlers that we use for demonstrations at schools and other events. We figured that this tray would be perfect because we could easily monitor the worms and sadly, if the medication killed them, we wouldn’t lose too many.

Well, I have to say….so far so good. This manure was fed to them over a week ago and no dead worms. Matter of fact, they are all throughout this manure and they look great!. I’ll report back in another week or so and let you know how it is going.

Having Fun With Compost

Beth — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 15:37:39 +0000

At Monster Worms, not only do we enjoy vermiculture, but we enjoy hot composting too. Ever since our daughters could walk, they have been involved with all of our projects. They know that spent flowers and leaves can turn into “dirt” because they have seen it happen first hand. I remember one time when my oldest daughter, who was about four at the time, talked to a wilting flower in a vase and said, “It’s okay, you’ll go into the compost and make more flowers.”

The other day the girls and I put some of our compost, that I got out of our dual drum compost tumbler, into our brick planter boxes and half wine barrels. We then planted flowers that we bought at a local nursery. Every year we do this. It’s like a tradition. The girls get to pick out which flowers that they want to plant. When they were younger, I had to dig the holes and help them plant. Now, they can do it on their own. They love it and they enjoy seeing the fruits of their labor.

The Mason Bee….The Perfect Pollinator

Beth — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 02:49:48 +0000

Have you noticed that in the Spring and Summer there are not very many honey bees around? Have you had trouble in the past getting your fruits and vegetables to set because of lack of pollination?

Then you need to get a Mason Bee box! Why? Well…..to attract the excellent pollinating Mason Bees!

Mason Bees pollinate our spring fruit trees, flowers and vegetables. They are named from their habit of making compartments of mud in their nests, which are made in hollow reeds or holes in wood made by wood boring insects or woodpeckers. If they can’t find these types of holes in which to build their nests, they will go elsewhere. That is why providing a bee box with ready made nesting holes for them is such a great idea!

Mason bees are very effective spring pollinators. Two or three females can pollinate the equivalent of a mature apple tree in one season! They fly in cool or rainy weather and can supplement or replace honey bees as commercial pollinators in some situations.

Unlike honey bees, they are solitary and produce neither honey nor beeswax. Since they have no honey to defend, they will only sting if squeezed or stepped on. They make excellent garden “pets” since they both pollinate the plants and are safe for children and pets.

What could be more perfect for your garden? The Mason Bee is an excellent pollinator and doesn’t sting unless it gets squished. I think that I would fight back then too!

Gusanito Worm Farm Bins are Tough!

Beth — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 04:43:15 +0000

Today while doing some Spring cleaning in the garage, I knocked off our Gusanito Worm Farm Bin from its shelf. This shelf is over four feet high! Actually four feet, five inches. As I walked around the other side (I won’t tell you what words were coming out of my mouth), I expected to see a mess of broken plastic, red worms and castings all over the place. To my surprise, what I saw instead was our five tray Gusanito standing upright! The only thing askew was the roof. It was lying on the floor.

This Gusanito dove head first into some boxes, did a loop, a full twist and landed on its feet three feet to the right. I think that it deserves a gold medal. Amazing…..the only damage that I could see was a slight turned up corner on the front left “foot” and the side next to the foot had a very slight bow to it. It is barely noticeable. I checked on the red worms. They acted as if nothing had even happened……maybe it was all just a daydream……..

The Worm Inn — An Innovative, Easy, Fun Way to Vermicompost!

Beth — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 20:42:22 +0000

We’ve added a new, fun product to our website that I’m sure you will agree is the easy way to compost with red worms (vermicomposting). It’s called The Worm Inn and it is really simple to use. What’s easy about it is that once you have it set up, all you have to do is add to the top and the castings come out the bottom. What could be easier than that?

The Worm Inn utilizes the “continuous flow” method of vermicomposting. What this means is that the worms constantly work upward as food is added all the while leaving behind their castings. These castings will settle toward the bottom of the breathable bag.

To get it all set up, all you have to do is this:

Place bedding material in the bottom to absorb moisture

Then a layer of food scraps

Add the red worms. (2-3 lbs. of red wigglers or European nightcrawlers)

Put in the rest of the food scraps

Add a thick layer of more bedding

Finally, spray down the whole system with water because the contents need to remain moist

Only add about 2-3 lbs. of food per week. The worms will eat their bedding material too. Be sure to cover any new food you add with existing or new bedding material. This will help to prevent attracting fruit flies.

As the system settles, the worms move upward, digesting the microbial waste of the food This results in the castings, a nutrient rich fertilizer. These castings are left below as the worms constantly move upward toward more food.

After several weeks, the castings are ready to be used and are collected from the bottom of the bag. To open the bottom of the bag, loosen the toggles. Make sure that you have placed a container below to catch the castings. Tighten the toggles when no more castings come out or when you start to see bedding material.

This “continuous flow” of regularly adding food scraps and bedding, and then harvesting the castings from the bottom makes indoor composting practical and fun for anyone.

You should try it…I think you’ll really like it!

Red Worms in the White House?

Beth — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 08:17:27 +0000

I recently read an article about First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign which was designed to help parents deal with and eliminate childhood obesity. In this article she talked about the organic garden she set up on the White House lawn and how important fresh fruits and vegetables are in our diets.

Back in August, actually on President Obama’s birthday, I happened to be in Washington, DC and I had the opportunity to visit the White House. (I didn’t get past the black wrought iron fence though. ) I walked all the way around the grounds and I got a glimpse of this organic garden.

All of this got me to thinkin’ though, do they do any composting? If the garden is organic, what do they use for fertilizer? And what about all of their food scraps? Do you think that they throw them out?

I have a couple of great ideas for them…..they could buy a bunch of our Dual Drum or Original Compost tumblers and compost all of the garden waste, shrub prunings, grass clippings and fallen leaves. Then inside they could put a whole row of our Gusanito worm farm bins next to the bowling alley. All of their food scraps could be put in them for the red worms to eat.

If they did this, they would have all the organic compost and worms castings that they would need for their garden. They would also be diverting a bunch of “garbage” from going into a landfill.

So what do you think First Lady Obama? Red worms in the White House?

Running “A-Fowl” in Brentwood, CA update

Beth — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 04:39:08 +0000

It looks like Kimberly Kennedy’s feathered friends, Henny and Penny, lost their bid to remain in Brentwood. Last Tuesday the city council members voted to kick them out of the city unless they find a home on a lot of at least 20,000 square feet.

Where will they go? Will they cluck for anyone else besides Kimberly? Will they end up on someone’s table for dinner? Oh my….. Poor chickens.

Maybe we should bring over a few of our red worms for a special treat for them. That should cheer them up.

Photo credit: Sherry LaVars/BayAreaNewsGroup