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 Post subject: Inground Worm Composting
PostPosted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 4:37 pm 
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Joined: Sat Oct 10, 2009 8:50 am
Posts: 18
Location: The Colony, TX
I recently spoke to a couple of ladies who told me about burying a bucket in the yard - holes drilled in it - for worm composting. This attracts the native earth worms which travel into and out of the bucket. They mentioned Plano offered a class on this and instructions may be posted on the Plano site. However, I have searched all over the web and the City of Plano site and can't seem to find anything about this. I would like some specifics and or a site that has such. Any ideas? If you are doing this method, how is it working out for you and any recommendations? I've tried honey hole composting but attracted some critters that dug up the "honey". Since I have a small suburban lot I need an easy, odorless, pestfree and quick composting method.


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 15, 2010 9:24 pm 
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Joined: Sat Feb 28, 2009 8:35 am
Posts: 102
This sounds like worm tower vermicomposting--but this is something that I wouldn't really try in brutal TX heat--in milder climates they can do this by putting the red wigglers in a heavily mulched raised bed. Our native Texas earthworms are not the best/fastest composting worms, they are better deep burrowing aerators--red wigglers are the best composting worms. In Texas, you can do outdoor trench red wiggler vermicomposting--and I do--but only in a nearly 100% shaded spot (especially March through October).
I have mine set up in 4' X 8' trenches, with 12 inch tall untreated lumber. I place about 6 inches of horse stall waste (manure, urine, bedding) or half decomposed compost in the trench for about 3 weeks, exposed to rain and elements. This allows any dewormer to deactivate from the horse manure. Then I add produce waste in one end section of the trench and cover entire trench with 6-10 inches of fall leaves, straw or hay and let it rot for about a week. This allows the microbial count to start in the bin (which is what the worms actually feed on). At this point, you can add your worms. I use black shade cloth to cover the entire trench (that is also in 100% shade). The shade cloth is very breathable--unlike a tarp or plastic.
The standard measurement is that a pound of worms can live in a square foot of vermicomposting space---but you would want to start at a much lower quantity, as worms can reproduce fairly fast. I would start with about 1/4 to 1/2 of worms per square foot.

I feed the worms one strip at a time, so that they migrate from one end to another, leaving the finished VC behind them for easier VC harvesting.

I would be happy to help anybody interested in this great way of composting, I can't say enough about how great the VC is for your gardening and waste reduction!
worm rancher
www.txwormranch.com


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 13, 2012 3:35 am 
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Joined: Thu Jul 21, 2011 2:37 am
Posts: 14
I was having the same problem, thanks to the reply from wormrancher now I know what I have to do :) Though I did get rid of the worms a few months ago when I aerated my lawn using a mechanical aerator that I rented from a tool rental, but they came back in a few months will do this now.


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