Wigglers

Just thinking a little about worms. They are a wiggly important part of our gardens. We have earth worms in our raised veggie beds. They seemed to have done very well during the winter leaving all of their great worm castings with no work on my part. Here is a picture of two of the monsters that came out while I was working up one of the beds. They must have been 8-10" long.

We also have another type of worm friend that is part of our veggie garden world. We have a worm composting box. In the box we have a colony of red wigglers. Red wigglers (Eisenia Foetida ) are great for composting. We used a design that is offered on the Metro website.


(Here is the link: Http://www.oregonmetro.gov/index.cfm/go/by.web/id=554/level=3 )
Mine was a gift from my husband for my birthday, but you can even use salvage materials so there doesn’t need to be a big investment. And the worms a gift from a friend in college. My box has been in use for over 10 years. It is placed behind our workshop so the fruit flies don’t bother anyone. There it is also shaded to protect the worms from the summer sun. I used to collect my fruit and veggie waste out of my kitchen in a 1 gallon mustard container, but it was clear plastic and my family got tired of seeing the mass sitting on our countertop. So this Christmas I received a ceramic bucket, which I must admit is a vast improvement. If you take out your kitchen waste daily than a bucket under the sink can be used or you could use an old cookie jar with a lid if you wanted to wait a couple of days. My worms eat all of our household fruit and veggie waste. They also get coffee grounds, tea (loose and bags), the crusts off my children bread and even the occasional paper towel. They also get a scoop or two of leaves in the fall. I have learned not to include squash seeds or prune pits. The first germinated when we used the compost in our lettuce bed and the latter just encouraged mice. We try to turn the mass occasionally, but it is not done on a regular schedule. Our worms are very happy and reproduce well. I have given some them to friends several times to start their own colonies or for their gardening classes. Red wigglers are available via seed companies like the Oregon based Territorial Seeds, but I would recommend asking friends and neighbors first. They may have a Red Wiggler colony of their own or may know someone that can share.

Just thinking a little about worms. They are a wiggly important part of our gardens. We have earth worms in our raised veggie beds. They seemed to have done very well during the winter leaving all of their great worm castings with no work on my part. Here is a picture of two of the monsters that came out while I was working up one of the beds. They must have been 8-10" long.

We also have another type of worm friend that is part of our veggie garden world. We have a worm composting box. In the box we have a colony of red wigglers. Red wigglers (Eisenia Foetida ) are great for composting. We used a design that is offered on the Metro website.


(Here is the link: Http://www.oregonmetro.gov/index.cfm/go/by.web/id=554/level=3 )
Mine was a gift from my husband for my birthday, but you can even use salvage materials so there doesn’t need to be a big investment. And the worms a gift from a friend in college. My box has been in use for over 10 years. It is placed behind our workshop so the fruit flies don’t bother anyone. There it is also shaded to protect the worms from the summer sun. I used to collect my fruit and veggie waste out of my kitchen in a 1 gallon mustard container, but it was clear plastic and my family got tired of seeing the mass sitting on our countertop. So this Christmas I received a ceramic bucket, which I must admit is a vast improvement. If you take out your kitchen waste daily than a bucket under the sink can be used or you could use an old cookie jar with a lid if you wanted to wait a couple of days. My worms eat all of our household fruit and veggie waste. They also get coffee grounds, tea (loose and bags), the crusts off my children bread and even the occasional paper towel. They also get a scoop or two of leaves in the fall. I have learned not to include squash seeds or prune pits. The first germinated when we used the compost in our lettuce bed and the latter just encouraged mice. We try to turn the mass occasionally, but it is not done on a regular schedule. Our worms are very happy and reproduce well. I have given some them to friends several times to start their own colonies or for their gardening classes. Red wigglers are available via seed companies like the Oregon based Territorial Seeds, but I would recommend asking friends and neighbors first. They may have a Red Wiggler colony of their own or may know someone that can share.