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Lots of worms

The wormery has been in the shade for a few weeks and I've been watering it to keep the worms happy but not adding much to it. I had put the next layer in and today I thought I'd check to see if the worms had migrated up so that I could use the worm compost in the bottom layer. I took the insert out and there were still plenty of worms in the bottom layer so I checked the second layer to see if any of the worms had moved up as well. They had! So there are now lots of very fat, happy worms but on two layers so I can't get at the compost yet.

I must admit that it's very exciting. I'll add some more chopped up vegetable peelings and loo roll holders shortly to the top layer.

I'm now keen to see if the compost makes a difference to growing plants. It has to be good and of course, there's the 'juice' that comes from keeping the wormery well watered.

Success!

The wormery had been left to itself for a little while. I moved it to a permanently shady spot and hadn't added anything recently. It's been cool and rainy as well.

This weekend, the sun shone instead of the rain we were predicted so I thought I'd start again and follow all the advice of my worm expert since I wasn't convinced that much was happening. I gently tipped the wormery into a large plastic bucket and look what I found! Lots of fat, happy worms and a lot of brown, wet, sludge which doesn't smell. I had been watering the wormery since my expert says that they need to be kept damp.

I've now gently put them back on a layer of compost and some shredded newspaper and added the divider and a layer of kitchen waste for them to crawl up to so I can extract the good stuff from underneath.

In the meantime, I'm going to keep watering them and using the 'juice' to feed the blueberries which are now inside the conservatory so the birds won't be tempted to strip my bushes. You'd think they'd be happy with the strawberries I didn't get around to netting until today but I think they like blueberries even more.

Back from a cycling holiday and the worms are ALIVE!

We left for a week's holiday, hoping to cycle in the (sunny) French countryside and decided that you can't ask someone to look after the wormery without notice. I tore up the Amazon cardboard that wrapped the books I bought to read on holiday (note: this was a good idea because it rained quite a lot and I read 3 books in 4 days). I put it on the top of the wormery, watered it and hoped for the best.

When I looked in the box yesterday, the torn card was in place but just underneath it was a lot of very fat, happy looking worms. This may be because it was very wet and cool here as well as in the south of France so that they didn't get cooked in the sunshine. I'm still planning to put the wormery in the garage but until the weather picks up, it's not a priority.

I'm watering the worms and using the juice to water the plants - especially the peppers, tomatoes and courgette.

Photo above is from the holiday - grapevines, poppies and lavender...with a few olive trees nearby. No sun but on this occasion, no rain either.

YouTube Wormery videos

Why didn't I look here first? YouTube has taken over my life - there is something here for everything I want to know. You want to know about wormeries? Look here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mvmy9jZgHn8

There are so many videos to choose from - thank you everyone!

Sage advice from an experienced wormery friend

My work colleague has now kindly shared her experience of keeping worms. She says that you need lots of them - 200-300 and that she bought them and some worm food to help them settle in. She said that if you have a semi mature compost heap, they would consider that good food as well and that they must be kept damp all the time.

I think I will follow her advice and move them into the garage where they won't have to put up with the variations of temperature (although it's quite cool now). Her other useful tips are:

• water them with a fine rose
• shred new food and add it in by gently digging
• you should have a bed of garden compost and non edibles and then put your vegetable offerings on top of that
• you can put about 1 lb a day of vegetable offerings in the commercial wormery that she has
• the water that drips through needs to be diluted if the worms are working efficently.
  

Well, we're off on a cycling holiday so I will leave them with some food and water for the week and hope that they appreciate being left in peace. I promise to then move them into the garage (they don't smell) and look after them. I will double the population and make sure the whole things stays sweet and take more photos so you can see how this is going.

You never know who has a wormery until you ask

I added a call for advice about womeries to an update I sent out to a work related group. They are a diverse bunch and I thought maybe one of them might know something about wormeries and I also like to check that they have read through to the end of the update. (ok, we all have hidden agendas). It turns out that two of the group have wormeries and responded immediately so I'm looking forward to hearing what they say. One of them has offered me lots of worms when I go and visit in June. I would like to say yes just to have them hand over in a very un-worm related meeting!

I haven't checked the little ones for a day or two. I wondered if they got too hot in the recent nice weather and must look at them this evening when I get home.

If I add worms from another place to the existing group, will they fight or mingle? Doesn't that create interesting mental images for you?

Advice received

I went on a lovely cycle ride with my friend from work and we found ourselves in a small village which was holding a market, full of local people selling their wares and giving advice. We bought bread, had a coffee and cake and filled our baskets with plants (chili peppers and courgettes for me). Hidden in the back was a young couple offering advice on composting and, yes, wormeries. They had received a wormery as a wedding present.

I described my wormery and I was advised that it sounded like it was too acidic - it's a bit slimy. She recommended tearing up some loo rolls and mixing it in to balance it out a bit more...and she said that it takes about 6 weeks for the worms to settle in, not just 2.

So we have torn up some loo rolls and mixed them in, found some live worms (she said we had the right kind) and we'll try again.

The wrong kind of worms

I just couldn't resist looking at the wormery today and had another gentle poke but there is NO sign of the right kind of worms...only the cream coloured, saw - edged little ones which I'm sure will make compost eventually.

I think I may need to consult an expert and ask the kind husband to redo and restock. I'm sure the right kind of worms should be wriggling around by now. It's all looking a little messy and a bit slimy though it doesn't reek.

Advice is always welcome.

When the wormery is successful, this will come in handy

The theory, continued....

When the worms start to work and have composted the first layer, this insert is gently placed on the compost and the new vegetable contributions are added to the top. The holes allow the worms to move up to the new food, leaving the compost underneath free to be added to my plants.

I don't know how long this takes but I will let you know when it's worked! It will be hard to know which plants are going to be first in line for the compost. I'm guessing it will have to be the blueberries, followed by the lemon and then the bougainvilleas.

The first contribution to the wormery

Mainly vegetable matter is going into this wormery. I did (gently) look for the worms the other day since I wasn't convinced they were alive but it has only been 2 weeks since they were introduced into their new home. I read that it takes about 2 weeks for them to settle down so I didn't want to stir anything up.

We've been trying to keep it damp and it's now warm enough for them to feel comfortable. We haven't added anything to the original contribution though I was very happy to hear that they like egg shells. I do a lot of baking and I also have an egg for breakfast most days. I don't like putting too many egg shells in the main compost because I don't want to encourage any animals to feast on them.

Front view of the wormery

This is what my wormery looks like. The theory is that the bottom pot catches the liquid created by the worms who are in the grey pot. The green lid keeps out the rain. This is sitting outside of the kitchen door and I must admit, it isn't quite as attractive as I had hoped it would be. It may have to move, especially since we eat outside in the nice weather and this doesn't add to the atmosphere.

And, it might get a bit too much sunshine for the worms if it doesn't find a cooler place to live.

My first wormery

Several years ago, my sister-in-law asked me for a wormery in response to my usual question after a visit to the States, "What can I get you to say thank you for having us stay with you?"

So my son and I looked for a wormery in many stores in northern Delaware and no one had one. We looked on the internet, looked at the cost of one and bought her something else.

The cost of wormeries has continued to be very high (£60 +) but the idea of nice worms eating the kitchen waste and producing a good liquid feed for my houseplants is very appealing. So...I asked my semi-retired and very practical husband to build me one for my birthday. He did and this is a record of how it goes.