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Composting Manure Article
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The best composting worm
The two types of composting worm that are best suited for worm matured composting are the Eisenia foetida or red worm and the Lumbricus rubellus. The Lumbricus rubellus is found in aged manure and matured compost. Do not use dew-worms. Dew-worms are the large sized worms found in soil and compost. Dew-worms are not likely to survive.
Where do you obtain your composting worm, you ask. If you feel like getting dirty, locate an animal stable or farmer with manure pile then collect a bag full of manure with worms. Also, check your or a friend's compost bin. You can also purchase your compost worm.
How many composting worms do you need? It has been suggested the correct worm to food waste ratio is two pounds of worms to every pound per day of food waste. This adds up to roughly 2000 worms. If this is too many worms to start with, reduce your food waste accordingly and add food waste as the composting worm population increases.
Do your worms require feeding? In basic terms, Yes! Compost food scraps like tea bags and coffee grounds, fruit and vegetable peels, and pulverized eggshells to add to your compost bin as composting worm food. Do not compost dairy, meats, grains and oily foods because of odor problems, insects and rodents. Do not attempt to compost. Plastic, glass and tin foil are not either digestible for any living being nor are they biodegradable.
Lift and pull aside some bedding then dump or add your food waste followed by burying it with the bedding to cover it up. Burying the food waste will help you to avoid any insects or odor problems. As you add food waste, bury it in a varying pattern inside of the bin from one addition to the next to avoid any bulky areas that your composting worm is not able to navigate through.
It will take between 2 and 4 months to collect and for the worms to eat and digest enough food waste along with shed their skin in your composting worm bin to reach composting maturity. As your composting worms eat and digest the food waste leaving it behind in the form of composting worm waste with the skins they shed your compost bin will slowly mature. Over a period of 2 to 4 months, your matured compost bin will transform into a thick, dark and rich soil conditioner. This soil conditioner may be used with household plants and indoor green houses or collected over a period to be used in outdoor flowerbeds, gardens or yards.
Composting Manure Specific links
Composting Manure News
Compost operation at crossroads - Cape Gazette
 Cape Gazette | Compost operation at crossroads Cape Gazette The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control issued a permit in 2005 allowing his compost business to receive chicken manure, chicken offal, hatchery waste, food processing waste and sewer sludge from wastewater treatment facilities. |
Compost farmer alters animal manure into thriving business - The Newark Advocate
Compost farmer alters animal manure into thriving business The Newark Advocate "Up here" is the highest part of his 300-acre farm, 7795 Jersey Mill Road, that he has converted into a compost facility. He takes manure from his and other farms -- along with yard wastes that people drop off -- and converts them into compost, ... |
Tainted manure makes garden vegetables grow, but not very well - Staunton News Leader
Tainted manure makes garden vegetables grow, but not very well Staunton News Leader During some of the hottest days of the year he was out stacking the manure and mixing it every few days with a steer-skid loader, composting manure for his wife's roughly 60-foot by 40-foot garden. Come fall, he hitched his turn plow to his tractor and ... |
Green Space: Don't love your new plants too much - Canton Repository
Green Space: Don't love your new plants too much Canton Repository Natural soil additives such as manure are less toxic but still should be avoided until the plant is established. The plant automatically adapts to its situation. If you add manure, it can grow too fast for soil conditions. Stimulated plants require a ... |
Milton Compost & Perennial Sale - Boston.com
Milton Compost & Perennial Sale Boston.com To quote author and organic gardener Ann Lovejoy, “Dairy manure may be the single most useful soil builder around. Composted dairy manure from healthy cows is just about perfect for garden use; it can be used as a topdressing and for soil improvement, ... |