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What did you feed your worms today?

14 years ago

Seems like there is so much food this time of year for the worms. I fed the inside worms bananas, watermelon, cucumbers, lettuce, and strawberry tops. The outside worms got watermelon, figs, lettuce, and potato skins. I'm just about out of brown leaves to cover the food, and luckily some of my trees are starting to shed.

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Comments (6)

duffinvt
14 years ago
Squash blossoms as a treat, a banana peel and a couple of corn cobs to munch on. They love what's left on the cob after we have gnawed it. There really is so much food at this time of year, I wish I could share with those who have no garden. We have apples rotting on the ground that are not good eating. I cut up some and put in the freezer for the worms, but we have overgrown summer and zucchini squash, "mystery" squash that grew from seeds in the regular compost. It is of unknown origin so that will go to the worms. We have bushels of overgrown lettuce. The freeze is FULL so the regular compost bin will get most of this stuff.
sbryce_gw
14 years ago
The worms got the trimmings from a large salad I made last night. Lettuce, tomato, celery, bell pepper.

My apartment is swarming with fruit flies. I think the fruit flies are breeding in the bin, so there will be no fruit fed to the worms until they are gone.

I have watermelon rinds and banana peels in the freezer waiting for the fruit flies to die off.
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I've read that if the change in pH is gradual, the worms can tolerate a very wide range, from fairly acidic to a little basic. If I've got something acidic, I just be sure to add a little first and see what happens. I haven't had pH problems. Now anaerobic from over-feeding... Yep, I've had that. It's one that's worth avoiding! (Esp in my studio apt!). I did burry some straight protein once without problems, but I didn't dig that part up for a long while. I also found some stale dog food in the back of the storage that had been there for years (after I found out my dog was allergic to it.) I soaked and drained the kibble, then I burried it under at least 6 inches of bedding and had no problems. I did check for anaerobic conditions, and I didn't add more than about a quarter inch layer. Since then I've had too much stuff in the freezer and have needed that space more than the storage space, so I haven't tried any more. I'll get back to the dog food eventually. I think the dog food will be a winter thing. I like cantaloupe :-) My stacking bins are more likely to go anaerobic than my flow through.
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Thanks for the article. You can also use alfalfa pellets and soybean meal, two another options that you can use. I am a big believer in having healthy soil filled with earthworms. My mom's lawn in Houston never gets extra water. I have feed the lawn with soybean meal and alfalfa pellets a couple times a year and mulch mow everything on the lawn providing all kinds of food for earthworms. The lawn and everything else were able to withstand a dry spell in the spring with no problem. That led to questions from mom's neighbors on how she did it. LOL. I was the one that did everything even though I live up here. There seems to be no grub problems, little ant problems, etc. It's all about balance or control of the pest (not eradication) Go down the street to my sister's. It's the opposite. She uses all kinds of chemicals. Last year, she used pesticide and fungicide to try and fix whatever the problem was. That was a surefire way of ruining earthworm population and other beneficial ones too. It only led to prolonged problems because it was never really fixed in the first place. It wasn't able to withstand dry spell and my sister had to water but didn't seem to help much (probably shallow watering). She even used weed and feed this year and she has trees everywhere. A big NO-NO! I think she's a little too stubborn to listen after all she runs her husband's termite pest control business....
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duffinvt
14 years ago
Easy fruit fly trap that you can even put in the bin. Cut the top off a plastic water or soda bottle, put some vinegar in the bottle bottom and put the cut top on upside down.. like it is now a funnel sitting in the top of the cut bottle. Just set these around where the fruit flies are or put them right in the bin if the flies are in there. Works great !
Jasdip
14 years ago
...and make sure you cover the food you put it the bin with lots of shredded paper. The flies won't dig for their food.
Freezing everything prior to feeding will eliminate any eggs that could be on the food.
perridale
14 years ago
I have taken to running all scraps through an old food processor, freezing, thawing, and then feeding.

I have an old ice cream bucket with a lid I keep in the kitchen where I put the store leftovers and scraps. When I get ready to feed the worms I grind everything up in an old Black & Decker food processor (it's pretty big). I'll add cut up napkins, papertowels, coffee grinds, etc. to the goo. I dump it back into the bucket, freeze it over night, put the bucket outside to thaw, and feed the worms when I get home from work.

I dig out a corner and dump a large scoop, cover with castings/bedding in the bin and move to the next corner and repeat until all four corners are "fed". I cut a piece of thin cardboard to cover the bin and let the worms go to town. Within a few days the food is 100% gone. Each time I find huge globs of worms in each corner still working over the area.

Lately I've been feeding cucumbers out of my garden that have turned a bit before I could use them otherwise. Since I started freezing, the fruit fly population has really dropped, not totally gone, but noticeably dropped.
duffinvt
14 years ago
Here is something fun to do if you like to blend your worm food. Get a bunch of paper egg cartons and put the blended food in the cups. Freeze and then tear apart and store in bag in freezer. The worms love it and it is really a neat way to feed them "goop" from the blender.

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