New Worm "Parent" Here...Long Post.
mywormyworld
5 years ago
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armoured
5 years agoRelated Discussions
New house, old pond, much trouble. (Long post with photos)
Comments (41)Hi scottspond, some how didn't think she would, Florida vs Manchester, no contest really ;-) The area I live in is New Mills, in High Peak in Derbyhsire. If it doesn't ring a bell, it's just past Lyme park, Buxton is about 2 miles away, Stockport 9 miles and Manchester 20 miles (all via road) Handily the railway station is about 5 mins away from my home, so trips to Manchester are pleasent through the countyside and don't require I use the car ;-) And in summer I get to hop on the odd steam trian, every boys dream. My Mancunian mates reckon I've gone "all posh" living here, as I was born and grew up in Fallowfield and went to school in Rusholme. Regards ChrisC....See MoreOutside Worm Bins and Native Worms
Comments (20)wfike, are you adding wood shavings to improve the texture of the casts or to help aerate the bedding? I've read, and surmise, that wood shavings take a long time to break down, so I'm assuming you aren't adding them as feedstock, am I figuring this correctly? I've also read, from several older vermi books (and the Vermiculture_FarmersManual), that horse manure by itself is not the best feed, but that cattle manure is good. Do you mix the 2 as feedstock and bedding? I guess what I'm trying to understand is whether you use horse manure as feedstock and feel it is an adequate feed by itself. I added soaked, torn corrugated cardboard to the horse manure because I'd read that it has excellent nutrition due to the high-protein glue that is used to hold the layers together. Another advantage that corrugated cb has is it's water absorbancy, so the 2 (horse manure and corrugated cb) mixed together make a good bedding and a good feedstock. But, you know, you can find all sorts of contradictions when comparing books, websites, and opinions...so I'm interested in what you find to be true, based on your experience. Cheryl, I have been freezing the food waste lately. It does seem to speed things up a bit, but there is still the issue of varying amounts of water being released, mold/fungus, and odors if you use too much or have strong smelling foods to vermicompost. I've found that as much as I want to keep food waste from the landfills, it's a lot of aggravation (too much water, mold, fruit flies, fungus gnats, march flies, houseflies, odors..etc), inconvenience (both of my freezers are half full of food waste for the worms, leaving only half for my own food), and guess-work involved in feeding food waste to the worms. Now, if I didn't have access to horse manure and corrugated cardboard, I would still use primarily food waste. But since I do have access to those materials, I much prefer using them. I have encountered very few issues/problems using horse manure and corrugated cb. So, I ease my conscious by reminding myself that these 2 items would have been dumped in a landfill somewhere, had I not taken them. I still plan on freezing some food waste to use as trench feedings in my raised beds. This practice has eliminated all issues/problems with using food waste because it is buried 4-6" under the soil, and I have many worms in my raised beds who process this food quickly (and thank me for the cold stuff when it's hot outside). The junk mail I use are advertisements for credit cards, various insurance, and a hodgepodge of solicitations. I just remove them from the envelope and tear into strips that could be used as bedding (I put them in the compost crate, so they will be partially composted by the time the worms get to it). I don't use glossy papers, not because they are bad for the worms, but because they take forever to break down and I don't like the look of them in the compost. The Vermiculture FarmersManual recommends shredding cardboard that has a waxed coating, so I assume wax is safe to use if shredded or had the wax seal broken in some other fashion . I've read that oils are not good for worms (I assume oil would smother them since they breath thru their skin), but I wouldn't think a small amount would be harmful. The boxes that you have should be fine. Most of the corrugated cardboard that I use has colored printing on it and I haven't noticed any problems with it (the majority of people say that most inks are soy based now). I also use shredded office paper in the indoor bin I just created, and to absorb water from the barrel bins outside when rain has been heavy, and that paper has been thru laser printers. I haven't seen any ill effects from any of the paper products I have used. Welcome to the thread, Cheryl. I look forward to reading about your experiences in the vermi-world....See MoreMoms and worms
Comments (4)You might want to carefully consider actually having the kids make their own bins. Some parents might not really want to have them... The birthday party we did for my daughter was fun. It was for 4 year olds, and the kids really loved it. They wrapped her presents in old newspaper. The first part of the party was craft time and each child painted a little plant pot. After we had some games and cake (dirt cake with gummy worms) we opened gifts and the kids got to shred the wrapping paper (newspaper) so we could set up a new bin. After the new bin was ready, I started sifting castings and worms from the old bin and putting the worms and chunks of stuff into the new bin. The kids got to take handfuls of castings to their tables to look through and pick out cocoons and worms to return to the new bin. When they were tired of that we used the castings in potting soil to plant a flower. It might have been fun want to have them plant a sunflower seed or something instead of a plant, but I purchased zinias for them. They got to take their plant home with them. It was especially cute to see the little girls in their dresses playing with the worms. For the vermicomposting workshop I invited my MOMS club. I let them know that if they were interested in setting up a bin of their own I would supply the worms and help them set it up, but they were to bring the bin with holes in it. Most of the moms were more interested in seeing the process, but we did set up one bin. She brought the two rubbermaid totes so we could do the setup where you put holes in the smaller one and set it into the larger one. (She didn't drill the holes, but I had my drill handy and we got it set up pretty quickly.) Everyone who came brought old newspapers and the kids shredded the paper for me by hand. I usually do it with a shredder, but the hands on work was fun for the kids. They also got to help me wet the paper down, squeeze out the extra water, and fluff it up for the new bed. I had a table where I had dumped a bunch of castings and worms so it could dry out some. I let the kids dig through the pile and see what they could find and asked them to put the worms in one of my other bins. They also got to collect worms for the new bin. I sifted some of the castings so I could show everyone what the finished product was like. The moms were all amazed that what started out as newspaper and food scraps ended up looking like black soil. All in all it was a success. The kids loved the worms and the moms learned alot. A couple of them are now interested in starting their own bins. I wish I had thought to take pictures, but unfortunately I didn't. The least wonderful part of the project was that it was rainy and we had to all stuff into the garage. There were about 10 moms and 20 kids, so it would have been much easier in the backyard. Good luck on your project. Don't forget to take pictures!!! Mariann...See MoreWhy do Bio-parents spoil their kids?
Comments (11)Thanks for your kind words. And yes, absolutely .. enabling detrimental behavior is very destructive to the child and all relationships involved -present and future. Yes, also, to the truth that "being a step-parent is really, really hard, even for those of us who thought we had a good situation." I'm convinced that all positions in the step-family have their intrinsic difficulties. And, there can be real enduring love. It's still challenging for me, trust me. One boundary I'm grateful that I set in the beginning w/my husband is that I would never - ever - say a bad word about his children's mother. I've kept my word (except for the occasional slip w/him - but never w/or near the step kids). I've kept that promise w/my sons too. I also let him know - in no uncertain terms - that I would have a very difficult time respecting him if he spoke ill of his ex-wife (or me!) to his children. Kids who hear their parents trash each other get deeply wounded (after all, both parents are part of the child!). So, I bit my tongue - lots. Admittedly, quite often more out of self-preservation, than immediate concern for them: I didn't want to feed them any excuses to turn on me. Moreover, I have had genuine concern for their well being. My step-family challenges have been almost insurmountable w/the sudden death of my beloved son (3 1/2 years ago). There is no loss for a parent equal to that of a child; most simply - it's the worst loss - catastrophic, in fact. In order to honor my grief, I needed to drop any over-reaching attempts to stay connected to my step-children. All 4 are young adults who basically have no interest (or capability) in staying connected to me. I haven't been able to fill my old role (bringer together of family) w/them since my son's death. And they have been incapable of stepping into their adult roles - not only w/me, but pretty much across the board. Yes, enabling immature behaviors can cripple people. I find it too emotionally taxing to be around them much. And so, I'm not. I've let go of all expectations of them. And that's truly been a good thing to do. Over time, I've been able to see that there was a season in their younger lives that I was able to be there for them as a kind of hostess providing opportunities to allow them to connect w/their father. We had lots of good times together. In retrospect, I recognize it would have been better to let my husband figure out how to stay connected w/his kids .. or at least, not to have done as much as I did. Death rearranges everything. My step-kids have backed off and while it's a loss, frankly it's a loss w/benefits. I don't have to be in the midst of their sad power plays for attention. Not only don't I have to be, I would not be able to withstand it emotionally. It's better for my relationship w/my husband to have less to do w/them - at least for now. I have my younger son, also a young adult, whose life has been devastated by the loss of his brother, I have my son's widow and my beautiful 4 year old grand-daughter in my life. I'm blessed. There's tremendous love between us all. We are all adjusting to life w/out our loved one, each in our own way. And, like so many people who have suffered catastrophic loss, it's better for us not to have to interact w/people who suffer arrested development. I choose not to associate w/drama junkies, but w/people who are capable of sustained respect for themselves and others. My deepest connection is w/God. Maybe they'll come around. Maybe not. One thing is for certain: I will not be chasing them. And that's okay, I trust that the choice to grow up, or not, belongs to them alone. Hopefully, they will choose what's in their best interest. Thank you in advance for reading this. It helped me to simply write. And again, if something is helpful, please take it. If not, go ahead and leave it :) Wishing you the very best in your marriage and family....See Moremywormyworld
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agocajunwiggler
5 years agoShaul
5 years ago11otis
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoShaul
5 years ago
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