Got ourselves a wormery

[manicscousers]

I suppose they're classed as wildlife 
anyway, it was delivered today, chickened out about getting the 'dog poo' one , just the ordinary one , getting excited about making my own potting compost next year 

[ceres]

I've got one in my garage and I think it's great fun.  Even better than the compost is the liquid gold fertiliser you get from it.  Just been out there this afternoon checking all's well and adding a little lime mix and newspaper.

I was really lucky and got mine off Freecycle.  It's a wheelie bin shaped one with a sump in the bottom.  The kind donors also gave me a container of approx. 30 litres of the tea (but it is smelly, worse than comfrey!).

Have you got it up and running yet?

 

[manicscousers]

Ray's just put it together and fed them for the first time, it's just an amazingly different way of composting 
this is the one we got
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=400054945215

[Baccy Man]

Even better than the compost is the liquid gold fertiliser you get from it.

I'm sure liquid gold fertiliser was something very different last time I checked.

The kind donors also gave me a container of approx. 30 litres of the tea (but it is smelly, worse than comfrey!).

That sounds like leachate not tea.

Quoting myself on the subject.

Some bin manufacturers suggest that the liquid that drains out of a worm bin is compost tea. Bin instructions sometimes encourage worm bin users to pour water into their bins to get more "worm tea", as it's called. Unfortunately, this is leachate, not tea, worm tea is the water in which worm castings have been steeped in. It's a common misunderstanding. This leachate contains only a very small percentage of the nutrients and microorganisms of tea, as well as a significant amount of undecomposed organic matter, that will quickly cause the liquid to turn anaerobic. Be careful, and only give this liquid to your plants if it is still aerobic (your nose will tell you), and don't pour water through worm bins. Use only finished stable vermicompost and follow specific tea-making instructions.

Some of the confusion regarding whether or not to use leachate results from the current popularity of "compost teas" and "castings teas". To ensure we are all on the same page, "teas" are defined as a steepage generated by placing finished, stable compost and/or worm castings in water; some people agitate the water, some don't; some aerate the water, some don't; some add nutrient solutions to amplify the biology, some don't. Regardless, "teas" all use as the substrate from which the initial biological community, nutrient and other chemistry are extracted, finished, stable material.

Leachate, on the other hand, is liquid that drains from an actively decomposing mass of organic matter, thus it is liquid that is in contact with undecomposed material in the system. It is this factor, coupled with the cause for liquid to be draining in sufficient quantity that it can be collected, that creates concern.

Composting and vermicomposting are processes understood to destroy or at least significantly reduce pathogenic organisms, typically rendering their numbers suficiently low to pose little threat to human health. Because leachate drains through material that has not been thoroughly processed, however, pathogens like e-coli and salmonella associated with household organic waste and even garden waste can potentially be picked up in the leachate and contaminate the surfaces of fruits and veggies to which it is applied. It's important to understand that the concern is not that plants might take these pathogens up through their systems, but is a concern over surface contamination of garden produce. Those who choose to use leachate on edible plants are encouraged to wait several weeks after application before harvesting to ensure pathogens have died off before produce is eaten.

Water is generated by the composting and vermicomposting processes as well as being released from organic matter as it is broken down. In most healthy worm bins and compost piles the released moisture is absorbed by the the surrounding organic matter, thus little water drains freely from the system. A healthy worm bin, for instance, generally produces little more than a few ml of liquid per week. A system from which liquid is draining freely is typically a system that is saturated, thus, it can hold no more water. This is of concern because the water saturating that system is displacing oxygen, setting up conditions favorable to anaerobic microorganisms. Even if there are no significant odors, very wet compost piles and worm bins tend to have significant levels of anaerobic activity. The by-products of anaerobic decomposition, phenols, terpenes and alcohols, are water soluble and are toxic to plant roots, thus leachates often contain significant concentrations of these phytotoxins though there is no outward evidence of such. These leachates applied to plants often cause damage and can even kill sensitive plant species or plants treated with leachate with significant levels of phytoxins. To be sure, many people use leachate with excellent effect, but for every leachate advocate whose garden sees tremendous benefit I can introduce you to someone who killed or weakened their garden with leachate use. It's a risky thing using leachate. Many people will dilute the leachate (the general recommendation is 10 parts clean water to one part leachate) which often does remediate problems, but dilution also tends to dilute the benefits, rendering the stuff little more benefical than plain water.

[ceres]

Ah well, off to the tip with it tomorrow then.  I'll tell them not to recycle it as it's too dangerous.  Not sure they'll take the 'leachate'.  They won't have a clue so will have to risk it down the drain.  Bye bye wormies, off to the great wormery in the sky.

Surprised none of the suppliers of wormeries put safety warnings in the instructions.  Even things which aren't unsafe have safety warnings nowadays, amazed they can get away with it.

Back to sending kitchen scraps to landfill. 

[Bjerreby]

Back to sending kitchen scraps to landfill. 

Just wondering Ceres. Do you have both a compost heap AND a wormery?

[manicscousers]

we'll just make sure we add enough 'brown stuff'  to keep it dry enough

[ceres]

Just wondering Ceres. Do you have both a compost heap AND a wormery?

Compost heaps on the allotment.

[thifasmom]

can't the leachate not be added to your regular compost bin? as a way of completing the process so to speak.

[Baccy Man]

Ah well, off to the tip with it tomorrow then.  I'll tell them not to recycle it as it's too dangerous.  Not sure they'll take the 'leachate'.  They won't have a clue so will have to risk it down the drain.  Bye bye wormies, off to the great wormery in the sky.

Surprised none of the suppliers of wormeries put safety warnings in the instructions.  Even things which aren't unsafe have safety warnings nowadays, amazed they can get away with it.

Back to sending kitchen scraps to landfill. 

At no point did I suggest a wormery or worm tea is unsafe, the problem is purely with leachate produced when insufficient dry material is added to a wormery.
A healthy well maintained womery will only produce about a teaspoon full of leachate each week if that. The leachate produced can be added back into the top of the wormery when new dry material is added or it can be added to a compost heap, it should not be used as a fertiliser particularly on edible crops.

[hopalong]

Wormeries are great and you should have no worries about safety. It's a great pleasure to go and say hallo to the worms every day. The worm tea works well for my plants (1:10 diluted seems right) and the rich, dark crumbly compost is fantastic mixed with other less potent stuff. You need to avoid acidic things - citrus peel etc. - and I find a bit of anti-acid lime mix from Wiggly Wigglers is also helpful.

[Hector]

\we have had our wormery 6 years. You will get the most  amazing rich crumbly compost The liguid is loved by our plants

[Digeroo]

Are the worms the same as the banded worms that live in our compost bin.  Is there a problem with the liquid that comes out of the bottom of that.  We have sited ours under an apple tree.

When I empty the bin I try and make sure that I return as many worms as possible to the bin.  Thanks for reminding me, have started a new bin at my allotment need to add some worms.

[Robert_Brenchley]

If your compost bin is leaking then it's too wet. the only time it's happened to me was the first year I had one when I poured too much pee in.