Good article about a farmer who is using some different techniques to increase crop production. Click the link at the bottom of the page to read more.
Edwin is thankful to the advancement in today’s information technology like the Internet, where he learned about scientific farming practices. He also learned about vermiculture, organic composting and integrated pest management which he eventually applied in his farm.
Worms can compost kitchen scraps and shredded paper much faster than the aerobic compost process utilized in most commercial backyard compost bins. A vermicomposting (worm composting) bin can be built with a couple of stackable totes, a small piece of window screen, and a drill.
Sitting in the airport terminal LeBlanc had picked up a newspaper where he saw an ad for vermiculture. It turns out worm castings-yes, worm poop-create a superb organic fertilzer and soil conditioner that can be used in gardens, greenhouses and for household plants.
Surrounded by mountain ranges on three sides and a valley on the fourth, Goa Institute of Management (GIM)’s new 50-acre campus at Sanquelim in north Goa is located at the foothills of the Western Ghats. In this nature-friendly campus, all hot water is heated using solar heaters and is cleaned in a sewage treatment facility to be sent to a water recovery pond containing special type of plants and fish. All organic garbage and trashed paper is processed in a vermiculture facility that produces compost for using in its widespread landscape.
This is a great idea. I wish them the best of luck. Click at the bottom to read more about this program.
Where there’s a worm there’s a way.
That’s the hope of Bradford’s Cathy Nesbitt who you may know from her business Cathy’s Crawly Composters. She was recently contacted by Maria Rodriguez, the executive director of Byoearth Guatemala, to provide assistance and her somewhat unique expertise to help the organization set up a vermicomposting operation near the largest garbage dump in that country’s capital city.
“They’re trying to eradicate extreme poverty in Latin America,” Ms Nesbitt said. “It’s a lofty goal, but a great one.”
See if you are eligible for this grant which can be used to set up a composting system. Click the link at the bottom.
The residents of Plymouth City are encouraged to dispose of their food and yard wastes so that these can be composted further (citizens are urged to create more compost). Putting this into perspective, the townsfolk of Plymouth will also get paid if they continued on with this eco-friendly cause. Not only will its people help reduce the amount of trash on their local dumpsites, they will also be partaking in a recycling effort. Now, the city itself is willing to give a $100 grant for those who apply for it. The money can be used for either choice, and that is to buy a ready-made composter, or to build a compost bin of his or her own. Either way, both options are a win-win idea.
Before I get into the story behind these incredible worm composting bins, I have to ask, "Have you ever heard the saying, if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is?" Well, you might be tempted to say that about the title of this article, but you would be wrong! Not only are these compost bins available for free, if you look in the right places, the worms are too!
What follows is a story about Justine, a Compost Junkie Tribe member, and her incredible worm composting bins. Actually, Justine isn't even the star of this story (sorry Justine), her 20 year-old "Kootenay Worms" are!
Click the link at the bottom to see what happens when worm compost is added to a banana tree:
Our two plastic worm composting bins are getting rather full. I should have done some emptying in fall, but never got around to it. Worm compost is still great for the indoor houseplants though, and I had a big hole to fill in the banana plant pot. After being away for a few days last week, I came home to find this green mass at the bottom of the banana trees. A multitude of tomato and squash/cucumber seedlings have pushed their way up towards sunshine. The composted material in the worm boxes doesn't exact heat up enough to kill seeds, but that's okay. It's all just kitchen scraps and not weeds.
Kay McKeen of SCARCE in Glen Ellyn demonstrates worm composting, super crayon recycling, and energy bike to Ana Belaval of WGN morning news.
WGN Morning News-Worm Composting-Super Crayon Recycling-Energy Bike
At Atwater Avenue Elementary on January 25th, we had a lesson on composting. We took a bag full of various “trash” pieces and sorted them into recycling, compost or landfill trash. We learned about what compost is, how to best make it from “brown” (the round part inside a toilet paper roll and brown paper towels) and “green” (produce food scraps, grass, leaves) and about what worms do in compost.
Miss Marisa, one of our teachers, brought her red wiggler worms from her compost, and they were quite the hit! Lots of squeals of delight made for a fun afternoon.
Looks like a good workshop for those in the area-click at the bottom for more details.
Grow Native Nursery Westwood is offering a free workshop on worm composting. The workshop will be held on Sunday, February 12th at 11am. Join Stephen Baldonado, horticulturist, garden designer and longtime worm wrangler to learn about one of the easiest methods for composting fruit and vegetable kitchen and garden scraps in this one-hour workshop.
No yard? No problem! Vermicomposting is perfect for apartment dwellers who want to cut down on their waste stream.
To read the full article click the link at the bottom of the page.
The most common compost worms are the tiger worms, such as the species Eisenia foetida, and the red wrigglers
(Eisenia Andrei). In the case of E. foetida or Californian worm this has the advantage of having a high rate of conversion (1:1 from matter organic to compost) wide range of tolerance, supporting temperatures from 18 to 25˚C, a pH from 5 to 8.4 and also is fast breeding (in three months you can duplicate the population within 80% humidity and 20˚C). The species is easy to find and is often used as fishing bait. The type of culture can be a mono or multi species and according to my experience the best option is to have a mix of them due to environmental changes which naturally occur in your culture.
Click the link at the bottom to find out more.
Not all of the displays offered food. Michelle McCarty operates Wonder Wormin’ Vermicomposting systems, promoting the use of compact, efficient home composting systems which use the services of red wiggler worms to turn your household scraps into high-potency plant food.
"A worm whisperer is helping youth at the Boys & Girls Club with their latest venture – worm farming.
Why worm farming, you might ask? The Boys & Girls Club is the proud caretaker of 10,000 and more super and standard red wiggler worms. Steven Blair is the whisperer, and B&GC staff member Whit Caulkins works with Blair and the youth, to keep the worms well-hydrated and happy."
Click below to read more:
Worm whisperer and worms aid Club in fight against childhood obesity
Read more about the Friends in Gasca Gardens by clicking the link at the bottom.
This week, the garden got its first visit from a group of third- and fifth-graders from Kyrene de los Niños Elementary School in Tempe. The children were there to learn about pre-planting, composting, vermiculture and starting seeds.
The kids got a big kick out of vermiculture, which they learned is a fancy term for compost created by earthworms. The worms are used to digest food waste, shredded paper and animal manures to build a rich soil for planting.
"Ten years as an environmentally friendly school has turned out nicely for one east Auckland school.
Pigeon Mountain Primary was recognised at a ceremony last month for its long standing commitment to the Enviroschools programme.
The programme has been running for 10 years and Pigeon Mountain has been involved from the very beginning.
"When I first came to the school it wasn't long before the council brought in some new regulations which were particularly tight around coal fire heating," principal Ginty Bigwood says.
"We could no longer burn our rubbish or have a coal fire boiler so we decided that we would become an environmentally-friendly school and I could see it would be a great catalyst for children's learning."
The school has worm farms, actively recycles, saves energy and has planted native bush, gardens and an orchard."
Click the link below to read more about this school:
Click the link at the bottom to read the full article about this great program.
"So far Shiny Halo Street has worked on energy efficiency and now is implementing worm farms to reduce food waste to landfill from local businesses," he said.
"Shiny Halo St is now working with local businesses to get some pretty big worm farms in operation.
"The program will use worm farms that have been built in 240 litre or 140 litre wheelie bins as they can take a lot more food waste than an ordinary worm farm," Mr Edwards said.
Other upcoming sessions are on vermiculture (worm composting) on Feb. 25 and "Back to Back Basics," which will cover both regular composting and worm composting, on March 31.
Great article about sustainable agriculture practices. Click the link at the bottom to read the full article.
A series of environmental best practices adopted by Sula Vineyards, one of India's largest wine producers, has enabled it do away with diesel gensets for generating power, meet 60-70 percent of its water requirement from water harvesting and 40% of it fertiliser needs through vermiculture.
Wiegand said she intends to keep up communication with the new director and is currently working on a project in the Gardens Center: vermiculture compost, otherwise known as worm composting.
