EWC Bin and what's acceptable to put in it

[Richard Drysift]

Whenever I make a salad & have scraps or find rotting fruit in the bowl I just put it in a bag in the freezer until ready to feed my worms. Then I take the whole bag out the night or morning before feeding to thaw. When it's thawed it gets all mushy & the worms go to town on it right away.
Some things break down faster than others. My worms love: strawberry scraps, apples, cuke skins, carrots scraps, lettuce, pasta, and pumpkin guts. Other stuff I like to give my worms that benefits them and the compost they produce includes: oyster shell flour, garden gypsum, alfalfa meal, greensand, and baby oatmeal. I've read that eggshells & potato peels are good for worms but mine do not seem to like them so I kinda stopped giving it to them. I used to give them newspaper & junk mail scraps but they do not break down as fast as cannabis leaf which is great for destroying the evidence as somebody mentioned before. Each time I start a new tray I use about a half a shovel full of recycled mix as bedding which makes for good base layer. Like grease says cover up any new food lightly & you'll get no gnats or bad smells- good luck happy growing

 

[Jumfrey13]

Okay fellas. I just purchased a pound of Red Wigglers ( i believe that's the species) this morning from a great man who runs an EWC farm in Horse Country, near where i live. He was real informative on how to run one properly and i could tell that he was more interested in helping me gain another aspect of independence than making a profit. I'm going back in the morning to purchase the medium from him: aged horse manure. I know this is a different medium than what has been shared on this forum, but what he explained to me about this EWC medium made sense. He was also supportive of using fruit and veggie scraps, but he said he uses aged manure because it won't attract bugs, since the poop is already past the anaerobic phase. I'm going to prep my 30 gallon bin tonight and visit him in the morning for the medium. After that, i'm going to source a rancher who will sell me aged horse shit. I plan on running ewc with the horse manure and start another bin and run it similar to some of the suggestions above and tinker with both mediums and compare.

 

[420nstargazer]

I mix aged horse manure in my base mix (along with some fresh vermi/castings, leaf compost and amendments) to start each new bin. I like using it, seems like the worms do too since I started using it

 

[Kind Sir]

So I started out feeding my worms a few strawberries every 5-6 days. I am giving them food more often now two questions..

I didnt add holes at the bottom to begin with, I wanted to add some so they dont drown. Is this necessary?

I got a little white fuzzy mold on an apple chunk.. Is this an issue?

 

[420nstargazer]

So I started out feeding my worms a few strawberries every 5-6 days. I am giving them food more often now two questions..

I didnt add holes at the bottom to begin with, I wanted to add some so they dont drown. Is this necessary?

I got a little white fuzzy mold on an apple chunk.. Is this an issue?

No, mold is not a bad thing....probably more like the opposite
In regards to the holes, it depends on your setup, if it's tubs, then no holes in the bottom (what I call the catch tub) or you'll have a leachate mess. But you do want holes in the bottom of the other tubs so the worms can move to and fro
I do put holes in the bottom tub, but only in the top third of the bin, to try to promote airflow

 

[MistaRasta]

I am starting my bin next paycheck and I have been told that fruit skins are some of the best things to put in the bin. Do i need to dry the fruitskins in the sun first so that it doesn't go nasty or do the earthworms even compost stuff that has gone rancid? I don't want to start this off on a bad note.

Imo you should save all your vegetable peels/fruit peels, leftovers, whatever.. And put them in a thermoliphic pile to melt down and use that as the bedding for the worms..

Fruits and Veggies are 90-95% water, tbh your worms aren't getting that much from them compared to how long it takes to break them down..

I specifically use an herb mix in my worm bin as a once a week feeding. My mix goes

1 part comfrey leaf
1 part dandelion
1 part yarrow
1 part stinging nettle

Doing this the worms are getting a wide spectrum of nutrients that are usually gone within a couple of days. No water, just bunches and bunches of goodies..

I also top dress the bin with some barley every once in a while as the worms go CRAZY over this.

 

[Kind Sir]

Imo you should save all your vegetable peels/fruit peels, leftovers, whatever.. And put them in a thermoliphic pile to melt down and use that as the bedding for the worms..

Fruits and Veggies are 90-95% water, tbh your worms aren't getting that much from them compared to how long it takes to break them down..

I specifically use an herb mix in my worm bin as a once a week feeding. My mix goes

1 part comfrey leaf
1 part dandelion
1 part yarrow
1 part stinging nettle

Doing this the worms are getting a wide spectrum of nutrients that are usually gone within a couple of days. No water, just bunches and bunches of goodies..

I also top dress the bin with some barley every once in a while as the worms go CRAZY over this.

Barley mulch? I have mulch and barley seeds for sst.

My bin is this.. Beddin is only like 5in deep?
Bedding is cardboard, newspaper, leaves, peatmoss worms came in and a big handful of ocean forest. I have them in a 27gal storage bin, I keep the top on halfway as they dont try to run anymore. Main concern is I dont have holes at bottom for the stuff to drip out..

As you can see above, it doesnt seem like thats an issue but whats other peoples opinion?

 

[Wetdog]

Yes! You need holes in the bottom to let liquid drain. Now, or when you drown the worms. VOE on that.

What I do is use 2 identical bins, one with holes in the bottom with the worms, bedding and such, neated in a bin with no holes to catch the drippings. A couple of bricks between them gives some airflow and room for the leachate to pool.

The experiment with the no drainage was a different set up. The nested bins have been going on 6 years now.

Wet

 

[Jumfrey13]

Imo you should save all your vegetable peels/fruit peels, leftovers, whatever.. And put them in a thermoliphic pile to melt down and use that as the bedding for the worms..

Fruits and Veggies are 90-95% water, tbh your worms aren't getting that much from them compared to how long it takes to break them down..

I specifically use an herb mix in my worm bin as a once a week feeding. My mix goes

1 part comfrey leaf
1 part dandelion
1 part yarrow
1 part stinging nettle

Doing this the worms are getting a wide spectrum of nutrients that are usually gone within a couple of days. No water, just bunches and bunches of goodies..

I also top dress the bin with some barley every once in a while as the worms go CRAZY over this.

I like the idea of barley on top every so often. My ewc master that I just met likes to use rabbit poop if he can source it. He said they go crazy over that stuff too. Starting my compost pile sooooooon! I'm going to just make a big circle with metal wire, fill it with horse poop and top it with dried pot leaves whenever I defoliate. I'll buy some 3' PVC and drill '1/2 inch holes and stick them a good 6' down into the compost pile for aeration. I will buy a balanced fertilizer; one that is well balanced npk. I'll ad that to the mix every once in a while. . I'll stir up the horse poop about once a week and top feed it once but he poop and bud leaves are well composted. I just need to source the horse poop locally. Maybe there's a nearby rancher I can buy from. Otherwise, my ewc guy sells aged horse manure that he has already added fertilizer $1/ gallon. .

 

[Wetdog]

Barley mulch? I have mulch and barley seeds for sst.

My bin is this.. Beddin is only like 5in deep?
Bedding is cardboard, newspaper, leaves, peatmoss worms came in and a big handful of ocean forest. I have them in a 27gal storage bin, I keep the top on halfway as they dont try to run anymore. Main concern is I dont have holes at bottom for the stuff to drip out..

As you can see above, it doesnt seem like thats an issue but whats other peoples opinion?

You need *2* tubs. The one with the worms needs drainage holes. This is nested in a second tub to catch the leachate dripping out. Put a few bricks between the tubs for drainage/air space.

My bedding starts at ~5" and is ~12 - 14" deep at harvest.

That mold on the apple is what the worms eat, not the actual apple.

Wet

 

[MistaRasta]

Barley mulch? I have mulch and barley seeds for sst.

My bin is this.. Beddin is only like 5in deep?
Bedding is cardboard, newspaper, leaves, peatmoss worms came in and a big handful of ocean forest. I have them in a 27gal storage bin, I keep the top on halfway as they dont try to run anymore. Main concern is I dont have holes at bottom for the stuff to drip out..

As you can see above, it doesnt seem like thats an issue but whats other peoples opinion?

Your bedding is fine, but it's going to take a minute to see any nice casting action going on..

I use Lobster Compost cut with rice hulls as the bedding for my worms. Before I put them in I amend each cu ft with kelp/neem/crab gypsum and oyster shell flour. Doing this my worms constantly have a bacteria/fungi source there to make sure everything goes smoothly.

 

[anzohaze]

Add oats for the worms to add fungal growth.

I think I can almost say every organic guy has killed there worms atleast once. Imo I allow the food scraps to start rotting molding etc before I put I to freezer. Also let the liquid from scraps dry up before adding to bin. Make sure to bury the scraps and cover to keep other bugs cock roaches etc out. My new worm bin does not have holes in it. It's 500 gal tank. I have to dump it to.modify it as the plastic is flexing badly bot allowing lid to close. Just keep it dry and no problems. As you add scraps add ammendments as stated above and let your friends do the work. My kid(s) love feeding the worms and playing with them

 

[greasemonkeymann]

Add oats for the worms to add fungal growth.

I think I can almost say every organic guy has killed there worms atleast once. Imo I allow the food scraps to start rotting molding etc before I put I to freezer. Also let the liquid from scraps dry up before adding to bin. Make sure to bury the scraps and cover to keep other bugs cock roaches etc out. My new worm bin does not have holes in it. It's 500 gal tank. I have to dump it to.modify it as the plastic is flexing badly bot allowing lid to close. Just keep it dry and no problems. As you add scraps add ammendments as stated above and let your friends do the work. My kid(s) love feeding the worms and playing with them

You can save yourself the mess and the smell man.
You don't need to let them rot before freezing, I've tried all sorts of ways, and the quickest, cleanest, and less smell is to simply freeze right after using, or as soon as you see the fruits going bad, then after, I use a really heavy duty plastic ziplock to defrost them in, then mash it up in your hands, the bag shouldn't leak, and then dig a hole, plop it in, smooth it down, and cover.
Presto, in three days it's all castings.
Fastest way.
Also the easiest. If you want to rinse out the bag after you can, but it's a smelly endeavor... what I do is fill the bag up with vermicompost and that usually dries up the juices enough to keep the smell down, then empty that back into the bin.
Annnnnd holy crap man... 500 gallons?!

 

[anzohaze]

You can save yourself the mess and the smell man.
You don't need to let them rot before freezing, I've tried all sorts of ways, and the quickest, cleanest, and less smell is to simply freeze right after using, or as soon as you see the fruits going bad, then after, I use a really heavy duty plastic ziplock to defrost them in, then mash it up in your hands, the bag shouldn't leak, and then dig a hole, plop it in, smooth it down, and cover.
Presto, in three days it's all castings.
Fastest way.
Also the easiest. If you want to rinse out the bag after you can, but it's a smelly endeavor... what I do is fill the bag up with vermicompost and that usually dries up the juices enough to keep the smell down, then empty that back into the bin.
Annnnnd holy crap man... 500 gallons?!

I'll take pics later it's but actually 500 gal container and will have prob 300 gallons in it. I had to stop for a while so instead of fabric pots everywhere filled with soil i bought a big bin to put all soil into to make a huge worm farm while I don't use my soil. My last worm bin I would freeze them thaw them and Install but I always had so much liquid in my scraps and I donno why so I always let them dry a bit to remove moisture and then freeze them. It would almost be like a watered down smoothly for me I would literally have to like pour it on so after about 30 gals of dead soaked ew bin I let them dry a bit and no problems now..

 

[greasemonkeymann]

I'll take pics later it's but actually 500 gal container and will have prob 300 gallons in it. I had to stop for a while so instead of fabric pots everywhere filled with soil i bought a big bin to put all soil into to make a huge worm farm while I don't use my soil. My last worm bin I would freeze them thaw them and Install but I always had so much liquid in my scraps and I donno why so I always let them dry a bit to remove moisture and then freeze them. It would almost be like a watered down smoothly for me I would literally have to like pour it on so after about 30 gals of dead soaked ew bin I let them dry a bit and no problems now..

ahh right, I remember reading about that.
remember that juice is food for them man, also it's more than likely high in phosphorus too, rotting fruits are high in that, but you may be robbing yourself some nutrients.
I don;t water my bins at all, I rely solely on fruit juices, and they go crazy

 

[anzohaze]

ahh right, I remember reading about that.
remember that juice is food for them man, also it's more than likely high in phosphorus too, rotting fruits are high in that, but you may be robbing yourself some nutrients.
I don;t water my bins at all, I rely solely on fruit juices, and they go crazy

Yea it may have been a coincidence but it was to wet. Like mud at the bottom and had plenty holes at bottom as worms could crawl out easily but it just stayed a mush

 

[greasemonkeymann]

Yea it may have been a coincidence but it was to wet. Like mud at the bottom and had plenty holes at bottom as worms could crawl out easily but it just stayed a mush

That's a bigass wormbin man... my experience with my puny 60 gallon one is probably totally different.

 

[anzohaze]

That's a bigass wormbin man... my experience with my puny 60 gallon one is probably totally different.

Puny no way I am going from probably 30 gal to 300 gal lol. I am about to get schooled by this bitch lol

 

[greasemonkeymann]

Puny no way I am going from probably 30 gal to 300 gal lol. I am about to get schooled by this bitch lol

Shit you got the room, you should just make a company like uncle wigglers.
Uncle-Anzo's Awesome Red's

 

[anzohaze]

Shit you got the room, you should just make a company like uncle wigglers.
Uncle-Anzo's Awesome Red's

Lol...... Time to find more bins lol

 

[greasemonkeymann]

Lol...... Time to find more bins lol

shit, just in my smartpot I could totally start a biz... those things procreate like rats on viagra

 

[anzohaze]

shit, just in my smartpot I could totally start a biz... those things procreate like rats on viagra

Yea my niece(she's 5) loves worms. She comes over gets a Tupper ware Conailer bucket anything she can find digs worms out and says I am taking them home. She says she wants one of those while pointimg at my ewc bin. Lol kinda cute