worm heap.

[rockethoe]

Just wondering if anyone else does this/sees any problem with my method.
My compost heap is too small to get thermophilic, and I can't be bothered buying/making a worm bin.
The weather is mild year-round here, and we have an abundance of worms, so I build a heap direct on the ground and cover it.
The worms crawl up in there from the soil, and munch away, turning my composting materials into sweet sweet castings. I keep it well turned to keep it aerobic, and its nearly done now, they've been munching all winter. The heap is a fine, dark, sweet earthy smelling beauty, with an explosion of worm population in there.

For anyone interested, this is what I used:
Leaf mulch (1 trailer load, mixed species, hauled from a nearby forest)
Blood and bone meal (left over from a previous soil mix)
Kelp meal (also left over)
Chicken manure
Horse manure (already composted separately before I added it)
Straw/hay
Shredded paper
Bio char
Rinsing from old (organic) nutrient bottles.

My thinking is that the composted dung and forest duff and leaves will be carrying microbes already and inoculate the pile as well as serving as worm food. I put in a couple shovel full of soil from our well established no dig veg garden too as an inoculant. I also added some ( very little) kitchen scraps, and whatever other compostables I found over the last few months, don't remember all what went into it.
I wanted to make sure there was a varied diet for the worms and microbes.

I will likely use this mixed with coco, commercial compost and composed manure to use as potting mix for this season. I'll keep a couple shovel full to inoculate the next batch, which I will start on the same patch of ground. Anything left, I will top dress on my patch.

And WOW, the pile is wriggling with worms, they are loving it!!

 

[DonBrennon]

Just wondering if anyone else does this/sees any problem with my method.
My compost heap is too small to get thermophilic, and I can't be bothered buying/making a worm bin.
The weather is mild year-round here, and we have an abundance of worms, so I build a heap direct on the ground and cover it.
The worms crawl up in there from the soil, and munch away, turning my composting materials into sweet sweet castings. I keep it well turned to keep it aerobic, and its nearly done now, they've been munching all winter. The heap is a fine, dark, sweet earthy smelling beauty, with an explosion of worm population in there.

For anyone interested, this is what I used:
Leaf mulch (1 trailer load, mixed species, hauled from a nearby forest)
Blood and bone meal (left over from a previous soil mix)
Kelp meal (also left over)
Chicken manure
Horse manure (already composted separately before I added it)
Straw/hay
Shredded paper
Bio char
Rinsing from old (organic) nutrient bottles.

My thinking is that the composted dung and forest duff and leaves will be carrying microbes already and inoculate the pile as well as serving as worm food. I put in a couple shovel full of soil from our well established no dig veg garden too as an inoculant. I also added some ( very little) kitchen scraps, and whatever other compostables I found over the last few months, don't remember all what went into it.
I wanted to make sure there was a varied diet for the worms and microbes.

I will likely use this mixed with coco, commercial compost and composed manure to use as potting mix for this season. I'll keep a couple shovel full to inoculate the next batch, which I will start on the same patch of ground. Anything left, I will top dress on my patch.

And WOW, the pile is wriggling with worms, they are loving it!!

..................just one question...............where can I buy some?..........LOL

Sounds like some seriously good compost

 

[rockethoe]

Sounds like some seriously good compost

its a beautiful colour and smell! just mainly worried about the weed seeds etc, because it is far too small to get thermophillic

 

[Wetdog]

its a beautiful colour and smell! just mainly worried about the weed seeds etc, because it is far too small to get thermophillic

You're stressing over something that is really NBD. The constant turning will kill a bunch of weed seeds that sprouted or started to sprout in the pile from exposing the new roots to the sun or air. Plus, how hard is it to pull a 1-2" weed if it does sprout?

My worm bins are inside, but most of my growing is done outside which = airborne weed seeds. A good mulch layer helps, but just normal working with the plants you see if something that you're not intending to grow, is growing and you pull it out.

What you have going is working quite well. I do something similar (non thermophillic, or cold composting), and big VOE here, stuff to avoid weed seeds is usually way more detrimental to the compost/grow than just pulling the few weed seeds that manage to survive and sprout.

Worry about something important, like keeping the worms happy and the beautiful compost coming.

Wet