Moving On

I'm moving to a new apartment, one without a balcony, so I decided to "downgrade" my vermicomposter into a smaller sized bin and sell my original big bin including all of its contents on craigslist. It was weird saying goodbye to my bin as I put a lot of work into it, and had a connection to it. I don't really have a use for the vermicompost inside the bin anymore since I will no longer have a balcony garden. I still want to be able to compost year round, so I've opted for a smaller under-the-kitchen-sink size bin.
But my bin went to a good home and you can follow its journey on this lady's blog here. I'm sure the vermicompost will be put to good use in her garden, and the worms will do a wonderful job eating her family's kitchen waste. Oh boy, bin, you sure do get around!
So, before I sold the bin I made a much smaller worm bin and put a few worms in it. This is a photo of it above. Unfortunately all of the smaller sized plastic bins I could find at Canadian Tire were translucent. I want the bin to be able to fit under my kitchen sink nicely so I opted to buy this small clear plastic bin and cover the whole of the exterior with duct tape to make it opaque, since worms do not like light.
I drilled many ventilation holes in the lid, bottom and sides of the worm bin, just as with my original vermicomposter. Duct tape holds screen in place over top of the holes to ensure nothing escapes.
A few days prior to introducing the worms I shredded up some old newspapers, moistened them down in a large recycling bag and let them sit and fester. The worms like materials that have festered as they're easier for them to start breaking down. I added a handful of soil and some crushed eggshells to the bedding mix. Then I added the worms to their new home!
A couple of days after I let the worms settle in to their new home I fed them some vegetable scraps.

Beautiful stripy red worms!

the architecture of tomorrow

Mold in the Vermicomposting Bin

I've noticed various molds growing on the bedding of my worm bin since I started it. I've never been too worried about them as I figured they were part of the decomposition process. I have found some interesting (to say the least) mold formations growing out of the ventilation holes in the side of my bin since it's come indoors for the winter. After reading this article I found out that it might be from feeding my bin too much. I was worried my worms were not getting enough to eat so I was a little overzealous the last time I fed. I'm going to stick to the 1 to every 2 weeks I've been feeding them, since that seems to work best for my bin. When I feed it's what I feel is a good sized bowl full of scraps. I keep the scraps in a container in my fridge so they can break down a little prior to being added to my bin (the worms will eat them faster this way). I've been wiping down my bin frequently to prevent the mold from reoccuring, and added more fresh moist newspaper bedding on top. If the mold comes again I will take a picture of it.

http://www.allthingsorganic.com/How_To/12.asp - Read this article for great information on all of the other wonderful creatures living in your bin, how to cope, deal, and just realize that they're your friends too.

Worm Bin: Winter Update

It is now January and my worm bin has been living indoors for 2-3 months now. The harvest method I tried which relied on the worms migrating from one side of the bin to the other (see previous post) has not been successful. I've checked the old, casting-rich side of the bin several times and it is still quite packed with red worms throughout it. It is disappointing that the worms did not move.
I have decided to try to get the bin through Winter until I can move it back out onto my balcony where I will do another harvest by sorting. I feel bad letting the worms live in their own poo but I'd prefer not to harvest by a pile and sort method inside my small apartment with 2 cats and a dog in poor winter sunlight. I have been topping up the bedding in my bin around every 2 weeks as it shrinks down quickly and I want to make sure they have enough fresh bedding available. The moisture level of the bin's contents is good and is maintaining itself nicely without any spraying from me. I've been feeding weekly.
During the winter I do not compost as much as during the summer, when I compost everything that can be composted. Since I am not using the outdoor community composter during the Winter for larger compostables I don't feel like chopping up or those that I avoid putting in my worm bin, I end up throwing some of it in the garbage. It does still feel good though being able to compost the majority of food waste and scraps from my kitchen in my worm bin.

Vermicomposting Bin Moves Indoors & New Harvest Method Experiment

I have not posted in a while. The balcony garden slowly died as summer ended. We got many tasty cherry tomatoes. The pomodoros did not ripen in time. The bean plant produced 2 strange beans which I let go to seed. Growing vegetables in containers is challenging so I think I'll go crazy with flowers next year.

The vermicomposting bin has been a success. As the temperatures cooled off (lows below 4 degrees celsius), I brought the bin inside. It has found a place underneath a table my cats eat their food on in the kitchen.
3 months have passed since I first harvested the bin of its castings. I decided to try a different method than last time by moving the bin's contents over to one side, filling the empty half of the bin with new bedding (moistened shredded newspaper and hay that set for a few weeks in a plastic bag), and feeding the worms with fresh veggie scraps on the new bedding side in the hopes the worms will migrate over to the fresh side of the bin allowing me to harvest the castings.
I checked the casting-rich side a few days ago (I put in the new bedding on Oct 23rd) and there were still a lot of worms throughout. Hopefully they will move over eventually, if not I will have to harvest another way.

Ladybug Life Stages

Below is a short documentation of the lady bugs that came and lived on my balcony.

Lady bug larvae were the first evidence we noticed of this bug's presence:
July 16, 2008

July 18, 2008

After checking under leaves of the plants on my balcony garden for ladybugs in various stages of life to document, I was rewarded with these two found on the Gerbera daisy. As we pulled back the leaf to take a shot, this orange encased pupa flailed and pulsated around.

The second one was just emerging from the pupa state you see the bug above in. I have included times of the shots taken to give you an idea of the pace at which this lady bug emerged and changed colour from yellow to the bright red we know them for.
July 31, 2008 11:17 am

July 31, 2008 11:18 am

July 31, 2008 2:40 pm
August 1, 2008 5:51 pm - last sighting.

I haven't seen many lady bugs lately but I've enjoyed their presence in this urban garden.

Making Vermicompost Tea

Items used:
Vermicompost
Large bottle
Cheese cloth
Bit of hemp string
Elastics
Water (allowed to sit for at least 24 hrs)
Stick

A piece of cheese cloth, doubled over works well as the tea bag. Scoop in some vermicompost. I didn't follow any ratios, just guessed as to a good amount for the size of the bottle used. This elongated shape fit inside the bottle well.

Roll it up

Tie it off with elastics at each end and some string to ensure the vermicompost doesn't all spill out in the water. Pop that baby into the bottle filled with water that's been sitting for a while to get rid of any chlorine.

Add a stick for easy lifting and jostling of the tea bag. Some sites I read call for aeration, but I'm no professional and think stirring it frequently will be good enough. You can use a fish pump for aeration if you have one. Here is the vermicompost tea after steeping for 24 hours:

I think I'll let it sit for another few days and then water my indoor plants with it.