The Can of Worms experiment continues....

The Tumbleweed Can of Worms has now been set up for a few days and i think that the worms have settled in nicely. A routine check on Friday night did alarm me slighty as lots of worms appeared to be recreating a scene from the Great Escape but apparently this is normal. Worms are a bit like barometers as they're sensitive to changes in atmospheric pressure and humidity. When it's raining, or looks iikely to rain, worms will often come up to the surface to move around freely, looking for food or even a mate so it's not unexpected and it's not a cause for concern! Thankfully, some nicer (dryer) weather on Saturday seemed to calm the little guys down so I set about making their first ever meal.The instruction booklet thst I received stated that they would eat pretty much any organic waste from the kitchen except meat and dairy and cooked food. Thats not to say that the worms won't eat it - but that they'll leave it until theres nothing nicer to eat and that can cause nasty smells and even encourage flies to lay eggs etc. Having listened to some vermicomposting experts, I decided to whizz my worm food up in a blender. The idea being that the more the food is chopped up, the greater the surface area. The greater the surface area, the more microbial activity. The more microbial activity, the quicker the conversion from food waste to vermicompost! Sounds great on paper....




So, a whistle stop tour of the kitchen caddy revealed a couple of raw but slightly soft new potatoes and some dried up carrot batons. The dew bin in the fridge had a half used bag of mixed lettuce leaves and shredded beetroot that had just begun to go a bit soggy so it all got thrown into the food processor and was blitzed until it looked like this.









The other food waste products that are often mentioned are egg shells, cardboard tubes and tea bags. Egg shells provide worms with essential grit which they use in the same way as birds to break their food down in their gizzard. Egg shells can be thrown in to the worm farm intact but, as with all other food waste, the smaller the pieces - the quicker they can be used by the worms 

So, again following advice from other wormy websites, I baked the egg shells in a hot oven for 10 mins and then let them cool down before crushing them in a pestle and mortar. 











The result is a fine powdery substance which can be added to the worm farm with their food.

I then added both the food......  











...and the crushed eggshell to the worm farm to give my new worms their first ever meal!!!!








As this is their first meal, i'm not expecting the food to get eaten overnight. They're probably still settling in to their new surroundings and both the coir bedding and the cardboard packaging are edible meaning that the worms already have a good supply of nutritious food to eat. Still, i'll keep my eye on them and report back in a few days!


Happy worm farming everyone!

x

The day the worms moved in...

So, as the weather was, unexpectedly, sunny for July I decided to crack on with setting up the worm farm. The instructions say that I should let them settle in for a few days before feeding them for the first time so I reckon that if I move them in today (Wednesday) then they should be pretty hungry come Saturday!

The assembly instructions were all written on the underside of the cardboard packaging and we're extremely straightforward.




First things first....slot the 5 legs into place. There are no screws, no nuts or bolts, just 5 study plastic legs that slot firmly into the bottom of the collecting tray. Simples...










Then screw in the non-drip tap. You can see the worm refuge mound inside the collection tray. If the worms should happen to fall through the bottom of one of the working trays then, in theory, they should be able to wiggle out of the liquid (leachate) that has collected and up the refuge mound allowing them to get back to the working tray!







Then fold the cardboard packaging and place it in the bottom of the first working tray. The can of worms is a 2 working tray system but until your worms having been at work for several months you don't need the second working tray so i've stored it safely in the garage. It's a bit tricky as the packaging is just a little bit too big to fit in easily but it's nice to know that all the packaging is biodegradable and, what's more, it's also tasty worm food (apparently)








So, now the worm farm is built and good to go, it's time to add the worm bedding block. It's basically compressed coconut fibre (coir) and once it's rehydrated in water it creates a nice dark, damp environment for the worms to live in.





Being a naturally inquisitive (nosy) person, I couldn't resist opening the wrapper to see what the bedding block actually looks like.












The instructions seemed fairly easy to understand; fill a clean bucket with 6-7 litres of cold water (I split the difference and went for 6.5 litres), put the bedding block in as it is and then sit back and wait....

A good 5 minutes into the suggested 15 minutes time that the coir should take to fully expand and rehydrate and nothing much had happened. The coir block was still bobbing around in the water and the only sign of anything happening was the paper wrapping beginning to soak off.








But, patience (and a bit of mixing) soon paid off and the bedding block began to absorb the water and expand.










I ended up letting the bedding block soak for almost half an hour and even after that time it was still pretty wet. I think that the 6-7 litres suggested is perhaps a bit too much and if I was going to repeat the process, i think i'd maybe start with 5 litres of water and add more if necessary.

Its at this stage that I realised why layering the cardboard packaging at the bottom of the working tray is such a sensible idea. The bedding stayed on top whilst all the excess liquid dripped thorough to the collection tray beneath.

I spread the bedding out across the full surface of the first working tray and thats the set up complete. 40 minutes work from start to finish. And it could have been less if i'd assembled the worm farm itself whilst i was soaking the bedding. I did one after the other as I wanted to watch what happened to the bedding. For some reason, I assumed that it would expand into a single coir bedding mat rather than crumbly, soily matter.







So, on to the star attraction - the WORMS!!!! The worms that I got with my worm farm are all Dendrobena Veneta also called Eisenia Hortensis, a popular variety of compositing worm. I've got 500g for my worm farm and if what they say is true and these guys do eat half of their body weight in food each day, then by my calculations they should be able to get through over 1.5 kg a week!!!!

I spread the worms (and a little bit of the lovely rich worm cast that they were  sent in) over the top of the worm farm and left them to settle in.










 At this stage, the instruction booklet recommends using a hessian mat or damp cardboard to cover the worms to help replicate their natural environment, however - with my worm farm bundle, I got a Tumbleweed worm blanket which is made from jute.

Again, the instructions were clear and simple; make sure the worm blanket is thoroughly moistened and then....

Cover the worms up! Their natural habitat is just underneath the surface of the soil under a cover of leaf litter so the worm blanket can mirror those conditions in your worm farm









The worms were clearly impressed because they soon burrowed down into their bedding block.










 The worm farm was then put in place, in a fairly shaded and protected corner of the garden (somewhere out of direct sun and wind but with relatively easy access to the house so that feeding the worms never becomes a chore) and left to settle for a few days.








Out of curiosity, i turned the tap on to drain the excess liquid off (to see how much hadn't been absorbed by the bedding block) and i drained almost a litre off so I would definitely recommend starting with 5 litres of water and adding more if necessary.








That's that then - the worm farm is good to go, I'm going to give the worms 3 days to settle in and they'll get their first proper meal on Saturday.

Opening a new Can of Worms....

So, after weeks (literally) of excited anticipation, this week will see the set up and launch of my brand new, all singing, all dancing Tumbleweed Can of Worms worm farm! To say that i'm excited is probably a little bit of an understatement! I had a choice of 3 worms farms to pick from - all manufactured by Tumbleweed who are an Australian company but have now launched into the UK so the worm farms are pretty readily available.


The 3 units on offer were:

 The Worm Factory: Their cheapest model - a 2 working tray rectangular system that comes complete with a coir bedding block. It has fly proof lid inserts to stop flies getting in to lay eggs and has a tap attached to the collector tray to enable easy drainage of excess liquid.

 The Can of Worms: A circular 2 working tray mid-range system that also comes complete with a coir bedding block. It has 5 legs and looks pretty sturdy. The lid is fly proof and the collector tray includes a non-drip tap and a "worm refuge mound". This should enable any worms that fall into the collector tray to climb back up into the working tray.

The Worm Cafe: A very smart looking, top of the range, rectangular 3 working tray sysyem that again comes with a coir bedding block. The cafe also features ant proof legs (so ants can't climb up into the farm) and a fully ventilated system to keep the oxygen flowing. As with the can of worms, the collector tray in the worm cafe comes complete with a worm refuge mound.

Obviously, the prices increase throughout the range and costs could vary from vendor to vendor. I've noticed that some stockists are offering a start up bundle to include everything needed to get the farm up and running.


After considering the options, i decided to go with the mid-range Can of Worms option and managed to get a start up bundle to include 500g of composting worms and a worm blanket. Anyway - enough chit chat! The moment has arrived!! It's time to get this can of worms open!!!!

My composting experiment!

Day 1: Sunday 20th May 2012!

So, the compost bin arrived today! The Tumbleweed Gedye Compost bin to be precise!!

The instructions were reassuringly simple. Begin by filling the bin with 10-15cm of dried leaves and twigs. This provides a layer of trapped air at the bottom of the compost bin - vital to get things started.

On top of the dried leaves came some cardboard which we soaked thoroughly.

The instructions then recommended adding a further 10-15cm of kitchen food waste to provide nitrogen. However our worm farm got all of our kitchen scraps last week so we had to skip this part!




Once the initial set up was complete, we set to work mowing and strimming the lawn along with a fair amount of weeding! The result was a pretty full bin - no wonder that they recommend a 2 bin strategy!!










Finally we added the Tumbleweed hessian blanket and gave it a good watering before re placing the lid tightly. With the blanket helping to push the contents down it should, in theory, promote an increase in temperature within the bin and this will speed up the decomposition of our garden waste leading to our very own home made compost.

The compost will need to be aerated on a weekly basis so more pictures will follow next week when we open the bin for the first time.





Whilst I'm killing time waiting for next weekend so I can aerate the compost bin for the first time, I thought it might be a good idea to look at the science of composting so that I know what's happening inside the bin even though I can't see it.

Having looked at numerous websites, it would appear that there is more to it than just chucking stuff in a bin and waiting. There also seems to be vast differences in the time the process takes with some sites claiming that the process can be complete within 8 weeks whilst other experts advise that the process takes up to a year? So, how does it work and how long does it take?

The one thing that most sites do agree on is that composting is a highly scientific process and involves 3 distinct stages with each stage performing a vital function.

The first phase is the THERMOPHILLIC or HEAT stage.

When a compost bin is first filled, the microbes present begin to break down the organic matter and this process creates heat. As soon as the internal temperature of the bin reaches 45C it is said to be in it's thermophilic state. Only certain microbes (thermophiles) can work at high temperatures, other microbes will move away from the source of the heat and will remain dormant until the temperature drops. (The temperature can reach as high as 80C.)This heat then encourages the rate at which the organic matter is broken down by the thermophiles. It is important to allow a new compost bin to have 2 - 4 weeks at the initial thermophilic stage with 3 consecutive days of temperatures above 55C before turning the contents inside out. As the heat has been concentrated in the centre of the heap, it is unlikely that the materials towards the outside of the bin will have entered the thermophilic stage, therefore it is important to bring the material from the outside of the bin into the centre. Fresh material can also be added at this stage. This then allows another thermophilic stage to commence. As well as using heat to speed up the process of organic decomposition, it also effectively sterilises the organic matter by killing off some harmful microorganisms and weed seeds etc. A third thermophilic stage can be provoked by once again turning the heap inside out but generally this is not necessary and can cause more harm than good as the heat will eventually begin to kill off the good microbes thereby stalling the composting process altogether. For the impatient gardener it is possible to remove some of the partially broken down organic matter and add it to a worm farm at this stage. Composting worms are more efficient at producing worm cast from partially broken down organic matter.

The next phase is the MESOPHILLIC or WARM stage.

The mesophillic stage begins when temperatures within the bin fall below 40C. Initially the contents of the bin will fluctuate between the first 2 stages as the heat within the bin can change at different levels owing to the amount of oxygen present. When the bin has reached a constant temperature of 25C then the mesophillic stage has begun. It usually takes around 4 weeks from the last turning for the second stage to begin. During mesophillic stage the microbes which had become dormant throughout the thermophilic will rouse from their dormant state and will resume decomposition of the organic matter. As their work becomes complete and less organic matter is broken down, the temperature will drop again and once the constant bin temperature is around 10C it has reached the third and final phase.

The final phase - The Curing Stage.

Around 8 weeks after the bin is set up, the first 2 phases should be complete and now the broken down organic matter can be taken out of the bin and used as mulch. Alternatively, at this stage, larger organisms such as Tiger Worms can be introduced to get to work on the broken down organic matter turning it into more recognisable compost. The curing and maturation can take as long as necessary. The longer it's left then the more broken down it will become. Initially it will be possible to see what content was originally placed in the bin although the structures will have broken down significantly.

The other vital components for successful composting are oxygen and water. The microbes that work on our organic matter are all aerobic - oxygen loving. The more oxygen available, the harder they work. The harder they work, the greater the heat produced. The greater the heat, the faster the decomposition. Similarly, water is needed to stabilise the heat produced. If the contents of the bin are too dry then the heat will quickly rise above optimum levels meaning that most of the microbes are killed which will end decomposition. The moisture in the bin also helps the microbes to travel around from one area to the next which gives a more even result to the finished product. However, it's important not to let the bin become waterlogged as this will lead to a rotten product. The contents of the bin should have a similar water content to that of a wrung out sponge.

This method of composting is also referred to as batch composting. Once the bin has been filled, the process is allowed to work from beginning to end. This should lead to fresh, microbe and nutrient rich compost in under 3 months. However, if you continually top the bin up with new garden waste then the bin will struggle to reach and maintain the thermophillic stage which could mean that it takes up to a year to produce compost.

Day 4: Wednesday 23rd May 2012

So, after spending far too much of my working day reading about and researching the science of compost I came to the worrying realisation that the contents of our compost bin were too nitrogen rich 'green waste' and that we hadn't included enough carbon rich 'brown waste'. The only options were to leave it untouched and hope for the best or disrupt the process to add carbon and then hope for the best. The latter option won so I collected lots of dried leaves and cherry blossom along with twigs and some corrugated cardboard (which I made sure was thoroughly moistened) and took the top 5" of grass cuttings from the compost bin. I mixed the brown waste in to the bin before putting the grass cuttings back. Reassuringly, I noticed that the bin contents smelled fresh and sweet and the temperature was definitely on the increase.


Day 5: Thursday 24th May 2012


Much excitement and action today as the Tumbleweed compost tumbler arrived. It's basically an alternative to a traditional compost bin because the ability to mix the contents on an almost daily basis means that the process is shortened - well that's the theory! I guess that the proof of the pudding is in the eating, or rather the proof of the compost is in the tumbling!? Anyway, I set about following the assembly instructions (a bit tricky in places) but, after 20 minutes or so, the tumbler was ready. As the tumbler is a self contained unit, it's designed to live wherever is most convenient which is a great advantage to anyone who is less than keen on having an unsightly compost bin visible in their garden. The tumbler itself is large, standing around 4ft high yet it's capacity is the same as the, much smaller, compost bin - 220 litres.


The advantage of a tumbler lies in its internal structure, a stainless steel breaker bar running through the centre of the tumbler acts not only as the axle on which it spins but also speeds up the composting process by physically breaking down the organic matter.









As with the compost bin, the tumbler needs to be filled with a mixture of 'green' nitrogen producing fresh garden waste and 'brown' carbon producing dried waste like leaves, cardboard or even paper. So, we set about preparing the contents. All instructions for composting state that any dry matter like cardboard needs to be moist when added - I found that the easiest way was to fill the wheelbarrow with cardboard and give it a thorough soaking with the garden hose. The contents were then added to the tumbler.







Only time will tell if the tumbler IS quicker at turning garden waste into compost, the instructions say that it should take 4-6 weeks with the only on going maintenance being a few spins of the tumbler every couple of days.



Anyway, back to the compost bin....





When I checked the bin yesterday there was a noticeable reduction in volume and you could definitely feel the heat. Further investigation showed that the temperature in the centre of the bin was just over 50C so we've definitely entered the THERMOPHILLIC stage!!









Day 7: Saturday 26th May 2012

So the compost bin has been set up for a week now, the internal temperature has been in excess of 50C for the last 3 days and the volume has decreased dramatically. The instructions state that it is necessary to regularly aerate the contents of the bin to help the composting process, this can also trigger a second THERMOPHILLIC phase as the previously cooler contents are moved towards the centre of the bin.



Whilst aerating, I thought I could see steam rising from the compost bin but further investigation revealed that what I thought was steam was in actual fact a very fine powdery mould. This sent me rushing straight to Google where it seemed to be telling me that my compost was becoming anaerobic which isn't good. However, almost all of the other sites seemed to say that the mould would be accompanied by a foul smelling slimy mess neither of which can be said for my bin? And so the research continues....






Day 11: Wednesday 30th May 2012

After doing some more research into the presence of the powdery mould stuff coating the top of the compost bin, it seemed that the only possible conclusion was that the mix was becoming too anaerobic. So today i ditched the aerator and set to the compost bin with a garden fork. Although there is still definitely no unpleasant smell coming from the compost bin, i did see that the garden waste towards the bottom of the bin was significantly wetter than the top. Also, the compost hasn't really come back up in temperature since the weekend which probably indicated a lack of oxygen which is vital to kick start the composting process.I hope that i managed to catch the possible anaerobic situation fairly early on and so have been able to prevent the situation worsening.




After thoroughly mixing and turning the contents of the compost bin, i added a fine layer of compost conditioner which is recommended by Tumbleweed, the manufacturer of both the compost bin AND the compost tumbler. The conditioner is supposed to neutralise acidity within the compost and restore the pH balance to neutral. Along with the conditioner, i also left the lid off the bin for a few hours to allow the contents to breath, i didn't want to risk it with the rain so i replaced the lid before night fall! I'll check the temperature and the moisture level again tomorrow, hopefully the mix up will instigate another thermophilic phase.



I gave the compost tumbler a few spins as per the instructions and had a quick look inside. The volume does appear to have reduced but I'm still not too sure whether it will speed up the composting process or not. The breaker bar doesn't seem to be breaking much up and because the contents are regularly displaced i'm not too sure how, or even if, thermophilia will occur?


The last job of the night was to set up a secondary compost bin as per the recommendations in the Tumbleweed compost bin instructions. I haven't bothered with a detailed account as it should, in theory, work in exactly the same way as the existing bin.

Day 22: Sunday 10th June 2012

So, it's 3 weeks in to project: composting and it all seems to be going fairly well! For logistical reasons both of the compost bins have been moved slightly but it certainly doesn't seem to have caused any problems!

The original bin has now reduced in volume by well over 50% and has begun to turn a dark brown colour with virtually no green matter in sight. The powdery mould has vanished and the moisture seems pretty well controlled. The compost smells earthy and not at all unpleasant. By moving the bin it gave us the chance to thoroughly aerate everything which definitely makes a difference. There are still some twigs that haven't even begun to break down but then I don't think I expect them to.




By contrast, as the picture shows, the second compost bin is not working nearly as fast but we've been using this bin in a more traditional way regularly adding more garden waste. This means that it's not getting the chance to settle down and reach a high enough temperature to kick start the thermophillic bacteria into action. But, this isn't a bad thing as it will be interesting to see how long the process takes.






Finally after days and days of tumbling (and the odd lid-based mishap) the contents of the tumbler are also now showing signs of breaking down. Because of the sheer size of the tumbler and the fact that you need to leave room inside for the contents to tumble, you can't fill it to the brim so it doesn't get the chance to operate like a hotbox like the original Gedye compost bin did. For this reason the internal temperature hasn't risen much above 35C so it relies on the internal breaker bar and the presence of mesophillic bacteria to turn the garden waste into compost. The lid of the tumbler states that it is the Tumbleweed compost tumbler and mulch maker which makes me think that the end result might not be the rich crumbly compost that I'm expecting from the Gedye bin. Only time will tell but I'll be needing plenty of mulch to protect the garden over winter so that's not necessarily a bad thing.!
!