Subject: Wormeries & Dog Dirt
From: [email-masked] (D Restall (Technician))
Date: Wed, 17 Aug 1994 08:38:42 GMT
Newsgroups: alt.sustainable.agriculture

Hi All,

I want to build a wormery for organic kitchen waste.  The books I've got
only pay lip service to them and generally they recommend an old bin with
bits of carpet and stones etc.  They also recommend moving the bin to warmer
parts or even moving it into the garage in cold weather.  I don't want to do
this if I can help it.  To be really useful, the wormery must be just outside
the back door so that waste can be tipped conveniently.

I saw a clip from "Beyond 2000" on Discovery that showed a wooden wormery
lined with polystyrene which is what my ideas are based on.  Does anybody out
there have any experience in the field (no pun intended =8-}).  I'm
particularly interested in the following points :-

    1) Is there an optimum size for a wormery ?
    2) Is there an optimum shape ?  i.e. Wider or higher
    3) Are there any guides as to the worm density or will this be
       self regulating.
    4) Can anybody recommend any publications or designs on the subject ?
    5) I've seen Brandling worms recommended from a fishing tackle shop,
       what other worms/animals are suitable ?

I also have a Dog.  Being a responsible owner, I've trained her to "perform"
in a concreted area of the garden near a grate.  I pick up the solid bits
in a polythene bag and bin them and regularly swill the area.  I want to move
away from dumping the solids in the bin and would like to get rid of them
in a more useful way than landfill.  As wormeries seem to be a panacaea for
getting rid of organic waste, I thought of building another wormery to get
rid of the dog's organic waste.  Do worms take kindly to having you know
what dropped on them from high (I know I don't so why should worms be any
different =8-}), if it was dropped, would they digest it and would there be
any handling hazards with the compost left after they'd digested.  The dog
is healthy BTW and doesn't suffer from worms, toxicara etc as far as I can
see.

I've two kids and think this would be of interest to them as well as me,
giving them something to write about at school.

Sorry about the long waffly post.

For those that want to reply directly :-

    [email-masked]

TTFN < TTWT

Dave Restall
                                                environment/uke-940815.tx
                                                uk.environment.
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* Dave Restall              * The views expressed above are not those of the *
* The Adversity of Teesside * of the University, do you think that an        *
* Middlesbrough             * institution that chose Sir Leon Brittan as     *
* Cleveland                 * Chancellor could have any views at all ?       *
* TS1 3BA                   *                                                *
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