vermiculture anyone?

[Briar]

Has any one here have any experience on making compost from fym with worms?
Currently trying to complete our organic conversion plan and notice that in other countries vermiculture is being used for composting and making "teas". eg Hagartys' in W Australia, and a product called "Nutrisoil" springs to mind.
Is anyone doing this here in the UK organically? Am not looking to source a "product" but concoct something on farm. My thinking: although currently cattle free, we have neighbours who graze our grass with their sheep and we have a ready supply of horse muck with our own equestrian enterprise and surrounding yards which I would like to utilise more efficiently other than pile it up in a midden before spreading. Why not use worms to break down the muck into compost and use the compost to make "teas" that can be applied along side cereals at sowing similar to a combination drill, (or as a seed dressing, liquid fert etc?).
Is this a daft idea or a viable one to boost the fungi, bacteria etc in the soils and mitigate the stepped change away from synthetic fert? Am aware others judicious use of wormers/meds may scupper plans!

Thoughts please.

 

[onesiedale]

Ep. 130 – Jamie Depape – Worm Castings for Soil Health

I sat down with Jamie Depape, Chief Operations Officer for Annelida Casting Innovations, a worm casting bio stimulant manufacturing company just outside of Edmonton, AB, CA. We talked after finishi…

workingcows.net

Canadian enterprise, but I found this an interesting interview and something that made me think deeper about 'worm farming'

 

[Briar]

Cheers Onesiedale, a thought provoking interview. Had a look on their website and found a mine of info to study.

 

[Blaithin]

If you aren’t set up to do compost for a compost tea you can also do manure tea.

That’s usually what I end up doing as compost isn’t something I’ve developed the knack for yet.

 

[Briar]

Hi Blaithin, how are you utilising your teas? Is it just something for the veg patch or used farm wide diluted like an application of liquid fert with a sprayer to cut fert use?
Previous generations experience of manure teas usually ended up with a visit from local environmental protection agency after down stream fishery complained!

 

[Blaithin]

Hi Blaithin, how are you utilising your teas? Is it just something for the veg patch or used farm wide diluted like an application of liquid fert with a sprayer to cut fert use?
Previous generations experience of manure teas usually ended up with a visit from local environmental protection agency after down stream fishery complained!

Mostly just used in the garden and flower beds. Excess is dumped in the pasture as I don’t have a large sprayer.

Manure tea follows the same process as compost tea. Since I normally do smaller batches it’s only a couple shovelfuls of manure into a 5 gallon pail of water, soak for a couple if days, dilute it in some more water until it’s the colour of tea, and apply.

The concentration is really not at any level that it should be affecting waterways. It’s not slurry. It’s hard to even imagine how much you’d have to apply to cause it to runoff, unless you're saturating the soil with it frequently, which isn’t really necessary.

 

[Kimbcassa]

Hi guys,
I have had a small worm farm going for a few years now, very simple stacking boxes that slide into each other, drill holes in base, fill with shredded paper, straw and then peelings from kitchen etc. Put in worms from garden and Bob's ya ....
First tub sits on two jars in a tray, worm tea drips out as it works. You tube very handy, the dirt that comes from bottom tray great for planting once heated to sterilise and tea fantastic for rest of veg, some would say more so for peppers and chillies.

 

[martian]

It's worth reading Rhonda Sherman's The Worm Farmers Handbook (published by Chelsea Green). She was going to be speaking at Groundswell this year, but with one thing and another, it's not happening.

 

[Briar]

"It's worth reading Rhonda Sherman's The Worm Farmers Handbook (published by Chelsea Green). She was going to be speaking at Groundswell this year, but with one thing and another, it's not happening."

Thank you Martian, was trying to get my head round trying to scale up the worm farms for a household garden as seen on youtube to a 300 Ha organic farm. Do you think she may be speaking at next years event or is that too soon to call?

 

[martian]

Bit early to call, but she may well be. It's a very interesting subject

 

[Briar]

Well, had my first ever zoom type experience earlier this week courtesy of Nutrisoil in Australia with a Nicole Masters on vermiculture, who I believe is currently in Montana.
Most interesting and thought provoking offering practical possibilities. Can be as high tech or as simple as you want it eg partly open a bale of silage add some cow faeces, worms and leave to develop. Suggesting using vermicast slurries to cut the faff of "teas".
Have already informed no 1 son (12) that I'm going to buy him a "farm" for his birthday!

 

[90hp farming]

Well @ Briar. How are you progressing with a worm enterprise? Would love to hear. Just finished Rhonda Sherman`s book which was a Christmas present (better than a pair of underpants!)

I have a few bales of dodgy silage - could you expand on the technique you eluded to above please.

We were kindly given a trial batch of red wigglers this summer which still reside outside the kitchen - unfortunately not yet scaled up to farm level. (But they are still alive at least).

Be great to hear from any one over here who is into this - its big business in the States but no mention in the UK

 

[Briar]

Well @ Briar. How are you progressing with a worm enterprise? Would love to hear. Just finished Rhonda Sherman`s book which was a Christmas present (better than a pair of underpants!)

I have a few bales of dodgy silage - could you expand on the technique you eluded to above please.

We were kindly given a trial batch of red wigglers this summer which still reside outside the kitchen - unfortunately not yet scaled up to farm level. (But they are still alive at least).

Be great to hear from any one over here who is into this - its big business in the States but no mention in the UK

Hi, the worm farming bit has been temporarily put on the back burner, but only because I have been reading up on soil biology and how to improve it.

One of the methods described in the zoom meeting was literally open the top of the bale of silage and add some cow sh*t for the bacteria and worms and allow to develop!

Have basically been looking at different methods of producing high fungal composts with and without adding IMOs' before adding worms. Several garden scale operations exist, just trying to get my head round the principles and upscale to a more practical operation for me. Thinking Johnson-su bioreactor and static pile composting with no turning - look up on youtube, should love your "dodgy silage bales" for composting material. Then add your worms.

After agronomist totally dissed the usefulness and extra cost of analysing the biology bit when soil sampling I have just invested in a microscope to study my own soils' biology, and that of my future compost.
Will need to get a copy of Sherman's book.

Good luck
Briar.

 

[Hilly]

Wonder worms , I had a worm farm in 1985 I have forgotton most of it