The Fraser Times

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Juanita fraser — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 05:52:02 GMT

Can Compost Worms Cross Breed?

For those who are worm lovers like myself I have some food for thought.

In my previous articles I have talked about various types of composting worms.Last winter I introduced some of my Red Wigglers into my compost pile.Coming Spring to my surprise I noticed larger worms differant in colour more hyper and lots of them.I have studied on cross breeding and again it depends on who you talk to, I was told not possible from one scientist and yes from another. But folks seeing is believing.I have shown pictures of these worms and there’s worm farmers who know their stuff can’t figure out what kind of composting worms they are. You would think Euro Night Crawler which is common around here, but this is not the case. All I can say is “don’t look a gift horse in the mouth". Anything is possible this day and age, or would you call this a freak of nature?

New Article

Juanita fraser — Fri, 15 May 2009 07:24:08 GMT

Why Don’t We Focus More On Worm Manure As Fertilizer ?

Through the years as far back as most of us remember cow manure, chicken manure, and horse manure was the most common natural fertilizers used especially for farm use. Today these fertilizers are sold in bags at your local garden centres, if you noticed I didn’t mention “natural” with all the steroids used to enhance growth or production your also getting the medications as well as addictives in the food their eating. So are they natural ? you decide. Five years ago I moved from a big city zoned at 3, to a town zoned at a 5, I wasn’t into gardening until I saw the prices of vegetables soaring through the roof, then I started to read as many gardening books I could find, after around a hundred books later I came to the conclusion that I have a good growing zone to grow almost anything that I like, now what fertilizer do I use? I tried chemical fertilizers and they work, I also tried all the manures, great especially for humus. But then I asked myself “what about health wise?” Sure I could save money growing the product myself and there’s nothing like a home grown tomato, but the chemicals used for growing is still a issue for me.I started to study on fertilizers and found seaweed and wormcastings along with bat manure were the top of the list organic wise. Wormcastings really caught my eye, because of the history of worms and their manure is loaded with vitamins and minerals essential for plant development. Not to say Seaweed and Bat manure is also a valuable resource for plant development as well, but I found wormcastings have more components.A farmer knew he had great soil when worms were present a dark chocolate brown soil was preferred especially for wheat farming. I searched for worms only to discover there’s over 100’s of species. Then I came across a worm named a “Red Wiggler” famous for fishing trout, because like their name they like to squirm. The Red Wiggler is classified as a “litter worm” meaning they like to stay 4 inches down from the top of the compost or food. The regular earth worm burrows deep into the ground. Also the red Wiggler has more endurance, they can handle hot tempatures and adapt to change in their surroundings wherefore the earth worm will not survive. And the Red Wiggler will consume at least fifty percent of it’s body weight.I came across a retired worm farmer and was given some Red Wigglers about five years ago and I started using the manure and I must say I was impressed from the results. If you check out our herb garden you’ll see why. One word of caution if you buy wormcastings or worm manure sand is added for weight in certain brands.My conclusion is worms recycle and in return you get worm manure which smells like earth and great fertilizer!

Outdoor Composting Surprise!

Juanita fraser — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:46:08 GMT

Outdoor Composting Surprise!

For the last three Summers like many other gardeners I wanted compost for our garden.As Fall approached last year I added to the compost pile one last time. Then it was time to harvest the worm bin in the house, as I went through the castings I noticed some of the food was not totally broke down, I took the unfinished materials to the compost pile and forgot about it. The following Summer I caught the flu for four weeks, I never did much during this time as to be expected. Finally I started to feel better and thought of the devastation of our garden due to lack of care. To my surprise the garden didn’t suffer much casualties. As I turned the compost pile to my amazement I saw lots of squirmy worms, and cocoons, well this made my day. Now I’m prepping the now worm pile for the winter. There’s no joy in having the flu but In this case I’m not complaining.

Robert

Why I Like Worm castings?

Juanita fraser — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 11:22:08 GMT

Why did I start Vermicomposting?

In 2002, my family and I moved from a city life to a town life, from a zone 3 to zone 5.

As in tempature wise. We were not interested in gardening, or anything associated with it.

After watching my Father in law being a gardener addict, I became curious. My Father in law started to give me gardening books along with his delicious vegetables and fruits. Well that sold me. Great climate,

good food, and good potential soil to work with. Our soil has sand and clay all it needs is humus.

I researched on fertilizers chemical and natural and came to the conclusion natural would be my choice.

I have noticed over the years as well as others, our vegetables don’t have the flavour they use to have.

Sure they look good but no taste. I have used fish fertilizer, Seaweed extract, and compost. These work well

But I wanted the best source of nutrients, and vitamins. So I studied on Worm pooh or Worm castings. To my surprise Worm castings has more in value all the way around. I started with one large bin and now I have several. Vermicomposting is a great way to recycle and the worm castings smell like earth, not foul.

Seeing is believing and if you check out our herb garden you could see why we like Worm castings.