So has anyone here had experience here with a worm bin? They can be done in much smaller spaces apparently. Even in an apartment I have been told. I have found commercially available ones for over $100, but I keep hearing reference to making ones own for cheap. Any thoughts?
I think my boys would find this fascinating, but I worry about a smell and the like. Also, what if I kill the worms. I am not that soft hearted, *smile*, but that seems like it would be a real stinky mess. Jennifer ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dale Leavens" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, August 16, 2006 12:32 AM Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] How to Make a Compost Bin from a Garbage Can > You could of course use an ice-cream bucket but it would be pretty small. > > We have a friend who packages kitchen vegetable debris in those new > biodegradable plastic type bags and just buries them in the ground. > > Three or four years ago I built a sort of log house just a little over > four > feet square notching the logs just deep enough to leave about three > quarters > of an inch between them for air flow. I made a sloped gable and a hinged > plywood top to make loading it easy and a raising door at one side so I > can > fork out compost from the bottom. Usually I just leave the top open so > there > is enough moisture from the rain though occasionally I do have to spray a > little in with the hose. From time-to-time I fork it over just to make > sure > there is enough air and to spread the hot cooking stuff around the less > active stuff. It looks like this cute little log cabin at the bottom > corner > of my garden a little over four feet square and just under five feet to > the > top of the roof. > > Just now ai don't have a grass catcher on my mower but while we were on > holidays the kid across the lane cut the grass and threw it in, good green > stuff to get things really hot. I grind up other garden debris too > including > hedge trimming and in the fall, all the annual and perennial material and > rose bush pruning and of course I push bags of fallen leaves through the > shredder and add them. Most of that doesn't cook much until the spring but > before I put my gardens to bed for the winter I will have about a yard of > wonderful rich soil to add. You wouldn't believe what it has done for my > lilly gardens this year. Hundreds of huge plants and the fragrance is > divine! > > I generally just leave my garden fork sticking into the pile, you wouldn't > believe how hot it can get sometimes, I can hardly handle the tines. > > I should have a piece of perforated pipe down the middle to permit more > air > into the middle of the pile it would work better. > > > Dale Leavens, Cochrane Ontario Canada > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Skype DaleLeavens > Come and meet Aurora, Nakita and Nanook at our polar bear habitat. > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Sheila Enerson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Tuesday, August 15, 2006 10:02 PM > Subject: RE: [BlindHandyMan] How to Make a Compost Bin from a Garbage Can > > >> Could I use a plastic ice cream bucket? >> >> Sheila >> >> >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: [email protected] >> [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >> On Behalf Of Boyce, Ray >> Sent: Tuesday, August 15, 2006 4:09 PM >> To: [email protected] >> Subject: [BlindHandyMan] How to Make a Compost Bin from a Garbage Can >> >> Hi >> Compost is nothing more than decomposed plant material, so you don't need >> a >> fancy bin to make your own compost. You can create compost in a heap on >> the >> ground, but most gardeners think that containing your compost pile makes >> it >> look tidier. Here's how to make compost in a recycled garbage can. >> >> Steps: >> 1. >> Punch holes in a garbage can. The microbes that actually do the >> composting >> need oxygen to do their work. >> >> 2. >> Chop plant debris into small pieces and place them inside the garbage >> can. >> Ideally, you should use 50 percent green material and 50 percent dry, but >> you >> can use shredded newspaper for the dry material if necessary. You don't >> need >> to fill the can all at one time - just put in the plant material you have >> on hand. >> >> 3. >> Spray water over the chopped plant material inside the can, until the >> material is damp but not soggy. >> >> 4. >> Put the lid on the can. >> >> 5. >> Place the filled garbage can on bricks or several 2-by-4-inch pieces of >> lumber to keep the can off the ground and prevent it from rusting. >> >> 6. >> Turn the can as often as daily, or at least once a week. Lay the can on >> its >> side and roll it around to mix the plant material inside. >> >> 7. >> Add more plant material at any time. >> >> 8. >> Keep the compost about as moist as a wrung-out sponge by spraying it with >> water when the plant material begins to feel dry. >> >> 9. >> Harvest your compost after one month. Use a wire screen or piece of >> chicken >> wire to strain out the unfinished compost. >> >> Tips: >> >> Compost can be used to top-dress garden beds or as potting soil for >> indoor >> plants. >> >> Once the plant material inside the can is no longer warm to the touch, >> the >> composting process is finished. >> >> ********************************************************************** >> This message and its attachments may contain legally >> privileged or confidential information. If you are not the >> intended recipient, you must not disclose or use the >> information contained in it. If you have received this e-mail >> in error, please notify the sender immediately by return >> e-mail and delete the e-mail. >> >> Any content of this message and its attachments which >> does not relate to the official business of Eraring Energy >> must be taken not to have been sent or endorsed by >> Eraring Energy. No warranty is made that the e-mail or >> attachment(s) are free from computer virus or other defect. >> ********************************************************************** >> >> >> >> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] >> >> >> >> To listen to the show archives go to link >> http://acbradio.org/handyman.html >> or >> ftp://ftp.acbradio.org/acbradio-archives/handyman/ >> >> The Pod Cast address for the Blind Handy Man Show is. >> http://www.acbradio.org/news/xml/podcast.php?pgm=saturday >> >> The Pod Cast address for the Cooking In The Dark Show is. >> http://www.gcast.com/u/cookingindark/main.xml >> >> Visit The New Blind Handy Man Files Page To Review Contributions From >> Various List Members At The Following Address: >> http://www.jaws-users.com/handyman/ >> Visit the new archives page at the following address >> http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ >> For a complete list of email commands pertaining to the Blind Handy Man >> list >> just send a blank message to: >> [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> Yahoo! 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Groups Links >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> -- >> No virus found in this incoming message. >> Checked by AVG Free Edition. >> Version: 7.1.405 / Virus Database: 268.10.9/417 - Release Date: >> 11/08/2006 >> > > > > To listen to the show archives go to link > http://acbradio.org/handyman.html > or > ftp://ftp.acbradio.org/acbradio-archives/handyman/ > > The Pod Cast address for the Blind Handy Man Show is. > http://www.acbradio.org/news/xml/podcast.php?pgm=saturday > > The Pod Cast address for the Cooking In The Dark Show is. > http://www.gcast.com/u/cookingindark/main.xml > > Visit The New Blind Handy Man Files Page To Review Contributions From > Various List Members At The Following Address: > http://www.jaws-users.com/handyman/ > Visit the new archives page at the following address > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > For a complete list of email commands pertaining to the Blind Handy Man > list just send a blank message to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Yahoo! 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