Worms are Happy!

It is that time of year again and the worms are ready! If you would like to order some, just email us or you can contact City Folks Farm Shop.

Worm Waitlist

Thank you for all the calls asking about ordering worms, BUT we are hold for a little bit. We are a small urban farm and have to take time to let the little guys to  reproduce. ( a little Barry White never hurt right?) 

Right now what orders we can fill, we are arranging pick ups
with Shawn at City Folks Farm Shop.

How do I order? Currently, You can email us and we can put you on our waitlist. As soon as our bins are ready we will email you.

Happy Composting!!

Dirt Days May 18th

Join us for Dirt Days at the
Clintonville Farmer Market!

This Saturday May 18th 9-12pm

 We will have buckets of worm castings for your kids to sift through
and see what they can find. Everything from itty bitty food scraps

to hungry worms! Come find us in Clintonville Saturday.

 

When you spend...

...all day sifting worms for a few orders,

it's a great feeling to have a handful or 3 of success!!

Monday's Quote

Said the first little chicken,

With a queer little squirm,

"I wish I could find

A fat little worm"

 

- Author Unknown

 

Why you should build a worm bin today

Here is a great article with reasons why you should build a worm bin today!
Or atleast start worm composting today!
Wormilicious!

Ode to all things Worms!

Spring is so close we can smell it!

We get a little obsessed with worms around here, so we thought we would share some cool wormy hand made things in a Etsy Treasury!

Ode to Worms! 

Night of the Living Compost,

Space Worm!

Check out our link for more wormy ideas!

Choosing your seed starter soil

After a long winter, we always dream of soil and seedlings.

It makes those last cold weeks a lot easier here!

When choosing your soil for seed starters, remember the importance of worm castings. Look at the ingredients and sustainability in soil mixes. Instead of choosing peat moss (its takes over a life time to replace), choose coconut coir and worm castings. Why? Coir is a waste product and worm castings won't burn your seedlings. Plus they add lots of nutrients and goodies to help them grow strong!

Natures most complete plant food!

Worm Poem

A little Worm Poetry...


Ode to Worms

Wonderful Worms!







Holy Denizens of the Tunneled Ground!






Consume and Clean this Warring Earth!






Twist and Turn through Earth’s Ancient Clay!






Hail to your Soft and Writhing Way!






Praise for your Transient yet Ceaseless Labor!






Why isn't there a National Worm Day or Month?






Why isn't your Name and Shape on a coffee cup?






You Warm and Till the Sacred Soil!






You Eat and Secrete with your Toil!






Idolize the Worm because it doth Fertilize!






True Warriors and Saviors of the Earth!






Wonderful Worms!






M.L. Squier

Worm Update

Many of you have asked about worm availability. Since we are a small urban farm, quantity is always limited. Soon we should have a few pounds available in mid-late October.

If you are interested, email us.
We are in the process of expanding and trying some new ideas. New to us that is ;)

the goal is to expand in an urban setting by healing the land, not make a bigger footprint, and with that takes time.

So hopefully we will have more worms and a larger inventory of castings to sell in the late spring time. More to come soon!



Super Cool B-Day Present!

So I HAVE to share the super-cool Birthday present my sister, Maika made me this week! A Slimey hip bag! Love it!

Cute size. Perfect for long bike rides with the kids, (another goal this summer!)Soon I will order one of their Custom Bike Messenger bags. I have to pick the perfect design first. They are amazing pieces of artwork!
Want to see it in person? ask me about it at our booth this weekend!

Check out the HAND STICHED details. No patches here.

Maika and the whole Seagull Bags team are just that DAMN good!
Ask them about Custom Work anytime!

little critters in your worm bin part 4

Soldier Fly Larvea can be a rather freaky find in your outdoor or indoor worm compost bin. You can often hear them "chew" on your compost! They are also called a Window Fly. The following is an excerpt from the Oregon State University Garden Hints website and the quotes are from Cindy Wise, “Soldier fly larvae are voracious consumers of nitrogen-dominant decaying materials, such as kitchen food scraps and manures.‘Don’t worry, soldier flies don’t usually invade houses, unless your compost pile is close to your house,’ said Wise. ‘They almost exclusively populate compost bins or sheet mulch compost piles and manure piles,’ she said. ‘In the southern United States they are being utilized to reduce hog manure, as they can consume up to 30 tons of hog manure in two days.’ Soldier fly females lay eggs on the surface of nitrogen-rich material that is exposed. So, if you want to avoid having these large flies and their maggots in your compost pile, make sure you have enough leaves, dry grass, shredded paper and other organic “brown” material in the pile to cover the nitrogen food sources by at least two to four inches. Remember to bury food scraps deep down in the pile and cover them.

They often thrive in worm bins, as well as compost bins, where they may compete with the worms for food. ‘In a worm bin, bury food scraps down at least six inches for the worms and let the flies eat what is on the surface,” said Wise. “The flies don’t eat the worms or their eggs so they aren’t predators of the worms.’ The maggots are known to break down organic material in the pile so it can further decompose. And the flies inoculate the compost with beneficial bacteria from other sources."

One World, One Heart Giveaway!

The 2010 One World One Heart Blog giveaway has started!
I thought it would be fun to switch it up a bit and participate!

This year I am giving away One pound of Worm Castings!
What are Worm Castings good for you ask? You know after looking at all this snow you are dreaming of what to put in your garden! Worm Castings make an incredible natural fertilizer for your seedlings and when planting.
full of rich nutrients, yummy goods for you plants!!
So what do you have to do to win this bag-0-gold?
All you need to leave a comment to this blog post.
then we will announce the winner on Feb 15th! You can find more in our shop at Etsy!
Don't forget to check out our give away at our sister company, BlueGiRliNk!

little critters in your worm bin part 2

Mites?

Mites can be among the most numerous inhabitants in the worm bin, with many different species feeding on decaying organic matter and such. Don't worry, they are not like lice or other mites. they won't harm your worms, they actually help. They are generally found on the surface of the bin, though some predatory species will venture deeper if the material is loose and there is a food source. Mite populations can be controlled by placing melon wedges, fleshy side down on the worm bedding. This is a favorite mite food, and they will soon collect on the melon, which can then be removed from the worm bin. . Leaving the bin lid open and exposing the bedding surface to drying and UV light will also control mite populations. The vast majority of mite species in the bin are beneficial organisms which make up a significant part of the bin ecosystem. Mite species which damage living plants are not found in the worm bin. To take control of mite populations should only be considered if the worms are demonstrating stress behaviors like refusal to come to the surface, huddling in a ball, low reproduction or mass exodus. Remember what worms consider to be infestation levels of mites is often very different from the human view. Many species of mite found in the worm bin pose no threat to garden plants or people.

Famous Worms #2

James said it best;

"Thank you Mr. Worm!
You are my Hero!"

-James and the Giant Peach

12" Wood Worm Composting Bin

This is an example of our 12" Wood Worm Composting Bin

a Single Compartment Box This box is a basic design, a rectangle box with solid wood sides, bottom and hinged lid, handles on either end to facilitate lifting. Two sides are vented with holes covered in fine aluminum wire mesh to allow air flow through box which reduces odor and increases oxygen for worms and beneficial bacterial growth. These are also available with casters to ease movement of the box.

You can hand sift the worms after 3-4 months to harvest castings or we have a wood frame covered in ¼ inch hardware screen which can be slid into the center to divide box and ease the harvest of castings. To use the screen, you first need to push all worms, bedding and food scraps to one side of box then slide screen into center leaving one side empty for anywhere from a week to a month depending on how much biomass they have to eat. Once they are finished eating, you then place new bedding and food scraps on opposite side of screen and leave for another week or two. The worms should naturally migrate towards the food leaving behind one whole side of nutrient dense castings that you can add to house plants, garden or lawn.

One draw back to this design is that it rarely creates any worm “tea” or leachate from excess moisture passing through the biomass and settling at the bottom. Typically, excess moisture is absorbed into the wood but if there is too much to be absorbed it can pool at the bottom causing odor and killing worms but this is extremely rare.

Checking on the cloth bin

I was checking on our cloth worm composting bin last week.
I noticed the Indian corn I put in there was sprouting!

Nice moist environment, happy sprouting space. the worms were breaking things down nicely, I have to add some more water. not a lot though. that is the nice thing about the bags, you can't really over water them because it will just run out the bottom. But you do have to watch the moisture level closely so it doesn't dry out too much.

Found some happy baby worms, a good sign things are moving along nicely in your worm bin.