如果你对培育有活力、健康、营养丰富的土壤感兴趣,并热衷于融入大自然的天然堆肥器,蚯蚓养殖可能是你的一个完美选择。
While rather less common than most soil invigorators, worm farming may be the most beneficial option (and in the long run, the least amount of work).
Interested? Read on to learn more.
What Is Worm Farming?
A worm farm, generally speaking, is a contained composting space where live worms feed on your food scraps.
Why You Would Want to Worm Farm
The benefit of worm farming (and the byproduct) is that worm waste is an incredibly nutrient-dense fertilizer that does wonders for your soil. It’s known as a top-tier fertilizer that can even increase moisture retention rates.
Fun fact: Worm-produced compost is commonly called vermicompost.
Vermicompost can also be called “black gold” because it is literally one of the highest quality, all-natural garden fertilizers possible. Vermicompost is incredibly nourishing for plants. Other names for it are worm castings and worm pee or poo.
除了这个美好的好处之外,这也是减少家庭垃圾的一个极好的方式,因此,减少垃圾被送到垃圾填埋场。另外,从经济角度来说,你为食物残渣买单,为什么不把它们用在一些有益的事情上呢?一旦你的蠕虫农场被创建,几乎没有成本来维持它。
Fun fact: Worms can reduce organic material’s composition up to 95%.
Worm farming can also be an awesome educational experience for families with children. It’s a great way to teach them about reducing their environmental footprint, utilizing everything they have, learning the cycle of life, gardening, and many other things. And let’s be real, it’s not just an exciting educational experience for kids, but also for adults. It’s fun, and the worms can start to feel like pets as you get acquainted with feeding them.
This may sound odd, but if you have friends and family like mine, giving worm castings away as a gift to boost people’s gardens is a great idea. You can also sell your worm castings at farmers markets if you have extra and want to make some cash. It’s quite easy (and honest) to market as organic, too.
How Do You Acquire Worms?
大多数都可以很容易地在网上订购,并直接送到你的家门口。问题是有多少,什么物种,预算是多少?如果你是从零开始,最好购买小一点的尺寸,直到你熟悉制作过程。
然而,批量购买蠕虫会更便宜。我发现,你可能希望花50美元来开始一个不错的数额——而且你买虫子是按磅付钱的。红色蠕动鱼(上面提到的)通常是30美元一磅。
How Do You Determine How Many Worms to Get?
A fairly easy way to figure out how many worms you need is to consider your general food waste per week. Every day, gather your food scraps in a bin and weigh them. Or wait and weigh them all at the end of the week. Depending on what you find, and knowing that some species of worms consume up to half of their body weight a day, you’ll be able to do some simple math to figure out how many worms you need and how large a container space you need.
Hint:Generally speaking, if you have 2 pounds of food waste daily, you’ll want 4 pounds of worms.
What You Need to Start Worm Farming
The materials needed are relatively cheap and easy to find. If it doesn’t suit you to create your own worm farming compost boxes, you can order them online. However, online is the more expensive option (and less of a learning experience).
Here’s what you need.
- Two rubber bins (one taller with a lid, one short without a lid)
- A tool to create small holes in the top bin
- Some sort of screen (like a window screen)
- Waterproof glue to keep screens in place
- Shredded, noncoated paper, newspaper, or brown paper bags moistened appropriately or soil or both
- a spray bottle to help moisten soil
- A tool to stir the compost
- Optional: food scraps container if you plan to feed your worms once a week
If it isn’t obvious, the primary ingredient to a worm farm is worms. What perhaps, is less obvious, is that it’s important to know which worms to get.
Earthworms are the best way to go, and more specifically, red worms (or red wrigglers). These are especially popular because they are known to consume half of their weight every day and thrive in compost environments.
当你收集好材料后,你要在上一个箱子的顶部打几个洞,在上一个箱子的底角附近打四个稍大一点的洞。
The screen should be cut to the appropriate size and glued over the holes in the bottom of the top bin. No holes should be created in the bottom bin.
Place the upper bin on top of the bottom bin.
The next step in this process is creating the beginning mixture of your compost bin. You’ll want to create enough so that there’s at least 3 inches of it in the top bin.
This can be a mixture of paper and soil or just soil. Make sure the soil is loose and broken up (no large, hard clumps). It’s also important to ensure it is all moistened appropriately to provide a good habitat for the worms (appropriate moistening is discussed below).
下一步是加入你的蠕虫。随着被发送邮件和熟悉一个新环境的压力,一些人说最好给蠕虫几天时间来适应它们所处的位置。几天之后,你可能会开始添加食物残渣让它们分解。
Another hint: I have been told (and am unsure of the truth behind it) that worms do not like onions, garlic, and citrus food scraps. A homestead I was working on forbid any orange or lime peels, onion (or the like) to be composted.
For sure don’t feed your worms dairy, meat, or extremely spicy foods. Those are a hard no!
Some Tricks to Keep Your Compost Healthy and Alive
While it’s perfectly fine to toss your compost scraps in as you make them, some say to collect and deposit them once a week to keep regularity in the compost cycle. This likewise allows the worms more time to break things down between new foods being added.
When you feed your worms, add more soil or paper to keep the consistency right.
Regularly checking the moisture content in your worm compost is also important. You want dampness, not wet. Make sure everything in the bin is of equal moisture content (a spray bottle should help).
Related POst:DIY Worm Composting Solution for Under $20
It is helpful to make a small hole in the middle of the bin, place the food scraps in it, and then brush the newly added damp soil or paper over it.
注意你的蠕虫似乎不吃什么食物可以帮助增加它们的分解过程。例如,如果你注意到一个特别干的花椰菜梗已经放了一段时间了,就把它拿出来。
And checking the buildup of worm castings regularly is wise as well. That way you begin to understand how fast they are breaking down the food and providing your garden with nourishing compost.
What to Do After Your Worms Are Established
Easy! Just add your compost scraps, tea bags, vacuum dust, coffee grounds, etc., and let the worms do their magic.
Another thing you may decide to utilize is worm tea. The tea is as beneficial as the worm castings, and can easily be given to plants. All you have to do is drain the liquid that accumulates at the bottom of your bin and apply wherever you like.
It should be noted that this is just one way to worm farm. Many people create wooden outdoor boxes for their worm compost while some utilize trashcan setups. It’s totally dependent on you, your aesthetic, financial means, space availability, and general goals for worm farming.
Worm Farm Smelliness
Ideally, your worm compost should be next to odorless or smell of natural earthy goodness. If you begin noticing an unpleasant smell (rotten food, specifically), it could mean the worm bin is too acidic. Generally refreshing the bedding (soil and paper composition) will fix the odor. Having healthy bedding also helps keep fruit flies away.
这是一个学习的过程,所以要有耐心!
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