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Worm Farming Heat Hacks

7 Jun

Summer arrived early this year and it’s August in June here in South Texas.   Help your worms beat the heat with a few tips.

  1. Ice bottles.  Partially fill plastic bottles w/ water and freeze.  Add frozen bottles to your worm bins in the morning.  Pick them up and re freeze overnight and repeat.
  2. Shade.  If moving your worm bins in doors is not an option add shade cloth or move to a shady area.  Especially from the afternoon sun.
  3. Keep moist- Add a drip line and/ or keep beds covered w/ mulch or old rug.  Covering will protect worms and help keep in moisture.
  4.  Add insulation –  add more bedding and in ground beds are a couple of ways to keep things from heating up and keep your worms happier in the heat.

These are a few tips to help get your worms through the summer.   Share any ideas or successful hacks you’ve come up with in your part of the world.

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Texas Jumper Eggs and castings run

5 Nov

jumper-eggs

In a quick castings run we were able to render 40 gallons and 200 lbs of sifted castings.  Found a bunch of egg sacs. 20-gallon-castings

Rainbow Gardens “OPENING UP MY OWN CAN OF WORMS.”

10 Jun

Thanks to Lisa, Laura, and Rainbow Gardens.  Check out “Opening up my own can of worms”.

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TexasRedWorms on display at the Houston Zoo

12 Jun

This week we provided Texas Jumpers and set up bins at the Houston Zoo.  There is no shortage of worm food and the kids visiting will soon get to see some Texas Red Worms “Texas Jumpers” up close.  With the Houston heat, we decided Texas Jumpers would be the best choice for their location and set up.  Thanks Dustin and Elyssa for the opportunity it’s an honor to have our worms at the Houston Zoo.

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DIY Raised Worm Bed.

28 Apr

Here’s another example of a raised bed for worms.  It’s next to the house and gets full shade.  It’s next to a spicket for easy access to water and/or drip irrigation.  I used some landscaping blocks to construct the borders and filled it with compost. After adding a Tx Jumper Starter, I cut a piece of old carpet to cover.  The cover acts as a permanent mulch blanket to keep in moisture and protects the worms.  I like carpet or an old rug because they last a long time, and I believe the weight gives the worms a sense of security that promotes surfacing and feeding.

wormbed

 

Within a few months of setting this up, the worms started to really take off.  I continue to keep moist, and fed with compost.  The worms do the rest.  It’s always fun to pull back the carpet and see a bunch of happy worms (Texas Jumpers).

happyworms

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Worms for the Garden

27 Apr

clayworm2 claywormThis is what I like to see.  Pictured above are some chunks of clay with some of my Texas Jumpers working through them with no problem.  The ability of these native Texan worms to work in clay is what makes them suitable for adding directly to your garden or raised bed.  They are a hearty worm that grows to 6 inches or more in a few months time.  The strength that they have at a few weeks old and small size is what separates them from European Nightcrawlers or Red Worms (eisenia foteda).  This strength makes them great aerators and tunnelers for your soil.  They can dive and tunnel several feet and can survive through our extreme temps.  Pick a spot that has good shade for these worms, keep it composted, covered (old carpet or something similar), and watered for best results.  Once your population is established in several weeks, you’ll be ready to start moving them around a couple of handfuls at a time.  With a little patience and persistence, you’ll have worms all over.

I broke open a clay clod and found this young worm working through.  If these worms can handle this South Texas clay and caliche soil chances are they can benefit yours.

clayandcaliche

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