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Texas Worm Harvester (part 4)

After several weeks and hundreds of pounds, I have made a few modifications to my worm harvester. The first thing I did was replace the 1/2 inch hardware cloth w/ 1/4 inch screen throughout. The 1/4 inch screen keeps the majority of the worms out of the catch tubs and sends most worms to the end bucket along w/ the larger sized material. I still have to spend some time picking through the worm castings for eggs and baby worms. Using this method I have been able to speed up the process of separating worms from castings considerably.

Another change I made was adding a scrap piece of particle board to the front end to make loading easier and to prevent back flow. The only other modification was to tweak the angle slightly. I have the end pieces bolted so that I can adjust the height, also I can add blocks underneath to change the level.

Tags: add beneficial microbes to your soil, buy red worms, compost, composting, composting with worms, diy worm harvester, eisenia foetida, harvesting compost, harvesting vermicompost, harvesting worm castings, houston red worms, organic fertilizer, organic gardening, raising red worms, red wigglers, red worm bin, red worm farming, red worm farming tips, red worms, red worms for sale in houston, red worms for sale in texas, san antonio red worms, save money with red worm farming, texas red worms, vermicomposting, vermiculture, worm bin composting

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Categories Castings Harvester, Worm Castings

Texas Worm Harvester (part 3)

8 Feb

The sun was shining and the arctic blast of 2011 broke this weekend for the first run of the Texas Worm Harvester. I ran a couple hundred pounds of compost through the rig and had some good results. I had enough time to run a few of my red worm bins with the same success. I put together a fairly rough video of the project, and welcome any questions. Let me know if I can help you with your very own version.

Tags: build your own worm compost harvester, compost, compost sifter, compost tea, diy worm harvester, earthworm castings, organic fertilizer, organic gardening, red worm castings, worm harvester

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Categories Castings Harvester, Worm Castings

Planting Blueberries w/ worm castings

19 Jan

I just received my blueberry shipment yesterday, and was anxious to plant. I ordered 14 blueberry 2-3 foot tall plants (climax, premier, brightwell, and delight varieties). Blueberries like a little acidity and do very well in the southeast Texas well drained sandy soil. We will put most of the plants in the ground in Livingston, but I wanted to have a couple here in San Antonio in pots.

My blueberry potting mix: Sandy southeast Texas soil, peat moss, worm castings, and finished compost.

For the two plants I split 4 lbs of Texas red worm castings that I placed near the roots, not mixed like the other components. Worm castings are an outstanding fertilizer to support root growth and development.

These plants should produce a few berries early this Summer, but we will pick them early to yeild a better crop in the second year.

I chose a large container, and repurposed an empty syrup tub that we use to feed cows.

Tags: add beneficial microbes to your soil, buy red worms, compost, eisenia foetida, houston red worms, make your own fertilizer, natural fertilizer, organic fertilizer, organic gardening, planting with worm castings, red wigglers, red worm farming, red worm farming tips, red worms, red worms for sale in houston, red worms for sale in san antonio, red worms for sale in texas, san antonio red worms, save money with red worm farming, texas red worms, vermicompost, vermicomposting, vermiculture, worm bin composting, worm castings

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Categories RedWorm Farming Tips, Worm Castings

10 red worm egg experiment

3 Dec

Last week, as an experiment I stocked a starter bin with bedding and 10 red worm cocoons or egg sacs. I would love to be able to see the little rascals hatch, but as you will see in the next post, counting these little critters can be pretty difficult. Stay tuned.

Tags: buy red worms, compost, diy worm bin, houston red worms, make your own worm bed, raising red worms, red wiggler cocoons, red wiggler eggs, red wigglers, red worm bin, red worm egg sacs, red worm farming, red worm farming tips, red worms, red worms for sale in texas, reduce your waste, san antonio red worms, texas red worms, vermicomposting, vermiculture, worm bin composting

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Categories Red Worm Reproduction, RedWorm Farming Tips

Perfect time for Red Worming (Vermicomposting)

12 Nov

It’s always the right time to add compost to your soil, and always a great time to get started composting with Red Worms. It’s Fall in Texas and the cooler weather is ideal for work outside and setting up your worm bed.

TexasRedWorms.com provides you the easiest way to start composting with Red Worms (vermicomposting) today. Our shoebox sized Starter Farm provides everything you need to produce nutrient rich castings for your plants and soil, and a thriving breeding brood of red worms (eisenia foetida) nature’s best composter.

Check out our latest ad on Craigslist or just give us a call 210-310-5046. If you are in the San Antonio or Livingston, TX area pick up can be arranged, or call for shipping information.

Tags: add beneficial microbes to your soil, buy red worms, compost, diy worm bin, houston red worms, organic fertilizer, organic gardening, raising red worms, red wigglers, red worm bin, red worm farming, red worm farming tips, red worms, red worms for sale in texas, san antonio red worms, save money with red worm farming, texas red worms, vermicomposting, vermiculture, worm bin composting

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Categories RedWorm Farming Tips

What to do w/ your Pumpkins after the Trick or Treating

2 Nov

The candy is gone and the festivities are over. Instead of throwing those pumpkins out with the trash, add them to your compost pile or feed them to your red wigglers. Composting and worm farming is fun for the whole family. It is rewarding watching your food waste turn into dark and rich finished compost. I just added some worm castings to my lemon trees, and am on the hunt for sad jack-o-lanterns around the neighborhood.

Tags: buy red worms, compost, composting jack-o-lanterns, houston red worms, organic fertilizer, organic gardening, pumpkins wanted, red wigglers, red worm bin, red worm farming tips, red worms, red worms for sale in texas, reduce your waste, san antonio red worms, save money with red worm farming, texas red worms, worm bin composting

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Categories Compost Tea Party

Compost tea benefits: Get rid of termites, fleas, ticks, chiggers, and more naturally.

10 Oct

This weekend I took a visit to East Texas to work on some of our worm beds. While loading manure from some piles to start a new worm bed, I noticed some termites in some fence posts, as well as, some fire ant mounds. I have had success with compost tea applications before in controlling ants, grubs, and fleas. So I started a small batch of tea with finished compost and some redworm castings. I also did a little research to see if anyone had had any experience with termites and found this article. Microbes like nematodes and bacteria can be amplified with a quality finished compost and brewed into actively aerated compost tea. Beneficial predators that can control and eliminate many pests. So if you have a roach, ant, flea, tick, grub, cigger, termite or other problem chances are actively aerated compost tea can come to the rescue.

Tags: add beneficial microbes to your soil, buy red worms, chiggers, compost, compost tea, compost tea and pests, fertilizing hay fields with compost tea, fire ants, fleas and tick control, get rid of ants organically, getting rid of ants in your yard, houston red worms, make your own compost tea, natural pest control, natural termite control, organic fertilizer, organic gardening, organic pest control, red wigglers, red worm farming, red worms, red worms for sale in texas, san antonio red worms, save money with red worm farming, texas red worms, town ants, worm bin composting, worm casting tea, worm tea

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Categories Compost Tea Party

Compost tea results

16 Aug

I had mentioned in my previous post that positive indicator for my compost tea application was to rid a section of our hay patch of ants. The spot of concern has been infested for a few years with “town ants” or Texas leaf cutter ants. Town ant hills were sprinkled throughout a 20 yard X 20 yard area. The operative word being “were” because two weeks later the ant hills are vacant.

Beneficial microbes in compost tea are parasites to ants, fire ants, fleas, ticks, and chiggers. I had had success in my lawn in getting rid of some of these pests with compost tea, but never on this scale. This alone is encouragement enough for us to continue compost tea applications, and we’re looking forward to the next batch.

Tags: add beneficial microbes to your soil, buy red worms, chiggers, compost, compost tea, compost tea and pests, fertilizing hay fields with compost tea, fire ants, fleas and tick control, get rid of ants organically, getting rid of ants in your yard, houston red worms, natural pest control, organic fertilizer, organic gardening, organic pest control, red wigglers, red worm bin, red worm farming, red worms, red worms for sale in texas, san antonio red worms, texas red worms, town ants, turning 500 gallon spray rig into compost tea maker, worm bin composting, worm casting tea, worm tea

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Categories Compost Tea Party

Compost Tea Party part 3

11 Aug

We ended up with two batches. In both we used @80 lbs of finished compost (40lbs in each of 2 mesh laundry bags that we purchased for $1.87 at Wal-Mart). Both batches we used 500 gallons of well water, and aerated with our 1600 gallon rated Aquascape 4 pond aerator. Where we tinkered a little was on the food source (molasses + brown sugar) and brewing time. 1st batch we used two jars of unsulphured molasses and 1 lb of brown sugar and 24 hours of brewing time. The color was light brown and the smell was pretty much neutral with a hint of earthiness to it. Batch #2 was brewed for 36 hours and was fed 4 jars of molasses and 1 lb of brown sugar. The smell on batch #2 was the same faint earthy tone with a hint of sweetness from the molasses. The color was a shade darker brown than batch #1.

One thing we will be judging the success of the compost tea application on is in the reduction of ant hills. We don’t have a big fire ant problem, but one hay patch has several ant hills in an area. Adding beneficial microbes began for me as a way to control fire ants, grubs, and other pests in my yard, and have had some terrific results. We’ll keep you posted.

Tags: add beneficial microbes to your soil, buy red worms, compost, compost tea, fertilizing hay fields with compost tea, houston red worms, make your own compost tea, organic fertilizer, organic gardening, red wigglers, red worm bin, san antonio red worms, turning 500 gallon spray rig into compost tea maker, worm casting tea, worm tea

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Categories Compost Tea Party

500 gallon Compost Tea Party part 2

27 Jul

Let the Compost Tea Party begin. The holes in our mesh bags were too large, and we were concerned that our sprayer might get clogged. We grabbed some old panty hose and stuffed our bags into them.

We brewed up our first batch for about 24 hours. It had a nice weak tea color and had a hint of earthy smell. (I pulled out my old Sears microscope that I got for Christmas in ’85, but figured X600 would not be quite powerful enough to see any microbes.) The first batch went well and was applied at a rate of 15 gallons per acre.

The next batch that is brewing right now. This batch will brew for 36 hours.

Tags: add beneficial microbes to your soil, buy red worms, compost, compost tea, houston red worms, make your own compost tea, organic fertilizer, organic gardening, red wigglers, red worm bin, red worm farming, red worms, san antonio red worms, worm casting tea, worm tea

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Categories Compost Tea Party

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