Winter is the time of year when many raising red worms will find it difficult.

They find their worms are dying off.

This can easily be avoided if you take precautions when raising your red worms.

Seasonal changes affect the way one raises their red worms. When winter arrives we concentrate on keeping our red worms warm. It is much easier when raising red worms to keep a worm bin warm than trying to keep it cool enough during the warmer months.

Raising red worms and transitioning from winter to spring can be relatively simple if you approach it properly. Here are some tips to help you make that transition:

Make sure your worm bin does not have too much moisture. Moisture and heat do not mix when it comes to keeping a worm bin. A soil moisture meter can be purchased at most hardware, home improvement and even discount stores this time of year. A good year round moisture percentage to maintain is 60% to 70%.

Add less green items and more brown items to reduce the heat in your worm bin. Brown (carbon) products consist of shredded newspaper and cardboard for one. These products will not generate nearly as much heat within your worm bin as green products do.

Avoid certain vegetables. As we start to transition from winter to spring avoid melons and vegetables such as cucumbers for a while.

These tips will save you and your worms some grief as the warmer months start to approach.

Please Note: This post was contributed by one of my sponsors, Rainbow Worms. For additional information on raising red worms, connect with Rainbow Worms on Facebook, Twitter or subscribe to their blog.

Image courtesy of Vancour on Flickr

Transitioning from Winter to Spring Worm Composting from Urban Organic Gardener

One of my most favoritest sites, Earth911, had a post titled Charlotte Airport to Start Worm Composting.

They post said:

The airport plans to open a new $1.1 million recycling center in February with a worm-based composting system that can handle up to two tons of waste per day, the Charlotte Observer reported.

This is such a dope idea. The airport will be using the compost generated on their facility. Whatever is left, they will be packaging and selling it.

It would be great if other facilities around the country took on similar projects.

What’s your thoughts on the composting program and have you seen any others similar to it?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN_i5aewudk

Photo courtesy of Vancour on Flickr.

Charlotte Airport to Open Recycling Center With Composting System from Urban Organic Gardener

When you are growing in containers, you need to make sure that you amend your soil because the nutrients are being washed through the container or absorbed by the plant.

One way that you can amend the soil is by adding compost to it.

To use the compost, you’ll want to add some to the container especially around the base of the plant. Then you’ll need to water it in. This will allow the compost to make it’s way into the container and into the plants.

A sign that your plant is lacking nourishment is when the leaves begin to yellow. Ideally you don’t want it to get to that point though.

Once the plant is established in your container for a few weeks, you might want to add some compost to feed it and gauge it from there.

What are some other ways to feed and nourish your plants?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uW1YNQBr4ko

Using Compost in Your Container Garden from Urban Organic Gardener

Since I’ve shown you what it’s like feeding my worms, they have gone a mating spree.

They have been reproducing like crazy. I assume that this means that they are really comfortable with their environment.

Not sure that my words could do much justice for how many there are, so hopefully this video can:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UU9X8RGSL6U

Worms Reproducing Like Crazy and Getting Busy from Urban Organic Gardener

Wanted to give a glimpse into what it’s like feeding my worms.

Since I’m using a Worm Factory 360, I needed to start a new tray. Here’s what I did:

• Added some blended food scraps to the bottom.
• Covered them with some browned fallen leaves.
• Topped that with shredded newspaper that I sprayed down with a water bottle.
• Covered everything with a sheet of newspaper that I sprayed down as well.

It’s quick and easy. Here’s a video to see what it’s like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7xCkWDXM8A

What It’s Like Feeding My Worms from Urban Organic Gardener

Now that I’ve remembered to amend the soil in my container garden, I’m going to be running a side-by-side test of soil amendments.

Here is the test that I’m going to run. I have two cucumber containers on my balcony garden. In one of them, I have amended the soil with straight compost. The other container I have watered with the cow manure tea that I brewed up.

The plant that I used the cow manure tea already started out slightly smaller than the other, but I want to test and see if the manure tea help to promote better growth.

I’ll monitor progress and report back in a few weeks. Which do you think will yield better results?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRvZ_KKVKlY

Testing Soil Amendments: Manure Tea vs Compost from Urban Organic Gardener

I am making cow manure tea to use as a soil amendment in my container garden.

I’m brewing cow manure tea from Authentic Haven Brand.

The brewing process will take 1-3 days to complete. You’ll need the following:

• One five-gallon container filled with water
• Bag of cow manure tea bag
• Towel or cloth to keep the bugs out

You just need to drop the tea bag into the bucket of water and let it steep for 1-3 days until it looks golden brown. Put a cloth over the top of it if you are keeping it outside to keep the bugs out.

For more complete instructions on how to make manure tea check out ManureTea.com.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEqI2VL8w3o

How to Make Cow Manure Tea from Urban Organic Gardener

I’m using the worm leachate that was produced by the Worm Factory 360 in my garden. The leachate was mixed up with 3 parts water and put into a spray bottle and the plants were sprayed down.

Since my kale leaves are yellowing, aphids have infested my purple kale and cabbage worms wiped out the oak greens, I’m hoping that this will help to help both fertilize the plants and to keep the the insects away.

The leachate is produced by all of the excess moisture that the worm bin has been drained out of the worm bin. This is different than compost tea, which is made from brewing up finished compost with water.

I’ve heard that leachate isn’t as desirable to use in your garden as worm tea because some of the matter in it might not be fully broken down and in a toxic state. I know I’m crazy and still decided to give it a try and sprayed some on my plants. What’s the worst that’s going to happen?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5p_dV1qwOX0

Using Worm Leachate In The Garden from Urban Organic Gardener