frost check on wormeries

**zazen999** · 24-10-2010, 06:23 PM

Nothing wrong with thinking of worms as pets - I tell people that all the time.

I put a load of shredded paper in mine a few weeks back thinking it was time to give them somewhere warm in the middle to curl up and they've munched the lot.

I only got mine in August but I've got 3 trays totally full of compost for the spring; I will start them on try 4 in March. I popped all today's peelings in there today to give them something to chew on over the winter.

The wormery will come into the greenhouse soon, once I've moved stuff round; under the bench so that the frosts will not be able to get them.

Mr Z has come to love them - bearing in mind he wanted the wormery out the back out of the way he checks them over more than I do!

I also emptied out the wee; as in a fortnight it had completely filled up again, so the peppers will get one last feed before the year is out.

**Two_Sheds** · 25-10-2010, 10:33 AM

Originally posted by bazzaboy View Post

People ask me why I bother with a wormery, it's a fair enough question

We have one at school, along with 2 dalek composters. tbh, the wormery is more trouble than it's worth, and there seem to be many more worms in the daleks

**selfraising** · 25-10-2010, 11:27 AM

I have a wheelie bin style wormery and have put a foam jacket round mine to keep the temperature up a bit. Apart from the compost and worm 'tea', I like it because it means I can put cooked waste in there without having to worry about attracting rats.

**Flytrap** · 25-10-2010, 12:29 PM

Have had my Worm Cafe for only about 7 weeks so far.
I keep mine in the garage so hopefully will be safe from frost. The boiler is in there too so should also have a bit more heat. I have a digital thermometer sat on the top and the lowest it's got so far was about 8.6 deg C, one night when it was below freezing outside.
All going well, although they don't eat that much really. It did start to smell a bit funny a week or so back, so I added some shredded cardboard and stopped feeding for a week and all is back to normal now, just the normal earthy smell.
I love checking on the worms (which I do every day or two) but don't like the other bugs much. Had millions of red mites but they seem to have died down now. Still have millions of little creamy/white mites but they don't run fast like the red ones did.
Have seen lots of baby worms recently and also worm eggs (or whatever they are called). Absolutely facinating. I treat them as pets and don't really care if they produce much compost or liquid fertilizer. I keep them for the interest value and it makes me happy to see them healthy and reproducing.

**buzzingtalk** · 27-10-2010, 01:58 PM

I can imagine myself getting right into it if I got a wormery. I'd love one too, but no room

They sound awesome!

**wormcity** · 27-10-2010, 11:01 PM

We get a lot of phonecalls about this - overwintering a wormery.

There is another little tip that actually kept ours from freezing over last year....

We had our wormery out on the patio - uncovered throughout last years snow and frosts - just to see how well it faired in the extreme weather, we added stale bread, pizza crusts and left over cake.
when this type of food starts to compost down - it creates heat

We actually found that as it was added in the middle of the wormery - the outside edge froze solid, but where the cereal based food was - never ever froze....

the worms were all huddled in little balls in the middle - but survived because of the warmth - cushioned between a few slices of bread !

Ronnie

**zazen999** · 27-10-2010, 11:19 PM

Originally posted by buzzingtalk View Post

I can imagine myself getting right into it if I got a wormery. I'd love one too, but no room

They sound awesome!

2ft square on a balcony or patio?

**zazen999** · 27-10-2010, 11:21 PM

Originally posted by wormcity View Post

We get a lot of phonecalls about this - overwintering a wormery.

There is another little tip that actually kept ours from freezing over last year....

We had our wormery out on the patio - uncovered throughout last years snow and frosts - just to see how well it faired in the extreme weather, we added stale bread, pizza crusts and left over cake.
when this type of food starts to compost down - it creates heat

We actually found that as it was added in the middle of the wormery - the outside edge froze solid, but where the cereal based food was - never ever froze....

the worms were all huddled in little balls in the middle - but survived because of the warmth - cushioned between a few slices of bread !

Ronnie

Thanks for the tip - no idea where to get stale bread, pizza crusts or [the horror the horror] left over cake from...but if it works then I'd make some up myself for the little darlings.

**Two_Sheds** · 28-10-2010, 07:43 AM

Originally posted by zazen999 View Post

no idea where to get stale bread, pizza crusts or [the horror the horror] left over cake from..

You can get some from the end of my road: there's an old dear there who throws it on her garage roof for the seagulls (the noise!)

**zazen999** · 28-10-2010, 07:48 AM

Originally posted by Two_Sheds View Post

You can get some from the end of my road: there's an old dear there who throws it on her garage roof for the seagulls (the noise!)

I'm on my way

**Alison** · 28-10-2010, 01:22 PM

I don't find they're a hassle at all and have given up giving them any winter protection as they don't seem to need it where I keep mine - in a sheltered area next to the back door. It was out as normal all last winter in the bad snow and ice and although the worms slowed right down they started up just fine as the weather warmed up so no problems. Used to put it in the greenhouse but never seem to find the room now

**wormcity** · 28-10-2010, 02:18 PM

Thats right - as long as they are sheltered that is usually enough.

Worms live quite happily in the wild without blankets !

Ronnie

**arpoet** · 28-10-2010, 06:07 PM

Although i admire the super duper bought wormeries, i though i would share mine with you. It is made from stainless steel and started off as an expencive Ham boiler back in the 1970s. It was big enough to slowly boil 4 full hams overnight so we could sell the freshest ham in the morning.
In the 80s it was made reduntant so i took it home and used it for brewing beer for a few years until the element burnt out.
It then became a water butt in my back garden.

A few years ago i experimented with it for making liquid compost then decided to use it as a wormery.

I placed about 5 inch of large gravel in the base then topped it up with kitchen scraps, etc. I added a cup full of red worms from the compost heap down the lottie and away it went.
Being a slow boiler its insulated between the inner and outer walls, so frost is not much of a problem, nor is hot sun, although it is part shaded in my drive where i keep it.
I turn it every few weeks and its full of worms and does not smell. Every now and agin i tap of some of the juice into plastic milk cartons, and pour the liquid into my water butts in the spring and summer.
When its dry the liquid is much thicker than when it rains. I keep the top on loose to allow air in and an old potato sack on the top of the compost to keep it cozy.
In the spring i will use the compost and saving a few worms, start again.

as you can see, its ready for turning again

Its not as hard as you think nor does it take up much space.
Roger

**Two_Sheds** · 28-10-2010, 07:18 PM

Roger, that is a terrific use of a useful piece of kit

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