To my mind composting and city gardens never seem to sit well in the same sentence. You alway imagine the compost hidden somewhere at the bottom of the garden, but there isn't a bottom to mine - it is simply too small to host the heap... and besides the smell and sight of this growing mound is the concern that Crack Fox and his friends might like to have a midnight rummage through my pile of peelings and egg shells. No thanks.
But there is an answer... a worm café. I am getting mine from Wiggly Wigglers. It isn't bad on the eye, and with some TLC will provide compost and 'worm tea' for life. Apparently the water from your kitchen waste percolates through the various levels to produce a liquid fertiliser. It is not cheap mind: £106 for the complete kit, with worms - yes, they send you 500 grams (approx. 1000) live native composting worms. But then you have free liquid feed for life and the satisfaction of knowing you have done your bit to help our precious planet. There are some helpful videos on the wiggly wigglers site, not to mention great feedback from people who have bought it.
It may be worth considering purchasing some DE (diatomaceous earth) while you are at it. DE is the fossilised remains of millions of microscopic unicellular plants (diatoms) that live in lakes and seas. The powder, sprinkled finely over peelings or what have you, will help control any fly problems you have with your wormery. It is not at all harmful to the worms. There are other uses for DE too - you can mix it with your compost to improve its moisture retention.
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good luck with this - i tried a wormery from original organics:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.originalorganics.co.uk/wormeries.htm
2 lessons learned:
1) don't overfill, otherwise there is too much food for the worms to eat and the excess starts to rot and ferment. this leads to insect infestations and a very bad smell. hence . . .
2) don't keep the wormery indoors. i had mine in the kitchen. never again :(
not too sure about the liquid feed, mine always seemed quite rancid - but i did produce one small bagful of amazing compost after about a year!
Thanks for the tips! And for being the first brave soul to post a comment on my blog - I shall print it up and frame it. Seriously!
ReplyDeleteHaving only just managed to persuade my husband (after 4 years of pleading) to get a dog, I was certain that the 1000 native worms would be too much to house in the kitchen, although in truth the idea did not appeal. So out they shall go into the garden.
I shall also try not to overfeed - that is just the thing I would do, loving cooking and all - I did overfeed my husband the first year of our marriage, so no three course meals, promise.
Looking forward to its arrival - even the rancid tea... It's just coming up with 1000 names that's taking ages though...