Expert Advice

My worm farm has been overtaken by flies and tiny bugs!

Sun, 26 Jun 2011 23:05:00 GMT

The most effective way to rid your worm farm of undesirable creepy crawlies is to add a sprinkle of dolomite a couple of times a week. We have our Worm Farm & Compost Conditioner, which will balance the PH levels in your worm farm; effectively making the environment ideal for your worms and uncomfortable for any other organisms. You can purchase this through your local Bunnings Warehouse.

I recommend doing the following if you have an insect infestation:
Get a small hand fork, and dig and ‘fluff’ up (aerate) the top feeding tray.
Sprinkle on a couple of teaspoons of Dolomite Lime (“Compost & Worm Farm Conditioner).
Get into the practice of adding a few handfuls of good soil on top of the food scraps every time you feed your worms.
Ensure that you have a ‘worm blanket’ on the surface of the feeding tray at all times.

I hope this helps.

HELP! my worms seem to "committing suicide" by working their way to the juice reservoir and drowning.

Sun, 26 Jun 2011 23:02:00 GMT

It is not unusual that worms fall or travel down into the collector tray at times. The Worm Café is designed with a refuge island in the base tray to assist with the worms finding their way back up to the working tray.

We suggest that you keep the tray open at all times to properly drain the unit and avoid any possible drowning.

Worms are known as 'explorers', therefore if they are not hungry they may simply be having a look around the collector tray. It is a possibility that the worms will travel down into the collector tray to simply look around their environment. If they are not readily finding their way back up to the working tray, you could place either a brick or an upside down empty ice cream tub in the middle of the collector tray to enable them to travel back up.

Alternatively, if there is a piece of non preferred food that has found its way into the unit, the worms may be travelling away from this or any other organisms this may have attracted.

During the cooler weather the worms will lose their appetite, therefore it may be that you are feeding them more than they can digest. This can be fixed by not adding any scraps to your worm farm for 1-2 weeks and monitoring whether the worms make their way up to the working tray in their search for food.

HELP My Worm Farm has ants an smells bad

Sun, 26 Jun 2011 22:42:00 GMT

We recently had a question from Garry who had to move is worm farm and now has flies and ants, and it smells bad. Garry has plenty of worm action and lots of micro bugs etc. Can he rejuvenate his worm farm to its former glory?

Flies, ants and a bad smell indicate that your worms are overfed. The excess food has become anaerobic, which means there is not enough oxygen.

The good news is you can easily rejuvenate your worm farm to its ‘former glory’!

The ‘flies’ you mentioned are most likely ‘vinegar flies’. These small flies are attracted to gases given off by anaerobic microbes. To get rid of them, I suggest you:

Use a small hand fork to dig and ‘fluff’ up – or aerate – the top feeding tray
Sprinkle a couple of teaspoons of Worm Farm & Compost Conditioner on top of the food scraps
Add a few handfuls of good soil on top of the food scraps every time you feed your worms
Ensure you have a worm blanket on the surface of the feeding tray at all times
Pour several litres of water through your worm farm every week – but before you do, install a bucket under the tap on the bottom tray. Open the tap and keep it open all the time to collect any worm ‘tea’ that drips out.

To encourage the ants to leave your worm farm, simply disturb the area they are in by digging it up, then sprinkle on some extra Worm Farm & Compost Conditioner

Worm Regards

Pete Rutherford

How do i use my Worm Castings?

Sun, 28 Nov 2010 23:12:00 GMT

I always keep the lowest working tray as the worms’ ‘home’ and use the tray above to fill with food scraps and soil. By the time this upper tray is full (after a few months), most of the worms have moved into it. At this point, I remove the lower tray, empty it of castings then hose it out and rotate it to the top of the worm farm. Then I start again, by adding food and soil to the clean top tray.

When it comes to feeding your garden, place small amounts of castings on planted areas or mix castings with water in a bucket then pour it around the plants. Always cover the castings with mulch.

The most important rule is to use less castings around your younger plants and more around the established plants.

All the best with your worms and garden.

Can I combine garden weeds with kitchen scraps in my Worm Cafe?

Tue, 02 Nov 2010 22:44:00 GMT

The short answer is Yes, but there are some issues to consider before you do!

Fresh, soft, green, leafy weeds (also called ‘wild herbs’) are higher in protein/nitrogen and are more like your kitchen scraps, so the worms will like these.

Make sure the VOLUME of weeds/wild herbs you put in is LESS than the volume of kitchen scraps you put in.

Still continue to add a few handfuls of nice soil on top of the kitchen scraps and also on top of the soft green weeds/wild herbs you put in. Worms need the soil ‘grit’ to put into their ‘Gizzard’ to grind their food. (Remember – Worms do not have teeth!)

Old dry, woody weeds with seeds on them are best NOT put into your worm farm. It is best to compost these or give them to your chooks, or if you cannot do that then put them into your local garden waste recycling system.

Add a little sprinkle (half teaspoon) of ‘Worm Farm and Compost Conditioner’, every week or two, to allow the worms to keep the pH in good balance.

Remember if you get any ANAEROBIC (bad smelling) gases coming from your worm farm then you are most likely OVERFEEDING your worms. Stop feeding them for a week or so. Dig gently and mix up the top layer of the feeding tray. This will help with aeration.

Please let me know if you encounter any problems, with any particular types of ‘weeds/wild herbs’. We can then let other people know.

Thanks for taking good care of your worms and for caring for our earth!

Eco Logos ( Ecology = I will take care of everywhere I go!)

Worm Regards

Pete Rutherford

Can I Put Bokashi Scraps in my Worm Farm?

Tue, 19 Oct 2010 04:51:00 GMT

We have recently received some good questions about the Bokashi Bucket scraps. I have trialled and managed a Bokashi Bucket, but we composted the contents in Tumbleweed 220L Compost Bin's. This went well, our compost bins do have a lot of worms in them so I am making an assumption that the Bokashi scraps will be fine in the worm farm. My main question to consider though, and I would like you feedback when you try this, is that the Bokashi pH is probably quite acidic, which worms don't like too much, so I would definitely be adding a good sprinkling of the Tumbleweed Worm Farm and Compost Conditioner,to the worm farm when you add the Bokashi scraps. We always add a regular small amount of 'Conditioner' into both our worm farms and compost bins at the Eco House and Garden Education Centre.

So my short answer is yes I think that the Bokashi scraps could be added into a working worm farm. Make sure you add a sprinkling of 'Worm Farm and Compost Conditioner' in with the Bokashi contents to help balance the pH.

The Toothless Worm

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 06:18:00 GMT

We recently had a question about the reason for sprinkling a hand full of soil into the worm farm with the food scraps.

So here's the answer, worms have a 'gizzard' in their neck, like birds. Worms & birds do not have teeth.

The soil added into worm farms is to ensure that the worms can get sufficient 'grit', sand and other soil particles to put into their gizzard with their food, to grind it before it goes into their stomach.

What can I do with the castings and worm tea?

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 23:53:00 GMT

Castings – or worm poo - are great for plants in your garden or in pots.

Before you plant, dig small amounts of castings around the drip line of your fruit trees, or in your veggie garden beds and pots.

Drain the worm juice from your worm farm every week and dilute it 1 part worm juice to 10 parts water, then pour it around the base of your fruit, vege and flower plants – now, watch them come to life over the coming months!

How can I take care of my worms this Spring?

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 23:51:00 GMT

The great news is that worms love spring – its not too cold or too hot – in fact it’s the perfect season!

As it gets warmer, the first thing they’re going to do is become more active. They’ll want to eat more which means they’ll produce more castings for your garden – and that’s just as well because rich worm tea is what your garden needs right now to get the fruit and veges flourishing!

To get the most from your composting worms, increase the amount and variety of scraps you add to your worm farm and add some extra Worm Conditioner to boost the nutritional value. Water the farm every week – that way you’ll produce the worm tea your garden needs!

If you’ve moved your worm farm to a sunny spot for the winter, now is the time to move it back into the shade – a worm farm will warm up quickly in the sun and your worms will suffer – they enjoy an environment that’s around 18-25 deg C.

Finally, check the condition of your worm blanket – with warm dry weather just around the corner, a good blanket will help keep the moisture in.

How should I prepare my compost for Spring?

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 23:48:00 GMT

Spring is a wonderful time to use the compost that you’ve been preparing through the year, but first of all you need to make sure it’s ready to go.

The first thing to do is start a new compost heap – that way you’ll leave the existing one to mature! Then get out your ‘Compost Mate’ spiral-mixing tool and mix the old one every week – that will speed up decomposition.

As the days warm up, the microbes and worms in your compost will become more active, so they’ll need some extra nutrition. Add some extra ‘Compost Conditioner’ and a few handfuls of chicken or cow manure each week.

It’s also important to protect your compost from drying heat. Cover it up with a Tumbleweed circular Can-O-Worms blanket, a hessian sack or an old woollen jumper.

How do I know when my compost is ready?

Your compost will be ready when it’s a rich dark colour and the organic matter is completely broken down. You’ll notice it has a beautiful earthy smell.

Use your Compost Mate to pull the most mature compost from the bottom of the pile then spread it over your garden beds and dig it in. Now its ready to plant!

PS… If you don’t have a ‘Compost Mate’ already, I suggest you get one! They are ‘the best thing since sliced bread’, for mixing, aerating, and speeding-up your compost!

Why are small flies living in my compost tumbler?

Thu, 03 Jun 2010 07:04:00 GMT

Those small flies are called vinegar flies or Drosophila melanogaster and they indicate that there is not enough oxygen in your organic waste for aerobic decomposition.

When your organic waste doesn’t have the oxygen it needs to decompose effectively, microbes called anaerobes become active and multiply. They give off gasses that attract Vinegar flies.

How can I get rid of them?

You need to get more oxygen into your compost to encourage aerobic decomposition of the organic waste.

Rotate your tumbler every day.

Aerate the waste by mixing equal volumes of carbon material (fine woody mulches, and small twiggy leaf litter), with richer nitrogen/protein materials (food scraps, manures, fresh grass clippings).

The contents of your tumbler may have become too acidic. Sprinkle a good dusting of Tumbleweed Worm Farm and Compost Conditioner into the tumbler every two or three weeks. Being alkaline, the conditioner will help maintain the correct pH and minimise anaerobic activity.

Regularly empty the mixed ingredients from your tumbler and allow it to ‘mature’ in a compost bin on the ground.

Happy Tumbling!

Can I add Bread to my Compost?

Sun, 02 May 2010 22:16:00 GMT

Yes you can add bread to your compost but please note:

Bread is very attractive to rodents, so it is essential to put a 'rodent exclusion' system at the base of your compost bins.

Get a flat piece of galvanised tin sheeting and cut a circular piece with a diameter larger than the base of your compost bin. Drill 40 or 50 holes in the tin sheet so that water can drain out and worms can come into the heap from the soil. Aeration is a key to good composting. Also try and break the pieces of waste bread up into small pieces so they decompose more quickly.

Remember "Variety is the Spice of Life" so ensure that you are putting in lots of other different organic matter in with the bread waste. Happy Composting. Pete rutherford

Keep your worms warm this winter!

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 00:27:00 GMT

Composting earthworms, our ‘soil-making’ friends, are cold blooded. That means the temperature of their environment affects their body temperature.

Ideally you need to keep their bedding at around 18-25 deg C. If it drops below that, your worms will cool down, then slow down and eat less food.

It’s easy to keep your worms warm and comfortable during winter by managing their environment.

Here’s what to do…

Move your worm farm to a sheltered spot to avoid drafts. If possible, find a position that captures morning sun…. consider a closed-in veranda, garage, cellar – even under or inside your house.

Make sure the ‘bedding tray’ is full – that’s the one that holds your compost/rich soil under the feeding tray. You could even add an extra tray of ‘bedding’ because these trays help keep out the cold and maintain a more even temperature.

Use at least one ‘worm blanket’ on the surface of your feeding tray then place a blanket or bags or something similar that ‘breathes’, over the top of the entire worm farm.

When doing your weekly worm farm flush, use warm water (20-25deg C) - but NEVER HOT!

In very cold climates where freezing occurs, some people dig a hole in the ground, and place the entire worm farm into the hole. Then they cover the surface with a layer of straw or dry leaves that is at least 200mm thick. Luckily, in Australia there are very few of us who need to resort to these measures!

As you can see, it’s pretty easy to keep your worms warm in the winter – and in doing so, keep them active and producing rich worm tea!

Pet Poo

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 02:17:00 GMT

Thanks for your question David, I’m often asked whether it’s a good idea to put pet poo into a worm farm.

I recommend that you don’t!

There are two main reasons

1. There are diseases in pet poo that can transfer to humans. So, if you put pet poo in your worm farm and the poo does not completely mix and process, those diseases will be held in the worm castings. When you use the worm castings to feed your fruit trees or vegetable plantings, the pet poo diseases will transfer via the soil into your plants. Then, when you eat the fruit or vegies, you could contract the disease…Although the risk is slight, its well worth avoiding!

2. Composting worms like to eat organic scraps like lettuce leaves, melons, carrot and pumpkin, etc. If your worms are already being fed plenty of food scraps they will probably leave the pet poo to slowly decompose on its own.

So, what can you do with your pet poo?

Put the pet poo into a well mixed and well managed compost system or bury it in a hole in the ground at the drip-line of European tree species – but please don’t bury pet poo near Australian Natives which are sensitive to the extra phosphorous that the poo contains.

A quick hello from Pete

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 08:46:00 GMT

Hello my organic gardening, composting and worm loving friends,

My name is Pete Rutherford and I’m very excited to welcome you to Pete’s Corner. My aim is to share and explore with you the wonderful world of worms, compost, living soils, and our own health, happiness and vitality.

I live in Sydney on the northern beaches with my amazing wife Ali. We grow quite a lot of our own food and we’re trying to live more simply, more slowly, and more lovingly.

Here on the Northern Beaches, I’m lucky enough to be a teacher of what I love most – organic gardening and all aspects of sustainable living. I feel blessed that this work allows me to connect more and more closely to my family, my community and my ‘mother’ - earth.

My passion for organic gardening and sustainable living developed when as a chemical farmer, I experienced the destruction and devastation that this crazy farming causes - including the death of my dad, Toby Rutherford, by cancer. I think the mass of chemicals he ‘bathed’ himself in led to his early death.

Not surprisingly, I left chemical farming after dad died to retrain in organic farming. Over 20 years I’ve studied Rudolf Steiner’s amazing work in ‘Biodynamics’, as well as Bill Mollison’s and David Holmgren’s work on Permaculture. I’ve also researched the prophetic Japanese farmer Masanobu Fukuoka and many other incredible human beings who shine a light on a more sane and respectful way of living and growing food.

I invite you to walk this path with me, as we learn together how to create the type of world we all dream of, and long for, in our ‘heart of hearts’.

Yours Ecologically

Pete Rutherford.