Posts Tagged: vermicomposting
May Gardening Classes at Stanislaus County Libraries
The UCCE Stanislaus County Master Gardener Class Schedule for May, 2022 of classes being...
The Red Wiggler - A Composting Powerhouse
Worms. I think you either love them or detest the wiggly little guys. I fall into the former...
Turn food and garden waste into rich fertilizer with worms
UC Master Gardeners in Stanislaus County presented an all-natural, sustainable solution to disposing garden and food waste during a session for the community on worm composting, reported John Holland in the Modesto Bee.
All it takes is an 18-inch deep bin, equipped for drainage, and a supply of red worms. Provide the worms a substrate that contains a mix of high carbon materials - like shredded paper, dry leaves or sawdust - and kitchen scraps - such as fruit and vegetable cores and peels, leftover grains and coffee grounds. A few months later, the worms will have transformed the contents into a rich organic fertilizer ready to be applied to garden plants.
"It's a great fertilizer," said UC Master Gardener Dennis Lee. "It's very inexpensive for you to produce. You can do it indoors. There's very little odor - actually, no odor.
Learn more:
Orange County UC Master Gardeners created a video series on worm composting
Vermicomposting - Composting with Worms, from San Joaquin County Master Gardeners
Does This Perk You Up?
Advice from the Help Desk of the
UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County
Generally, used appropriately, coffee grounds can be beneficial to your garden. And if you search the internet you can find lots of information on their use. As in all things “internet”, the question is “what is appropriate”.
The Master Gardener program attempts to provide the gardener with scientifically based advice on gardening. The use of coffee grounds is no exception. Recently, Washington State University's Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott (Extension Urban Horticulturist and Associate Professor, Puyallup Research and Extension Center, Washington State University) updated her earlier 2009 review of gardening use of coffee grounds with the publishing of her latest review of the scientific literature: “Use Of Coffee Grounds In Gardens And Landscapes” (http://cru.cahe.wsu.edu/CEPublications/FS207E/FS207E.pdf). This latest review has been peer-reviewed.
While it is strongly recommended that you read for yourself the short 6-page paper, below are the edited excerpts from her findings:
Action list for using coffee grounds in compost
- Use no more than 20 percent by volume of coffee grounds in a compost pile. A diverse feedstock will ensure a healthy diversity of microorganisms.
- Don't assume coffee grounds will make an acidic compost; pH levels will change over time.
- Be sure to allow coffee grounds to cool before adding them to your compost; heat can kill your beneficial microbes.
- Avoid adding coffee grounds to vermicomposting bins; they can injure or kill earthworms in these confined areas.
- Understand that disease suppression from nonpathogenic organisms found in decomposing coffee grounds has only been demonstrated under controlled conditions on a handful of crops, including bean, melon, spinach, and tomato. Their efficacy in gardens and landscapes is unknown.
Action list for using coffee grounds directly as a mulch
- Apply a thin layer (no more than half an inch) of coffee grounds. Cover with a thicker layer (four inches) of coarse organic mulch like wood chips. This will protect the coffee grounds from compaction.
- Don't apply thick layers of coffee grounds as a standalone mulch. Because they are finely textured and easily compacted, coffee grounds can interfere with moisture and air movement in soils.
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BLOG editor's addendum: Most of the comments on Dr. Chalker-Scott's latest review center around “avoid adding coffee grounds to vermicomposting bins…” with more than a few anecdotal comments that it is common practice to use coffee grounds in compost bins. I think there is some clarification needed between compost bins and vermicompost bins… Her response so far is that she is reporting what is in the scientific literature. Vermicomposters should take special notice of this finding and manage their composting accordingly. You might search for further updates and discussion on Dr. Chalker-Scott's Facebook page “The Garden Professors”
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Help Desk of the UC Master Gardeners of Contra Costa County
Note: The UC Master Gardeners Program of Contra Costa's Help Desk is available year-round to answer your gardening questions. Except for a few holidays, we're open every week, Monday through Thursday for walk-ins from 9:00 am to Noon at 75 Santa Barbara Road, 2d Floor, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523. We can also be reached via telephone: (925) 646-6586, email: ccmg@ucanr.edu, or on the web at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/Ask_Us/ MGCC Blogs can be found at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/HortCoCo/ You can also subscribe to the Blog (//ucanr.edu/blogs/CCMGBlog/).
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Worms: A Confession
I have a confession to make…I love my worms. This relationship began years ago, when I thought it would be fun for my kids to get a pound of red wrigglers (Eisenia fetida) in the mail and begin learning about composting. Fourteen years later, I’m still going strong. I love my worms because they’re easy, odor-free, and need little attention. As long as the bedding remains moist, worms can survive for weeks without any fresh scraps. Worms are the ultimate recyclers, eating all my kitchen scraps and leaving “black gold” (a nutrient-rich compost), made in about 60 days. The worm castings are much higher in available nitrogen, phosphates, and potash than your average topsoil. Just this weekend, I used the castings to: top dress my houseplants; potting medium for transplanting; added to planting holes for young seedlings; and brewed some “compost tea” to use as a liquid fertilizer. Every time I water, organic fertilizer is delivered to the roots without any danger of over fertilizing or burning.
If you want to learn more about worm composting, I suggest reading, “Worms Eat My Garbage” by Mary Appelhof. This book is very informative and a great place to start learning about vermicomposting (worm composting). An Internet search on ‘red wrigglers for composting’ you will find many informative sites with will information ranging from where one can buy red wrigglers as well as instructions for building and maintaining a worm bin.
I can say with great confidence, if you give worm composting a try, you too, will develop a strange fondness for these amazing composters!