We sell red wiggler worms, working worm bins,
Worm Wine (TM) vermicompost tea, and vermicompost

It is great to see all the interest in green issues like urban chicken farming, vegetable gardening, vermicomposting, etc.  The recent "Peep at the Coops" here in Dallas, was a wonderful event with an amazing turnout!  For those of you who have hens, or are considering poultry, you might be wondering what to do with the "non-edible deposits"?  Never fear, the Mighty Red Wiggler Worm is here (to compost it into garden gold!).
Vermicomposting Poultry Litter

YES!  You can vermicompost chicken litter, with a few caveats and special considerations:

1. Hot compost original poultry litter and mix with at least a 3 to 1 mass of a carbon source first (75% newspaper, straw, leaves, shredded cardboard, etc.)

2. Find a location with nearly 100% shade, and well away from areas that might have any storm water run-off

3. Make a windrow, or simulate a windrow. Feed fresh manure (always wetted thoroughly and mixed with 3 to 1 carbon source) ahead of the last fresh manure, allowing worms to come to it as it cools and ammonia is released.

4. Always cover windrow, and fresh manure/carbon mix with several inches of a bedding source (leaves, straw, paper, shredded cardboard)

5. Poultry litter is very dry—make sure windrow is watered and moist (at least like a wrung out sponge).  Worms breathe through skin and need moist conditions for this.

6. Make sure you have enough worms for the job!

7. Call or email Texas Worm Ranch for special consulting and to purchase composting worms

The term vermicomposting had recently been coined to mean the use of earthworms
for composting organic residues. Earthworms can consume practically all kinds of organic matter and they can eat their own body weight per day; thus, for example, one pound of worms can consume one pound of residues every day. The castings of worms are rich in nitrate, available forms of phosphorus, potassium, calcium and magnesium.

The passage of soil through earthworms promotes bacterial and actinomycetes growth;actinomycetes thrive well in the presence of worms and their content in worm casts is over six times more than in the original soil.

1. You never have to turn a worm compost bin
2. Vermicompost is processed much faster than normal composting
3. Nutrient levels are denser than normal composting, plus microbe levels, plant acids and plant hormones are released from decaying plant materials and made readily available to benefit plantings
4. Worms use oxygen to decompose and there is no methane released and no smell if you are not grossly overfeeding worm beds

WHY USE VERMICOMPOST? (from Wikipedia)

Vermicompost is richer in many nutrients than compost produced by other composting methods. It is also rich in microbial life which helps convert nutrients already present in the soil into plant-available forms. Unlike other compost, worm castings also contain worm mucus which keeps nutrients from washing away with the first watering and holds moisture better than plain soil.

Soil Use of vermicompost:

• improves its physical structure;
• enriches soil with micro-organisms, adding plant hormones such as auxins and gibberellic acid, and adding enzymes such as phosphatase and cellulase; "microbial activity in worm castings is 10 to 20 times higher than in the soil and organic matter that the worm ingests" according to researcher Clive Edwards^];
• attracts deep-burrowing earthworms already present in the soil;
• improves water holding capacity;
• enhances germination, plant growth, and crop yield
• improves root growth and structure

  How I use Vermicompost: 

  • Where I put seeds in, I prep with a light coating of vermicompost .  For example--I make a 1 inch depression along a row to plant my bush beans and sprinkle vermicompost into that depression.  For lettuce, I lightly sprinkle vermicompost along the top, broadcast my seed, then lightly cover with garden soil.

   

 

• When I put transplants in (broccoli, cabbage, tomatoes, peppers, etc.), I sprinkle around the edge of the root zone, after planting

• To increase plant health of mature plants, I will sprinkle vermicompost around root zone

 

Varieties we have had success with: 

Heirloom:  Cherokee Purple (my favorite!), Yellow Pear, Tigerella, La Roma (waited to produce until fall, might wait to plant later in the season), Little Currant or Texas Wild Cherry Tomato

Hybrid:  444, Celebrity, Carnival, Sweet 100, Sungold

Heirloom vs. hybrid:  I love the taste and differences of heirlooms, but plant a few hybrids to reduce chance of disease failure.  "Modern hybrids are bred mostly for productivity and disease-resistance, taste is often overlooked. But in general, hybrids are easier to grow and less prone to failure. They are more productive than heirlooms and are very reliable crop bearers. Heirloom tomatoes are more unique in their flavor, color, size, and shape. Indeed, the unique characteristics of a particular heirloom variety cannot be duplicated, and that is something that many growers value. Also note that hybrids are a lot more popular, and they are the ones most commonly sold in your local stores. "

Determinant—produces all at once and is finished—Roma types,

Indeterminant—continues producing through the season (unless it gets too hot)

 

Soil Prep (from Howard Garrett):  Plant tomatoes in well-prepared soil with lots of compost, lava sand, rock phosphate, and organic fertilizer.

 

*Pre-planting Plant Prep:  pinch tomato branches at bottom of plant until you have a few branches at the top canopy.  Loosen roots from the soil ball.  Then soak root ball in Worm Wine, if you have it or at least in water.  The Worm Wine acts to combat issues the plant might have brought with it from the nursery and as a root stimulator.  The microbes attach to the roots and help the plant better uptake nutrients.  Also, if you simply put the plant in the ground, it’s cell “pores” are not open and able to uptake moisture/nutrients very well from there forward.

 

Planting:  tomatoes are one of the few plants you plant as deep as possible.  The little hairs on the stem will become roots and help you have a stronger plant “foundation”.

 

Top Dressing:  1)  I add a small handful of rock phosphate to reduce blossom end rot potential  2)  I add a handful of alfalfa meal as fertilizer in a ring around plant , being careful not too touch plant with it (it can burn) 3) I add a generous handful of vermicompost.  My vermicompost has crushed egg shell, which adds calcium, as well as other nutrients and beneficial microbes.

 

*Mulching:  I mulch around bare soil—be careful not to cover up the stem, or areas you might plant companion plant seeds.  Mulching means placing material over (not mixed in) the soil to protect the soil, roots, and beneficial microbes.  It also helps conserve moisture, and when the dew point is reached, nitrogen is released back to the roots of the plant.  Mulch provides cover for beneficial garden helpers like lizards and toads and beneficial insect larvae.  I use fall leaves or rotted straw as my mulch of choice.

*Watering:  Get to know your soil.  Use your hand spade to check ground 3-6 inches down.  Over-watering leads to fungal problems and blossom end rot, but tomatoes do not want to be dry.  Look for leaf roll, which can indicate too wet or too dry conditions

 

Fertlizing:  Fertilize at planting and not again until you see your first fruit on the plant.   Too much fertilizer can cause lots of beautiful foliage, but no fruit.  When you see the first baby tomato, foliar feed the leaves of the plant every 2 weeks with Worm Wine, Garret Juice, or other natural foliar feed.

 

Weather:  Wait for soil temps to be warm enough (Late March or First week of April in DFW).  A series of cloudy days can cause flowers to drop without fertilizing.  When temps get above mid 90s, bigger tomatoes will especially have trouble setting fruit.  If plant is healthy, and an indeterminate, it should revive in September for a fall harvest.

 

Companion planting:  www.ghorganics.com/page2.html

Marigolds: for nematodes

Basil:  Plant with tomatoes to improve growth and flavor. Basil also does well with peppers, oregano, asparagus and petunias. Basil can be helpful in repelling thrips. It is said to repel flies and mosquitoes.

Borage:  Companion plant for tomatoes, squash, strawberries and most plants. Deters tomato hornworms and cabbage worms. One of the best bee and wasp attracting plants. Adds trace minerals to the soil and a good addition the compost pile. The leaves contain vitamin C and are rich in calcium, potassium and mineral salts. Borage may benefit any plant it is growing next to via increasing resistance to pests and disease. It also makes a nice mulch for most plants. Borage and strawberries help each other and strawberry farmers always set a few plants in their beds to enhance the fruits flavor and yield. Plant near tomatoes to improve growth and disease resistance. After you have planned this annual once it will self seed. Borage flowers are edible.

Tomato Pests

http://www.kdcomm.net/~tomato/Tomato/Insect/insect.html

Insects:  Organic Controls

In Moderation:  Diatomaceous earth (can harm bee population).  Sprinkle DE in the evening and water down in the early morning to reduce beneficial insect harm.

Good Practice:  organic Insecticidal soap

Best practice:  Sanitation, health, proper spacing and support, companion planting, beneficial insects (ladybugs, lacewings), toads, lizards, geckos, parasitic nematodes to destroy larvae

• aphids
• thrips
• spider mites
• whiteflies
• leafhoppers
• stinkbugs
• leaf-footed bug
• Colorado potato beetle
• flea beetles

 

Moth/caterpillars

Best practices:  watch, remove, use trichogama wasps

If you see a Hornworm with white trichograma wasp larvae attached—leave nature be!

• tomato hornworm –Sphinx moth.  Watch for stripped leaves, big droppings and alien looking beast
• cutworm
• corn earworm
• army worm

nematodes

Best practice: French Marigold (T. patula) has roots that exude a substance which spreads in their immediate vicinity killing nematodes. For nematode control you want to plant dense areas of them. There have been some studies done that proved this nematode killing effect lasted for several years after the plants were These marigolds also help to deter whiteflies when planted around tomatoes and can be used in greenhouses for the same purpose. Whiteflies hate the smell of marigolds. Do not plant French marigolds next to bean plants.

• root-knot nematode
• sting nematode
• stubby-root nematode

Tomato Diseases:

Blossom End Rot, Wilt, Fungal Diseases, Blights

Avoid By:  Don’t over-water or stress plants, add rock phosphate at planting

Use Crop rotation, have enough Circulation, avoid splashing water from soil, reduce pests, keep up plant health, spacing/air circulation, avoid overwatering, foliar feed with Worm Compost Tea or Garret Juice (might add garlic to those teas, a natural antifungal agent)

 

Harvesting:  I pick tomatoes at the first hint of color on that fruit and put in a windowsill.  That way, your plant can focus energy on other production and no pests will get my tomato!  The tomato tastes the same, unless you put it in the refrigerator, then it loses that wonderful taste. 

*What to do with the plant when it is done/diseased:  While I hate to suggest the landfill, I believe tomatoes have too many diseases and issues and I do not like to put the plant in my compost, worried it might impact next year’s crop.   If you have separate, non-veggie garden compost, then you could put it in there for use in flower beds or landscaping use.

 

 

Worm Wine ™ Natural Vermicompost Tea with Molasses

Buy one for the everyday price of $7, get one half off! 

Prices good now through April 9^th.

For those of you wanting to get your yards, flower beds or vegetable gardens kicked into gear for spring naturally and safely, we have a deal for you!  Texas Worm Ranch brews to order an aerated worm compost tea that is full of natural plant hormones, acids and beneficial micro-organisms, along with necessary plant nutrients. 

 

Texas Worm Ranch Worm Wine™ has three natural ingredients:

1. Active worm compost:  enriches soil with micro-organisms, plant hormones and plant enzymes.  "Microbial activity in worm castings is 10 to 20 times higher than in the organic matter that the worm ingests”, according to researcher Clive Edwards^];
2. Harvested rainwater—chemicals in tap water would kill the beneficial micro-organisms
3. Horticultural molasses—helps feed and increase the number of beneficial micro-organisms while providing extra sulfur, potash, and many trace minerals.

 

The micro-organisms, plant hormones, and plant enzymes can’t be found in chemical fertilizers and benefit your grass, flowers, landscapes, and vegetables by helping them uptake the nutrients in Worm Wine ™ more readily.  Better still, all ingredients are recycled fruit and veggie scraps (some from Highlands Café), local horse stable waste, curbside leaves, newspapers, cardboard, and straw!  Even the gallon jugs are repurposed from your Lake Highlands neighbors.  Follow the lead of many of the Lake Highlands Community Gardeners, who use Worm Wine ™ to maintain their gardens safely and naturally.  Help your soil and plant health, attract beneficial deep-burrowing earthworms, provide nutrition for your soil and plants in a manner safe for you, kids and pets—try Worm Wine ™ this spring.

 

A few days before you want to use Worm Wine, Call or Email Heather Rinaldi at the Texas Worm Ranch:  214-340-2560 or rancher@txwormranch.com.  We will brew some just for you!

 

*Each gallon of Worm Wine can be used for 100 square feet of flower or vegetable garden, or 200 square feet of yard.  Use Worm Wine safely at full strength as a soil drench or as a foliar feeder for landscape, grass, vegetables or flowers diluted 50% in rainwater.  Use within 48 hours to maximize living beneficial organisms.

 

I have started to let the worms/microbes do a little more work, and me a little less.  That is working out great!  I approach everything from a vermi-gardener standpoint...so here is my take:

let me start by clearly identifying these terms (just to be clear):
1.  Worm Habitat--worms, stuff they live in, cocoons, bedding, food, any misc. creatures, etc.
2.  VC or vermicompost--broken down worm habitat, but still not fine crumbled castings--still teeming with microbes
3.  Castings--well processed worm poop that is declining in nutrient and microbe count--what you usually see for sale in enclosed bags with no oxygen to even keep any leftover microbes alive.

I look at these as nutrients for my garden like I think of bread--the worm habitat is unmixed, unprocessed ingredients that when mixed together and baked, make wholesome, whole grain bread.  The VC would be the finished, good for you, whole grain bread.  The castings are white, entirely processed, and no good for you "wonder" bread.

When the worm habitat is starting to break down, but before the time I would normally harvest for good VC (not castings), I do a quick turbo-light harvest of material. 
Turbo Light Harvest:  Remove top bedding to get to lower "working" layer of worms/worm habitat
1.  Dump bin contents, or as much as you want to harvest, onto a tarp, bin lid, shallow pan
2.  Place in strong sunlight or under a strong light
3.  Worms will "dive" deeper to avoid light
4.  About every 5 minutes, scrape worm habitat off along the top and sides until you are to the bottom--where all the red wigglers are!
5.  Place worms back in their bin with combination of fresh half decomposed organic compost, any large stuff from worm habitat that needs more processing, old bedding, and more bedding if needed.

Since things are not completely broken down yet, there is still adequate food for micro-organisms, any hatching cocoons I missed, and any worms I might have missed. 
I place this "worm habitat mix" in a shallow cardboard box with a small rind of melon or pumpkin up top and cover with a damp newspaper and shut the box (I just do a simple over/under with the lids).  I then forget about it for 2-3 weeks.  Voila!  I open box, see more red wigglers than you would ever imagine (around the rind of food), take the worms out and place back in a working worm bin, and check the readiness of the VC for use.  Most of the time it is about right at this point, if needed, I shut it back and let it "process" for another week or more--and usually find yet a few more worms!  At this point, my hope is that any cocoons have hatched, and any worms are too immature to have "laid" any more.

This process has greatly reduced my stress level and eye strain, as I am not nearly as stressed about finding every cocoon and teeny tiny baby worm in the VC (I was a little obsessed about that before--hate to see any living creature harmed).  I can quickly go through the mix and it doesn't take all that long.

Oh yeah, and since the cardboard box is too damp to use again, but is teeming with micro-organisms and already decomposing...I just tear it and the damp newspaper up and add to a worm bin at that point.  I am harvesting a lot more and working a lot less this way--and I think I am saving a load of worms.

As you can see, I don't think the castings are the best source for your garden or tea use, but this process is just the right mix--and you can keep on feeding your working worm bins without a problem.

We Sell Red Wiggler Worms, Pre-made Worm Bins and Texas Worm Ranch Worm Wine (TM). 
Please visit us at:  www.txwormranch.com


I was recently thinking about all the waste that the worm squirm here at Texas Worm Ranch has saved from the landfill this year.  We also have regular composting going on, and I send some stuff to the Community Garden composting when we are overloaded with goodies here.  Here's a quick rundown, all approximate, of what we have removed:

Family veggie and fruit scraps:  average of 5 lbs a day X 365 days= 1825 lbs
Halloween Pumpkins from us, friends, and picked up curbside;  at least 100 pumpkins of various sizes, avg size 6 lbs = 600 lbs

Worms eating Pumpkin Waste--photo credit Melanie O'Neill

Restaurant Scraps from local cafe:  75 lbs week (started in Sept.) =1200 lbs
Newspaper and Cardboard for bedding:  10 lbs/week= 520 lbs
Straw bales picked up curbside after Halloween=5 bales at 40 lbs=200 lbs
Bags of Leaves picked up on Curbside=40 bags X 20 lb average=800 lbs
Garden Waste= 100 lbs of plant trimmings=100 lbs

So, drumroll please,.....we are somewhere in the vicinity of having removed 5,245 lbs of waste from the City landfill.  That is over 2 1/2 tons of waste!  Also, you have to wonder how much fuel and how much pollution was saved from reducing capacity in the city dump trucks as they drove to and fro?

All this waste goes to awesome use as vermicompost and Worm WIne to fuel my gardens and my wonderful customers' gardens or for compost for the Texas Worm Ranch or the Lake Highlands Community Garden.

We Sell Red Wiggler Worms, Pre-made Worm Bins and Texas Worm Ranch Worm Wine (TM).  Please visit us at:  www.txwormranch.com

Organic Garlic is Here, Organic Garlic is Here!

 

Did you know garlic protects against vampires?  Our family has been eating at least two garlic bulbs a week for years, and no vampires have ever attacked us…. However, we don’t get invited to parties often, hmm? 

 

All jokes aside, our family DOES eat a lot of garlic.  Between our favorite Italian, Mexican, French, and Southwestern recipes—it seems we use garlic in nearly every nightly meal.  The average American consumer eats 3 lbs of garlic, I would guess our family doubles, if not triples that amount. 

 

So, I have made the decision to attempt to grow organic garlic.  You might be saying, “why would she fill up valuable garden space with a vegetable that is so inexpensive at the grocery store?”.  The reason has nothing to do with fear of Transylvanians, but with concern with food coming from China.  The Chinese have been shipping (both legally and illegally) garlic into the U.S. at rates that U.S. farmers simply cannot compete with.  That’s right, the same Chinese that sold us murderous pet food, tainted toothpaste and lead-based children’s toys. 

 

The Chinese are able to cheaply ship this food, since they have no food, environmental, or workplace health or safety restrictions.  Our government can only inspect about 1-2% of shipments coming into our ports, and actually tests far fewer products than it (quickly) visually inspects.  Previous instances of tainted garlic and “dumping” (shipping large amounts to drive down prices of a commodity so US farmers cannot compete) led the U.S. to impose tariffs on Chinese garlic.  The Chinese simply shipped garlic elsewhere and claimed that country as the country of origin.

 

If you think I am being a little bit of a Chicken Little, NPR and the Washington Post also are concerned about the health risks of Chinese garlic:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11613477

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/19/AR2007061900423.html

 

 

Even U.S. garlic has its drawbacks.  The California garlic fields have been hit by some nasty fungal disease over the last few years.  Here are some reports of what is put on the garlic in the U.S:

Tebuconazole  is a fungicide, widely used:  http://www.pesticideinfo.org/Detail_Chemical.jsp?Rec_Id=PC35028

Pesticides widely used:

http://www.pesticideinfo.org/DS.jsp?sk=14007

 

Garlic is an integral ingredient in our family’s food life.  I wouldn’t let my kids ride their bike without a helmet, so why would I potentially expose them to lead, arsenic, other heavy metals, fungicide, pesticide, or other dangers?

Next:  My wonderful garlic buying experience and how I am going to try to grow garlic!  Of course vermicompost and Worm Wine (TM) will be involved.

 We Sell Red Wiggler Worms, Pre-made Worm Bins and Texas Worm Ranch Worm Wine (TM).  Please visit us at:  www.txwormranch.com


In Texas, we are just starting to think about the tender crops that can't stand the heat. After carefully looking at the 10 day forcast, I started planting my fall/winter garden last Monday and Tuesday. Of course it was supposed to be in the high 80s this week, according to that forcast...now we are looking at 96F today. Phooey--hope my seedlings will make it if I baby them along.
The bed was prepped with lots of compost, composted leaves, molasses, and alfalfa meal. Where I put seeds in, I prep with a light coating of vermicompost.  For example--I make a 1 inch depression along a row to plant my bush beans and sprinkle vermicompost into that depression.  For lettuce, I lightly sprinkle vermicompost along the top, broadcast my seed, then lightly cover with garden soil.

I have dill, trying to get another round of cucumbers before first average frost (Nov. 15), cilantro, 2 varieties of spinach, at least 5 varieties of lettuce (Mesclun, 2 romaines, sucrine and red deer something), radish, purple bush bean and blue lake bush bean. I use the lettuce and spinach as a living mulch in between the beans and cucumbers. I left room for broccoli transplants later in the month.

On the side opposite of where I planted all the stuff mentioned, I still have some okra plants hanging out. I plan to pull those later in the month and make that my strawberry patch (which you plant in the fall in TX for a May-June crop). I will interplant borage and more spinach among the strawberries.

The amazing thing is that everything except the cilantro and dill were already sprouting by Saturday--5 days!  I credit the vermicompost, which is known to help with seed germination. Now we will see if they can withstand this weeks temps.

Once seedlings are about 2-4 inches, I will use some diluted Worm Wine (TM) every 7-10 days to keep them happy and healthy.

Oh--my tomato patch had a little room for edamame and snap peas,which are coming along nicely. my tomatoes are rebounding and blossoming and I am hoping that worm tea-ing them throught the brutal hot months will help yield lots of fall tomatoes!

I really need to fix my computer-camera connection which has some technical problem--would love to have some pics to show either the genius or the folly of what is going on here in the hot Texas sun.

What are you planting?  Give us a holler and share your garden throughout the fall and winter.
Enjoy your football, fall garden, and hope for cooler days ahead.

In the Texas heat (85 degrees and above), it is important not to overfeed your worms.  The process of decomposition does heat that bin up.  The other 9 months of the year, Texas has it easy compared to our Northern neighbors and you can enjoy easy and productive vermicomposting.

Here are some general guidelines:

 

• Worms can eat most fruit and vegetable peelings, grains, coffee grounds and filters, and tea bags
• Food should be raw, or if cooked; have no additives (oil, salt, butter, spices, etc.)
• Worms will not be happy with garlic, onion, lots of broccoli or cabbage, or citrus (which contains the irritant limonene) 
• Avoid meat, bones and dairy to keep smells at bay
• Avoid dog and cat waste if vermicompost will be used on a food source 
• Beware of herbicides and pesticides on grass clippings.  Wash fruit (especially bananas which have an anti-caterpillar pesticide)and vegetable peels

We'll have much more on this subject, but this should get you started!