[Community_garden] Lime, worms and flies

[Mike McGrath]

a fine treatise, indeed!
    A keeper!
                                            ---Mike McG

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Don Boekelheide" <dboekelheide at yahoo.com>
To: <community_garden at list.communitygarden.org>
Sent: Monday, February 19, 2007 1:21 PM
Subject: [Community_garden] Lime, worms and flies


> Hi all,
>
> On worms, lime, fruitflies etc
>
> Bottom line - I have worm compost and like it so much
> that's all we use at the house anymore. And, I don't
> use lime in my bin.
>
> Mike's reference to Mary Applehof is very apt, she was
> a wonderful resource, and 'Worms Eat My Garbage' is an
> enduring classic.
>
> Cordalie's reference on calcium carbonate is worth
> visiting, if a little technical (you might also want
> to check Wiki's limestone page). For what it's worth,
> here are a couple of basics (so to speak).
>
> Lime comes in different formulations. Calcium
> carbonate is indeed often the active ingredient in
> lime (ground up limestone) sold in the garden center.
> Often, this kind of lime is 'pelleted'  (gray-brown
> little chunks, like rocky all bran cereal). However,
> 'lime' can also be calcium hydroxide (aka 'slaked' or
> 'hydrated' lime), sold as a white fine powder.
> Gardeners and farmers use both kinds of lime to make
> soil less acidic - ground limestone is easier to use,
> slaked lime works faster but is unpleasant to work
> with.
>
> You may also find calcium oxide, or 'quicklime' -
> which is so basic (non-acidic) it can 'burn' your
> hands (like lye). It's bad news, don't use it for your
> worm bin - even though it is used to treat sewage.
>
> In all cases, the way lime works is by dehydrating the
> maggots and by making things so basic everything dies.
> And, of course, if it kills maggots it can kill your
> worms. If you dust the maggoty areas with powdered
> lime, the maggots may die while the worms crawl for
> cover deeper in the bin - but you run a risk.
>
> An aside on wood ashes. It isn't lime - according to
> Clemson University research, ashes are highly variable
> depending on the wood and kind of fire, but have
> roughly 35% calcium carbonate, and lots of other
> materials, too. Gardeners value ashes because of the
> potassium (K - third number on the fertilizer bag)
> they contain, plus the trace elements. However, Mike
> is right that ashes also make soil (and your bin) less
> acidic - in fact, they are even more powerful than
> lime! For that reason, gardeners use them sparingly.
> Ashes would work like lime in your buggy wormbin, but
> with the same problem (what kills maggots kills
> worms).
>
> Interestingly, coffee grounds would do the opposite of
> lime chemically, making conditions too acidic. But
> worms don't like them, either - I did an experimental
> trial of large amounts of coffeegrounds as sole
> foodstock, with newspaper as bedding, in wormbins, and
> the results were a complete bust (small amounts of
> grounds are fine).
>
> For what it's worth, I've switched my home composting
> to all worms. However, I keep a relatively large bin
> outside at the end of the driveway (a covered bridge
> composter - an 'earth machine' works, too), so flies,
> schmies, who cares?
>
> I don't really have that many problems. What I do is -
>
> * I cover scraps with 2-3 inches of leaves or paper
> (usually leaves - they are free, I don't have to shred
> or soak 'em) when I add, and scrape some bedding back
> so new scraps are added about 6 in deep.
>
> * I take out the compost scraps fairly regularly, so I
> never overload the bin. When I'm starting a new bin,
> I'm cautious about adding a lot of feed until I have
> enough 'head' of livestock (can you say 'head' of
> worms - 'wiggle', maybe?) to eat it. I take excess
> scraps to the community garden compost bins/piles,
> when  I need to (very rarely).
>
> * I keep my wormies happy, don't let them dry out,
> start a new bin when the old one is full, keep lots of
> bedding in. This is much easier outside.
>
> * I tolerate Drosophila predators and competitors in
> my bin. Soldier fly larvae are gnarly! Check this out:
>
>
> http://mypeoplepc.com/members/arbra/bbb/id16.html
>
> I think it isn't just that my wormies are happy - by
> having it outside, I can manage the bin much more as a
> decomposer mini-ecosystem, with the wormies (E.
> foetida, mostly, aka redworms) as the majority
> population. Need that diversity, you know... I think
> nematodes, fungi and the like make it less a fruitfly
> haven.
>
> The observation about temperature is very interesting.
> The seasonal cycle is very evident here in the worm
> bin, too, and cool temps slow bugs and worms alike
> (worms less). Also, I'm observing the same good result
> from covering stuff, esp. fruit with a layer of
> bedding.
>
> Happy worming,
>
> Don Boekelheide
> Charlotte, NC
>
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