Complete Guide to Working with Worms Using the Gardener's Best Friend for Organic Gardening and Composting Revised 2nd Edition

Vincent Wendy

Description

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that if we composted 100 percent of our food scraps, we could prevent the equivalent of 20 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year, the equivalent of more than 3.8 million vehicles greenhouse gas emissions. Composting is one of the easiest and least expensive ways you can reduce your household waste and improve your garden, and using worms in your compost bin will provide you with the best compost available.

Sujets

• Organic horticulture
• Reference work
• Gardening

Informations

• Publié par: Atlantic Publishing Group
• Date de parution: 09 juillet 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781601388575
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

The Complete Guide to Working
with Worms


Using the Gardener’s Best Friend for Organic Gardening and Composting

by Wendy Vincent



The Complete Guide to Working with Worms: Using the Gardener’s Best Friend for Organic Gardening and Composting
Copyright © 2012 by Atlantic Publishing Group, Inc.
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No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the Publisher. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be sent to Atlantic Publishing Group, Inc., 1405 SW 6th Ave., Ocala, Florida 34471.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Vincent, Wendy M., 1975-
The complete guide to working with worms : using the gardener's best friend for organic gardening and composting / by Wendy Vincent.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-60138-599-4 (alk. paper) -- ISBN 1-60138-599-4 (alk. paper) 1. Earthworm culture. 2. Vermicomposting. 3. Compost. 4. Organic gardening. I. Title.
SF597.E3V56 2012
639'.75--dc23
2011049584
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Photographs at Dirty Worms: Lynzee Marmor
IllustratIONs: Phil Hawn




A few years back we lost our beloved pet dog Bear, who was not only our best and dearest friend but also the “Vice President of Sunshine” here at Atlantic Publishing. He did not receive a salary but worked tirelessly 24 hours a day to please his parents.
Bear was a rescue dog who turned around and showered myself, my wife, Sherri, his grandparents Jean, Bob, and Nancy, and every person and animal he met (well, maybe not rabbits) with friendship and love. He made a lot of people smile every day.
We wanted you to know a portion of the profits of this book will be donated in Bear’s memory to local animal shelters, parks, conservation organizations, and other individuals and nonprofit organizations in need of assistance.
– Douglas and Sherri Brown
PS: We have since adopted two more rescue dogs: first Scout, and the following year, Ginger. They were both mixed golden retrievers who needed a home.

Want to help animals and the world? Here are a dozen easy suggestions you and your family can implement today: Adopt and rescue a pet from a local shelter. Support local and no-kill animal shelters. Plant a tree to honor someone you love. Be a developer — put up some birdhouses. Buy live, potted Christmas trees and replant them. Make sure you spend time with your animals each day. Save natural resources by recycling and buying recycled products. Drink tap water, or filter your own water at home. Whenever possible, limit your use of or do not use pesticides. If you eat seafood, make sustainable choices. Support your local farmers market. Get outside. Visit a park, volunteer, walk your dog, or ride your bike.
Five years ago, Atlantic Publishing signed the Green Press Initiative. These guidelines promote environmentally friendly practices, such as using recycled stock and vegetable-based inks, avoiding waste, choosing energy-efficient resources, and promoting a no-pulping policy. We now use 100-percent recycled stock on all our books. The results: in one year, switching to post-consumer recycled stock saved 24 mature trees, 5,000 gallons of water, the equivalent of the total energy used for one home in a year, and the equivalent of the greenhouse gases from one car driven for a year.





Author Dedication and Acknowledgments

This book is dedicated to my mother, who had the unfortunate task of sticking her hands in my childhood pockets to remove worms and other assorted bugs before doing the laundry.
I would also like to thank my husband and our children for their gift to me of the many Saturdays I spent alone at the local library to work on this book. Thank you for your enduring love, encouragement, and unequivocal support. I would also like to extend a special thank you to our daughter, who helps maintain our basement worm bin with great love and care.
Table of Contents





Song of the Worm
by Eliza Cook

THE worm, the rich worm, has a noble domain In the field that is stored with its millions of slain; The charnel-grounds widen, to me they belong, With the vaults of the sepulchre, sculptured and strong. The tower of ages in fragments is laid, Moss grows on the stones, and I lurk in its shade; And the hand of the giant and heart of the brave Must turn weak and submit to the worm and the grave.
Daughters of earth, if I happen to meet Your bloom-plucking fingers and sod-treading feet— Oh! turn not away with the shriek of disgust From the thing you must mate with in darkness and dust. Your eyes may be flashing in pleasure and pride, ‘Neath the crown of a Queen or the wreath of a bride; Your lips may be fresh and your cheeks may be fair— Let a few years pass over, and I shall be there.
Cities of splendour, where palace and gate, Where the marble of strength and the purple of state; Where the mart and arena, the olive and vine, Once flourished in glory; oh ! are ye not mine? Go look for famed Carthage, and I shall be found In the desolate ruin and weed-covered mound; And the slime of my trailing discovers my home, ‘Mid the pillars of Tyre and the temples of Rome.
I am sacredly sheltered and daintily fed Where the velvet bedecks, and the white lawn is spread; I may feast undisturbed, I may dwell and carouse On the sweetest of lips and the smoothest of brows. The voice of the sexton, the chink of the spade, Sound merrily under the willow’s dank shade. They are carnival notes, and I travel with glee To learn what the churchyard has given to me.
Oh! the worm, the rich worm, has a noble domain, For where monarchs are voiceless I revel and reign; I delve at my ease and regale where I may; None dispute with the worm in his will or his way. The high and the bright for my feasting must fall— Youth, Beauty, and Manhood, I prey on ye all: The Prince and the peasant, the despot and slave; All, all must bow down to the worm and the grave.
Table of Contents





Table of Contents

Introduction: Reducing, Recycling, and Red Worms Chapter 1: The Vermicomposting Cycle versus Traditional Composting — A Quick Overview Chapter 2: The Gardener’s Best Friend — Worms Chapter 3: Getting Started — Setting up the Worm Composting Bin Chapter 4: The Worms Chapter 5: Caring for Your Worm Bin Chapter 6: Common Concerns in the Worm Bin Chapter 7: Other Critters in the Bin Chapter 8: Harvesting Chapter 9: Using Worm Compost and Castings Chapter 10: Growing Worms and Vermicompost for Sale Chapter 11: Marketing your Worm Business Via the Internet Conclusion Appendix A: Miscellaneous Worms Appendix B: Sample Business Plan Appendix C: Resources Glossary Bibliography Author Biography





Introduction: Reducing, Recycling, and Red Worms

As a child, I loved to play in the dirt. I still do. There is nothing like running your hands through a rich, dark soil and feeling the earth as it slides between your fingers, especially dirt that has been warmed by the sun. And the smell; nothing quite compares to that earthy, musty smell of good soil. Any gardener will tell you that.
Not to mention, the dirt is where my friend the worm makes his home, along with a bunch of other little neighboring creatures. I always was fascinated by these little wriggling things and, much to my mother’s dismay, would often free them from their earthly homes and car