From Myk@rockbase.demon.co.uk Sun Sep 28 14:30:28 1997 Date: Fri, 6 Jun 1997 10:34:54 +0100 From: Myk Rushton Reply-To: Community_Forestry To: Community_Forestry Subject: Re: TH: Perennials & Annuals around Trees ... Post-To: Tree-House@Majordomo.Flora.Com (Community Forestry) ---------- ------- In message <1.5.4.32.19970606004119.00689a40@pop.mindspring.com>, Shaub Dunkley writes >>Worms, worms, worms. Well, some worms can burrow through just about >>anything. But not the red wiggler type that most people use in worm >>boxes. Worms also want to be eating something that is dead. So, if you >>are trying to keep the worms alive you'll need to give them some food like >>leaf mulch. >> >>Lisa >>New York City >Earthworms and other soil burrowing critters do a lot of good to soil >structure through the aeration and decomposition functions they provide. If >they are absent from the area, introducing them is a great idea! Lisa's >right though, they need food! Coffee grounds are excellent earthworm food >and I would think the grounds would blend right in with mulch and not be >unsightly. > >Shaub Dunkley >2608 University Dr. >Durham NC 27707 Greetings The following is a schematic for a soil worm bin designed to attract worms that are aleady in the area and as a starting point for introduction. Top up hole | | Cover/mud cap | | --======= =======-- <----- Soil level s |++++++++++++++| <----- Organic matter (i.e. leaves, manure, u | | <---\ compost etc.) b | | \ | | \ s | | Marmite[1] soaked shredded newspaper u | | / r | | / f | | <---/ a |++++++++++++++| <----- Organic matter (i.e. leaves, manure, c ---------------- compost etc.) e / | | \ / | | \ / | | \ <----- Resonably deep spike holes into soil [1] Marmite. A trade name for spreadable yeast extract in the UK. Similar to (but nicer than ;-)) Vegamite(sp?) in AUS. I don't known what an analagous product would be for the US but I'm sure theres something similar. I can't find the refs but experiments and Permaculturalist have found that diluted Marmite when used in the above system sends worms into a reproductive frenzy! .The hole for the bin is generally about a spades width square and a spits deep (18*28cm)(@8*11.5") but there are no rules as such. .The base and the sides of the hole should be spiked quite deeply to assit drainage and aeration. .A base of organic matter several cm's deep should be laid on the base of the hole .Shredded newspaper (waterbased ink, no colour pictures) soaked in a dilution of Marmite should then be used to fill the whole to within several cm's of the top of the hole. .Top up the hole with more organic matter and finally cap with soil leaving a top up hole for further additions of Marmite or introduction of worms. Over time the contents of the bin settle and should be topped up. I would imagine that in the urban environment the hole should be capped with a cover suitable to prevent the bin being a foot trip! Other materials can be used in the bin in addition to or instead of the Marmite i.e. the water from: boiled vegetables, rice or pasta. Basically anything that has a high organic contect in a form accessible to worms. There are many variations that can be experimented with including just creating the bin and capping it of completly. Try different methods and materials, record what you did and how you did it and if it works repeat it, if it doesn't try something else. I seem to remember that there are +800 chemical compounds in coffee including base analogues! Good luck Back to Work PS Hello Richard -- Myk Rushton: myk@rockbase.demon.co.uk Middlesex University-Ecology & Ecotechnology: mr107@mdx.ac.uk 'Do not adjust your mind, there is a fault with reality'