Re: [greenyes] Worms & Composting Nicky Scott

[Jenny Gitlitz <jenny.gitlitz@no.address>]

Nicky,
Since today is my daughter's 1st birthday and Will Shakespeare's 439th, all
I have to say is: Get thee to a wormery!


on 4/23/03 11:28 AM, Nicky Scott at NScott@no.address wrote:

> Hi
> I'm a composter in England (I co-ordinate community composting projects here
> in Devon and Nationally am the chairman of the Network) and have just
> writtena small book on composting - it's not supposed to be a plug! {however
> if you are interested it is only £1.95 or much cheaper in bulk see
> www.greenbooks.co.uk
> (It's called 'Composting for all' - by Nicky Scott pictures by Bob Gale)
> Anyway - the main reason for writing it was to help promote home composting
> & to hopefully be something which could accompany a home composter bin which
> most Local Authorities subsidise here.
> As i was wrtitng it I realised that the main concerns are what to do with
> Kitchem waste - Ie all the things likely to attract flies and rats etc. Also
> what to mix these things with.  You basically have to exclude these
> 'vectors'.  In my humble opinion it is usually best to first compost these
> materials - and I mean everything - cooked food, oil, meat, fish, dairy, veg
> scraps etc - you need to mix them with an appropriate carbon source - the
> easiest is cardboard and paper - especially ythe unrecyclable stuff - toilet
> rolll centres, kitchen paper- tissues etc etc - you can always bulk it up
> with spoiled newspaper cardbaord packaging of all sorts - rip- tear and
> scrunch it up to create airways etc.  It will absorb liquid and provide air
> and carbon.  also add garden clippings, manures etc.  This material can go
> into a wormery but the problem is that you really only want to add  small
> amounts at a time - otherwise it composts.  IE it heats up and the worms
> like it cool! - the thing to do is to find a container that is vermin proof
> - I use an old degassed chest freezer as a cheap convenient - insulated box
> which I put a wooden grid in at the bottom to provide an airflow - you need
> to create  slots covered with mesh (flies) both under and above the grid and
> a 'chimney on the lid to draw up air.
> You can also make a 'standard New Zealand type bin but line it out with
> metal mesh to exclude rats - needs to be on the base too - and have a lid.
> Another solution is to use a fermentation method - you can buy
> micro-organisms which ferment your kitchen waste like sauerkraut! see
> www.livingsoil.co.uk
> So whilst I am a vermicompost enthusiast too I am primarily a composter - I
> also have several wormeries - made out of old dustbins mainly - but I do
> find precomposting through the hot phase the easiest way - then I feed my
> worms with it.
> i could go on but must get back to work!
> Nicky Scott
> 
> 
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> To unsubscribe, e-mail: greenyes-unsubscribe@no.address
> For additional commands, e-mail: greenyes-help@no.address
> 

--Jenny

Jennifer Gitlitz
Research Director, Container Recycling Institute

Home Office:
2 Pomeroy Ave.
Dalton, MA 01226
Tel. (413) 684-4746
eFax: (928) 833-0460
Email: jgitlitz@no.address

Container Recycling Institute headquarters:
1911 N. Ft. Myer Dr. #702
Arlington, VA 22209-1603
Tel. (703) 276-9800
Fax: (703) 276-9587
www.container-recycling.org
www.bottlebill.org