Worm barn temperature - 2023 12 25

 


I noticed the temperature in the soil was on the low side. The needle was pointing at the top of the blue zone. When I dug down to find the worms, they all looked a little quiet, not moving immediately when I uncovered them. I was afraid they were dying off in the bins.

I turned up the radiator in the worm barn and the needle has moved into the yellow zone. I dug down through each of the bins from corner to corner and to the very bottom of the bin. There seemed to be more worms and they were definitely more active when I disturbed them.

My feeling is that the increase in temperature had a beneficial effect on their overall well being. I'm no longer afraid I am killing my worms. They look pretty good.


UPDATE 2023 12 28 - I have since learned that the temperature in the worm bin also indicates the heat being generated by composting activity of bacteria processing the 'green' organic material. The ambient temperature in the worm barn is important because we do not want the bins to freeze. The specific temperature arising from decomposition is important because if it gets too hot the worms cannot eat and the bacteria will grow too numerous and create an anaerobic environment in the bin.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

East Vancouver Rain Forest - 2024 04 07

Image
  It was a great day for gardening. First, we loaded the truck with 6 empty trash barrels and headed over to the Burnaby Lake equestrian barn. It didn't take long for the two of us to fill all 6 trash barrels with manure. I was digging from the back of the manure shed. The manure, sawdust and straw were already composted to the point that there were worms in the pile. Matt was out at the front of the other shed. He collected the fresh droppings and straw. It was easy enough to maneuver the full trash barrels back up onto the truck bed. Our second stop was the Coast Salish Plant Nursery at the Wild Bird Trust of BC just off the Dollarton Highway. It is hard to describe the feeling of returning to the salmonberries, huckleberries and thimbleberries of my childhood. Also the sword ferns and liquorice ferns.  I have been dreaming of turning our east boulevard into an indigenous understory planting in the shadow of the giant Lombardi Poplar tree. I pulled up the sad turf grass year...
Read more

Rain barrels installed - 2024 06 10

Image
  We installed the rain barrel issued from the City last fall. It has been collecting rainwater from the shed roof and the awning. It is 75 gallon capacity and fills quickly during a rainfall. Yesterday we finished installing three 80 gallon rain barrels purchased from Barr Plastics. We are now able to store over 300 gallons of water on site from rainwater collection. According to my calculations based on 1" of water per sq ft of garden per week, 300 gallons of storage capacity should be able to support 100 sq ft of garden for one month. Based on rainfall patterns here in Vancouver, it is reasonable that we should expect to be able to fill these rain barrels once per month, even during drought months. Last night when it started raining, I could hear the trickle of rain water outside my bedroom window as the empty barrel started to fill with water. The sound lulled me back to contented sleep. Calculations: 4' x 4' = 16 sq ft garden bed needs approx 10 gallons of water per w...
Read more

Water conservation - rain barrels - 2024 01 27

Image
  Buyers Guide.org Finding the best rain barrel product to create a water conservation infrastructure on your property. Our property has 5 existing downspouts draining rain from the main roofs of the house. If we have a 50 gallon water barrel under each downspout, we could have at least 250 gallons of water in reserve for the summer drought. If we put 2 water barrels under each downspout, we could have 500 gallons of water on hand. The average cost for a plastic 50 gallon barrel is between $150 and $250, budget $50 for extra fittings, say $300 per barrel for materials. Installation will depend on each setting, but there will likely be work to establish a footing for the barrel and then downspout and house connections. There is also the option of having a drip hose installed in the garden to connect to the rain barrel. The drip hose would be installed during garden bed installation.  The rain barrel could serve as a water distribution centre, so the garden hose could also be pl...
Read more