UPDATE PART 6 - Secret Ingredient ADDED to My DIY Indoor Table Top Pre-Composting Bin!!
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- Опубліковано 28 бер 2023
- Hello! We’re at Update 6 - 24 days since the Indoor Table Top Pre-Composing bins were started.
After a slow start - and identifying and correctly a few common issues (please see the previous videos in the playlist for great information on how to start and what to keep an eye out for) - the bins are performing FANTASTIC! They have exceeded all prior high temperatures I’ve ever reached in previous bins! It’s almost unheard of to go thermophilic in such relatively small bins.
I share with you a secret ingredient that is easy to buy at any grocery store for a few dollars that will jet propel your composting to the next level! Watch and find out what it is!
As always, that is for watching. Please consider subscribing as well to be sure to catch new videos as I upload them. I look forward to comments as well ❤️
Yours in the dirt,
Jayne
#redwigglers #vermicompost #worms #composting
EXCELLENT NEWS! In under 24 hours the blue bin is at 116 degrees! The secret ingredient worked! Yippee 🥳!
I wasn't able to add enough coffee grounds to get a temp rise. I added about 2 cups alfalfa pellets and saw a temp of 100!. that is my personal best. Thanks for your info!
@@squaredawayacres1318 Hello! Congratulations! Personal bests are very exciting!
You can add high nitrogen sources other than coffee and more active biota to get bigger temps. I listed alternative nitrogen sources in another comment. Just do so slowly so you don’t get a stinky mess on your hands 😆.
Even at 100 degrees you’ll get decomposing- it’ll just take longer than a hotter pile. Remember - anything you’re accomplishing here will be loved by the worms 😍
Good job!
Can’t wait to try this entire process, I got hooked up with coffee from my local Tim Hortons❤ Leaves are insane where I live in Canada, plus I am lucky I have a forest across from my house. Thanks Jane xx
Hi Jenn! Oooh lucky you! You’re all set. You could use just leaves and eliminate the cardboard if you have trouble getting some. I think having a mix of materials - which gives all the animals that will live in/eat this substrate, including the worms and the biota - provides a variety of food options - and is the best way to go. If you can. If you can’t then use what you got! The speed of casting generation is quite satisfying 😊. I can’t say that the objective quality of the castings is superior since I’ve never had castings tested , but I feel (!) that they are better 😁.
I can’t wait to hear how it goes for you when you try this method out. I hope you’ll report back!!
The large batch I started 2 weeks ago reached a temp of 121F then over a few days lost its way and settled at room temperature. Last night I whipped up the power-boost you describe here and within 12 hours the temp is 101F.
I am thinking now that my original batch could have been a bit on the dry side, I turned it over completely to get some fresh air in and added additional veggie-liquid while blending in the power-boost contents.
By the way, I was dubious about the yeast, (in its glass jar in fridge) with the expiration Apr 2022 but the a test-batch proved it alive and well. Impressed.
Thanks for your secret ingredient tip!
Hi Malin! It sounds like you’re doing everything exactly right! I don’t recall how large your large batch is but 121F is terrific! My big boy tote (50 gallon size) maxed out at 127/129F which is pretty much as high as one could possibly hope for with such a small system.
A 2nd heating is a great way to go if you have the time to do it. It’ll make the compost even better bedding and food for your worms. They’ll just tear right thru it and you’ll get beautiful castings in record time!
I’ve actually been cutting back on the liquid I use to get the pre-compost cooking at the beginning. I’m finding it not as necessary to heavily soak it and the pockets of anaerobic bacteria are reduced (not eliminated though) substantially. The top of big boy was quite dry but became moistened more and more as I dug down, turning it. The heat was still very evident which means there was certainly enough moisture to keep the microbes happy and working. The mix up redistributed the moisture nicely. However I too did add some additional veggie slurry too 👍. But nothing crazy. It heated back up but not to the first heat level - which is normal and fine - just like yours did.
My yeast is from the freezer and is so many years old I can’t even remember what year I bought it! Definitely pre-pandemic by a few years 😳🤷♂️. Generally ‘best use by’ dates and ‘no longer works or is good’ dates are very very different.
I’m excited to hear what happens when you finally add the this bedding to your worm bins!!🪱❤️🪱.
Hi Jane, my "boosted" bin peaked at 115-116F, but now on day 4 I see the temp is yet again slowly going down, the very same behavior as when the bin was first established.
I just realized the culprit may be my water(!), which is municipal and chlorinated, it could very well be the root cause to why my bin composting process keeps halting prematurely. I recall now that you mentioned to let chlorinated water sit for a day, a step that I missed at the time.
Question: I would like to give this bin another "restart" attempt (with water that has been resting ...) Is there any drawback in whipping up a "boosting batch" using a few gallons of existing material in the bin, with some new cardboard and coffee etc mixed in?
@@malingoodwin7867 Your bin is doing great as it is! Don’t be super fixated on what temperature it reaches for a high or how fast it drops off. Yes generally higher is ‘better’ and longer is ‘better’ but we’re talking getting a 9 out of 10 vs a 10 out of 10 😊.
It would be better to let the chlorine evaporate. Or use rain water if that’s an option. Just be mentally prepared to maybe not see any real difference.
‘Seeding’ a new compost bin with material from the old one works great if the old one was in good shape and didn’t have any problems (aka unwanted bugs, nasty smells, etc). It’ll act as the inoculant for the new bin - adding in a working established biota colony right from the start.
What sized bin are you using? I can’t recall 🙄.
@@malingoodwin7867 I’m going to say this again with all due respect - your pre-compost is doing flipping fantastic! Getting 121F in an 18-20 gallon system is amazing! Please rejoice in it!!
I suspect you may be getting a ‘quicker than normal’ cool down because all that wonderful biota is eating and processing your raw materials so quickly they’re running out of food. This cause them to reproduce less and be active less and the heat goes down accordingly. Adding in more material into the same bin for the 2nd heat cycle is what I suggest you do. Certainly take some material out first to seed another bin of you can/want to.
Please enjoy your success with this whole process! Well done! 🪱❤️❤️
i love watching your videos. you have the sweetest smile to start them off. thank you! i’m learning so much and look forward to trying my own precomposted bedding the way you do it.
Hi Lisa (do I have that right?)! Welcome! You’re very sweet yourself to say that 🥰. I’m glad I’m providing you with helpful information. If you try the pre-composting method I use, please share your experiences as it help everyone! Quite a few people here on my channel are doing it and reporting how it’s going for them. If you can, read the comments on various videos to learn as much from other Castings Crew members as from me! ❤️🪱🪱
Thanks for sharing, your bedding looks amazing.
Hi Ale-ien! Welcome to my channel! The best part about the bedding I’m now using is how easy and cheap/free it is to make! And the worms do exceedingly well in it. I hope you give it a try!
Thanks for watching!
Excellent idea, will definitely have to try yeast for pre composting!!!
Hi! It’s a quick cost effective way to get the biota into full operation within any composting system 👍❤️😎
👍👍👍
It’s pretty exciting to find such a cheap and easy boost to get a small pre-compost bin to heat up so much!! Even now, several days later, the bin is at 111-113 degrees! The cream bin, a week in, is only down to 109 degrees, which previously would have been a very acceptable max temperature. I can’t wait to see how this pre-compost works in the actual worm bins.
Jayne, coffee is a great odour neutralizer (drug smugglers use it!), so maybe now that the coffee has lost its oomph you are noticing a mild other smell?
~ Sandra
Hi Sandra! I’d heard about coffee being used but more because it overpowers other odors and confuses the dogs vs neutralizing odors but either way…! I definitely smelled a little sour so I just gave the bin a good mixing 😊. I haven’t checked it since this morning when it was at 111 degrees - yippee! Both bins are doing fantastic! This such an easy method and uses free/super cheap materials. I hope lots of people give it a try! It’s so good for the worms and even straight into the garden or on potted plants.
I think one of those compost tumblers would work well with your composting system. Used one are fairly inexpensive. Great idea, I'm definitely giving it a try. Thanks
Hi Rickjay! Yes absolutely! A couple of people have mentioned that they’re going to use their tumble composter to make the bedding. I don’t have one myself…yet! Definitely would go the used route!!
If you try it please post back your results and any tips and tricks you find ❤️🪱❤️
You know, you’ve inspired me! I have the cement mixer I use to sift the cow manure. It’s not being used right now. I just had hubby bring it up to the covered patio area. I’m going to see how making pre-compost works in it! It’s a smaller opening so it may be a PIA but I’m going to give not a try! I’ll report back 👍
So just an update on the bakers yeast. I remembered an old expired vacuum-packed package in the back of the fridge which was (Gulp) 4 years beyond its expiration date. Amazingly it was still vacuum-sealed. I made some up in a cup with the sugar and water though not expecting much. Luckily I set it in a bowl. When I checked it a half hour later, it had activated and overflowed the cup. I bought fresh yeast and am going to try inoculating my compost tumbler.
Hey. I’m sorry I missed this comment until now 🥲.
‘Expired’ yeast can be expired for a loooong time and still be perfectly fine. It probably froze in the back of the fridge and freezing yeast is an approved long term storage method for it. I have freezer yeast from YEARS ago that I still use. I’m glad it worked for you! Yeast is fantastic for breaking down tougher fiber like those in cardboard 👍🪱🪱
116 is really good for the volume you have in those bins. You could easliy get in the high 120s or 130 with more volume, but that would be tough to manually aerate. Have you ever tried a big paint mixing bit and a power drill? Its definitely something to look into to eliminate a lot of mixing time
Hi Danny! I’m very happy when these sized totes get into the mid to upper teens. It’s plenty hot enough to signal the bacteria is hard at work breaking down the cardboard and coffee grounds. It also discouraged bugs from moving in in case there’s a gap in the burrito shred top.
I’ve developed a system to turn the contents since I made this video that works very well for me. I turn the contents by emptying one tote into a new tote. It’s an assembly line kind of set up. The first tote is the finished pre-compost. It gets offloaded into 5 gallon buckets for use in worms bins. Next I turn/mix the almost finished tote into the now empty tote. Rinse and repeat until all the totes have moved into their new tote. It does take longer than using a auger tool, which is a great idea! In fact I have a new big tote that I’ll be ‘introducing’ soon to you all and that tote would be a perfect candidate for the auger. Hmmm. Have to get cameraman to get it out for me. 👍❤️🪱
Hi, I started my bin a week ago. I got a decent temperature increase, but found it was too dry after 48 hours. I added more slurry and it reached 112 with an 83 ambient temperature. The 18 gallon bin is in my garage. Today I checked on it and there was hardly any increase in temperature from the ambient. I couldn't smell anything bad, but decided to mix it up to hopefully get it working again. When I got to the bottom, it had a decidedly sour smell to it. All I did was mix ot up good. My question is should I have added anything to it? There isn't much space at the top yet for much to be added. Thank you for all of your information you have given to us!
Hi Brenda! You did exactly right! It’s very common - as in almost always! - for the bottom section of the pre-compost bin to go slightly anaerobic. Especially the corners. It’s gravity’s fault 😆. The moisture in the system slowly pools at the bottom. Unless you mix every day (there’s NO NEED to do that!) it’s going to happen. If it’s dry on too and ok in the middle and damp on the bottom a good mix up will redistribute moisture. You should check again in a few days to make sure the redistribution was enough - you may still find it a bit dry overall. If so add in a modest amount of liquid. Don’t go too crazy with it. You’re probably going to see a modest increase in temperature for the next day or so then the cooling down. When the temperature gets down to 104 or so decide if you want to do a 2nd heat cycle - if you have to time and material to do it I highly recommend it! If you don’t have room in the bin for more material (it should have decreased mass by at some amount) think about adding a booster like yeast to rev the process up again.
112 degrees in an 18 gallon bin is very good! Perfectly acceptable for table top pre-composting! Kudos!
Even if you don’t do a 2nd heat cycle and your temperature doesn’t peak any higher but stays on a slow cool down, all the microbes are still working and breaking the carbon and nitrogen down into yummy bite sized meals for your worms. Mesophilic bacteria works at standard human room temperatures so don’t get too over focused on hot hot it gets it how long it stays hot. These are very small systems and the fact that we are getting the results we are is truly fantastic!! ❤️❤️🪱.
Thanks so much for checking in and sharing your experience with the Castings Crew!
Jane, I am in Wisconsin. I wonder... could I heat my house with this compost??? I keep heat low and for that reason my worms need heating pads. Does it smell good? Like bread? Great video.
Hi Dhyana! Wow! Wouldn’t that be a great thing?! To heat the house with decomposing organic materials! While I believe that our ancestors did a version of that (as well as using animal body heat) to keep their living spaces warm enough to survive the winters, it’s not a practical solution these days :)
As for using decomposition to provide supplemental heat to work bins, YES that is possible and is used as a regular part of bin management. The key is to give your worms PLENTY of space so that they can move away or toward the heat as they see fit. Otherwise you run the risk of overheating the entire bin and cooking your worms. I’d suggest starting by using a modest amount in a small end or side location in the worm bin. Watch how the worms react very closely. Adjust amounts used and how much of the bin is heating up and to how high a temperature is reached to find the right balance that works in your worm space.
My pre-compost bins smell of faint coffee until it’s done cooking. It’s one of the way I known it’s done - no more coffee smell. I wish it smelled like bread!! But alas, no.
Give it a try! Be cautious, and report back!!
Thanks for asking and watching my videos ❤️
Can you use white-ish opaque bins?
Hi! Welcome! The short answer is yes 👍. Here’s a video I did that talks about clear bin usage, which is what I use by the way 😎.
A New Breeder Bin Set Up Plus Clear Bins Yea or Nay?
ua-cam.com/video/PgK_-WalRXQ/v-deo.html
Thanks for watching and please ask any questions you may have 👍🪱
Hey Jane, the packets of yeast I got just have a cinnamon roll recipe. Can you share how much water and sugar you used for “secret ingredient”?
The recipe usually on the back is 1/4 cup warm (not hot!!) water with ahhhhh a nice sprinkle of sugar…? That’s for one packet. For the pre-compost I used 3 packets/one tablespoon with a cup of warm water and a a teaspoon or so of sugar. It’s not really critical how much water and sugar - just make sure the water is warm and it has some sugar for food to start with. I’m not home right now but I’ll google the pack instructions and post it in a bit ❤️
Hi how are you today.
Can I use worm tea as the liquid
Hi Vincent! I’m great! Thanks for asking. How are you doing?
Yes! Absolutely use worm castings tea if you have it as the liquid! It’ll boost the microbes A LOT and that’s all to the good! You could also use the worm tea for plants and gardens and put the ‘used’ castings into the pre-compost bin as well. Or use the used castings to make a second weaker tea - that will still have tons of microorganisms in it - for the compost bin liquid.
Once you get your first batch of pre-compost thru at least one heat cycle - 2 is better and 3 is awesome!- it can be used to ‘seed’ future compost bins by direct addition or by making compost tea. The point is there’s lots of great variations to suit what you have on hand or can get free or cheap. I wanted to start with a ‘basic recipe’ than anyone could easily do and achieve success ❤️
So when I am feeding my sourdough starter the part that I normally discard I should be able to use in my worm bins instead as part of their food. Is that correct....
Hi MsShawn! Yes and No. The yeast itself will be a great food for the worms. What you have to be very careful about is how active the yeast is. Active yeast will heat up the worm bin and it could easily get too hot for the worms! The safest idea is to use the yeast in the compost process, let it break down materials and expend most/all of it’s life force first and THEN add it to the worm bin as a food source.
If you don’t want to make pre-compost like I’m showing, you can use the yeast discard to make lead mold!
A simple leaf mold recipe is leaves plus yeast plus water (water from rinsing rice also works amazingly well). Let that mixture sit during your whole sourdough starter process and at the end you’ll have lead mold your worms will devour while you devour your fresh baked bread!! How is that for a win-win?!
Thanks so much for bringing this idea to the fore ❤️. Using sourdough starter discard is a wonderful way to make complete use of what you’ve got on hand and eliminate needless waste! Love it 😍!
Can I make an answer adjustment? What I said above is absolutely true. But I just answered a question from Dhyana that touched on your question too and what I said to Dhyana applies here as well and I missed that opportunity to talk about it. Sorry!
If you give your worms PLENTY of space to move away from any potential heating up, you could add the sourdough discard directly to your worm bin. I’d be very careful and watch very closely to make sure the worms can move away from heating if they want to. Also as the sourdough starter will be more of a liquid, be sure to manage overall bin moisture levels. That is actually what I was thinking about when I answered your question. That the discard would add too much liquid into the bin, you’d have to add more carbon to balance it out, and rapid heating would result. That’s still also true but it doesn’t mean you can’t successfully manage it! Go slow, adjust as needed, and see what happens. If you try it, please report back!!
I added straight sourdough discard wrapped in a coffee filter and while they did eventually eat it, the sourdough hung around a very long time and at some points smelled deeply unpleasant. It was suggested to me to dry it to a powder before trying again but I haven't tried that yet...
@@eleanoraddy4683 There’s a big difference between adding something like sourdough starter to the pre-compost bin (highly recommended) vs directly to a worm bin (not such a good idea). The bins are not interchangeable 😊
@@RockinWorms Yes after trying it in the worm bin I won't do it again! Won't be long until I can give it a go I the table top method. A question about temperature, is it OK to do this in an area that is colder than my house? 10 to 12°C
Would this work outside? By the way I used a big ice cream tub for the yeast and it still overflowed everywhere😂
Hi Chris! Absolutely it’ll work outside. Outside in a tote system like I have on my patio or even in the traditional on the ground large compost pile. What you’re doing is adding yeast/fungi directly into the composting process. Yeast can and does show up on its own - usually most visibly as mushrooms! Adding it in directly accelerates the process, which is nice when we need bedding as fast as possible!
Haha on it overflowing everywhere! It happens 😆. I literally just finished a video that I’ll post next week and a jug of fermenting veggie slurry exploded when I took the cap off- all over my shirt and face 🙄😳🤣. We kept rolling 🤩. You can see the schlock on my shirt and hear me spitting out the small amount that hit my mouth. Too funny. Ah the many joys of worm farming!! 🪱🪱❤️
Thank you for show this, what is there yellow liquid you have added 9:04 min until 9:20 min. In your videos before the water
Hello! The liquid in the small pan was leftover corn water from the can of corn we had with dinner. The yellowish liquid in the reused gallon jug was some type of leftover cooking water - probably pasta or potato water. I save the liquids and store in repurposed water jugs in the fridge 😊.
Thanks for asking for clarification! And for watching ❤️Do you think you’ll give making the pre-compost a try?
@@RockinWorms yes for sure i will try it. And thank you very much, i appreciate your attention for our questions
@@elieeid8865 My pleasure! I LOVE getting questions! Please ask any and all you have and I’ll do be best to answer ❤️
If you do give it a try you’ll be in good company. Several people here are giving it a go 👍. It’s great that they’re reporting back on their results. Please do so too if you try the pre-compost recipe.
❤️🪱❤️
What kind of shredder are you using to shred the cardboard and where can I get one?
Do you have to get one of the really expensive ones that say they will shred 20 pages ? 17:55
@@vickibee8451 Hi! I have 2 shredders I bought used off of Facebook marketplace - one is a cross cut and the other a micro shredder. I also have this one I bought new from Sam’s Club:
UNBOXING Micro Shredder
ua-cam.com/video/ccZqdLwTlcU/v-deo.html
I have found that each shredder is slightly different- a 10 sheet for one brand is not the same as a 10 sheet from a different brand. Crazy but true! What I started doing is taking a few pieces of my thicker normal cardboard with me when I was looking to buy a shredder and tested it out. Several times I had to walk away from a shredder because it wouldn’t easily take the cardboard or it struggled to shred it. 8 pages would be an absolute minimum and I would certainly try for higher, like 10-12. Do not be confused or swayed by the ‘continuous feed’ page count. It’s sometimes helpful for regular paper but mostly not useful for cardboard.
Marketplace is great, thrift shops, or display/scratch and dent if you want to go new.
I must say I like the micro cut (small confetti sized pieces) best for cardboard and use the cross cut (bigger rectangle shaped pieces) for paper. Of course if I only had one or the other that’s what I’d use!
I hope this helps, otherwise ask again! 🪱🪱❤️
Hey Jane,
May I ask, how long have you been vermi-composting, and what’s this method that I’m watching you do here?
Hey. I’ve been worm wrangling for a few years now. Not even close to a lot of the other content makers but I make up for it in vigor 😂. I’m a fast learner 😍
What this particular video is about, as part of the playlist, is scaling down traditional outdoor hot composting so that more people, especially worm wranglers, can make it easily and cheaply. Pre-compost is a fantastic bedding and food for composting worms. The castings come quickly and are so rich and lovely. This scaled down version is doable for anyone that has space for 1 or 2 18 gallon totes. If you get a chance you can read the comments on any of my videos on the pre-compost and see how many of the Castings Crew are making it and their evaluation of how wonderful it is 👍🪱🪱
@@RockinWorms 👍🏿 👌🏿
@@RockinWorms I find this quite impressive. Did you learn this from someone, or was this common sense?
@@anthonyl.kellyakawritedisw9662 Thanks! I’m kinda proud of it myself 😎. I got the general idea from another content maker. Then I gave it some thought and tried a few modifications and here we are! I wanted it to be able to make pre-compost indoors (no bugs), have it be cheap and easy, not take up a lot of space or be smelly, and lastly be an excellent bedding and food source for the worms. It was a game changer for me and many who have tried this method say the same thing ❤️🪱👍😎
@@RockinWorms 🤩 would you be interested in talking about it one of these days? Interview style?
I think I'm confused. You say 3:1 ratio, but the put 7 gallons of shreddings in with 3 gallons of used coffee grounds. Wouldn't that be 3.5:1? With 2 gallons of coffee, a 3:1 ratio would end up being 9 gallons of coffee. Or is my math wrong?
Hi Randall! Thanks for asking for clarification 👍. First off, it’s all ‘ballpark measuring’ - it doesn’t have to be precise. Also there’s many ratios people successfully use - even a 1:1 carbon to nitrogen based on volume. The 3:1 carbon to nitrogen ratio is taken as the standard. So please don’t get too focused on exact amounts.
That said, I am trying to give a good starting recipe so I need to be as clear as I can 😊.
With 7 gallons of carbon a 3:1 ratio would call for 2.33 gallons of coffee grounds:
1 gallon of carbon to .33 gallons of coffee grounds.
7 gallons of carbon x .33 = 2.31 gallons of coffee grounds.
I generously rounded up to 3 gallons as a bigger dose of nitrogen will make composting work faster 👍.
Does this clear things up a bit?
I really hope you give the pre-composting a try! 🪱❤️🪱
The percentage of carbon should be 90%but what is this foam and these liguis?❤😊
Hello! 90% is a really high carbon percentage and that high a ratio to nitrogen will slow down the composting process significantly. More nitrogen will speed up the process, which is what I personally want.
The foam is the result of the yeast. It is carbon dioxide being released. It’s what makes bread rise 👍. Yeast is really really good at breaking down natural carbon fibers. And that’s what cardboard is primarily made of! Adding yeast to your compost mix is another way to speed up making the bedding for your worms as good as you can, as fast as you can. 🪱❤️🪱
@@RockinWorms
This is true, when l used to make compost tea from the wastee of herbivores, l would add yeast with sugar as food for microsopic animals, and thus, after a week, lwould obtan a compost solution using the aerobic method to contaian it, Thank you, my dear madam👍But in my opinion, matter does not need this complicatation, it is sufficient put cadboard leavees or sawddust in water containing a small percentage of the worm extractor for 48 hours ,Classy madam💞🙏🌹🌸🌺🥀
@@user-sj9dq2kw1c Hello! There are many ways to get to the end result of great bedding for worms. Composting takes time - the microbes need time to get established and then eat their way thru the materials provided. I’ve tried to strip the process back and use materials lots of people probably have access to for a very low/zero cost.
It’s great that you have a method that works very well for the resources you have! I bet your worms love it 🪱❤️🪱
🌺🪱🌺🌹🌸👍🥀