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My Worm Farm

FarmerGoddess's picture

My Worm Farm (post #12568)

FarmerGoddess on Sun, 03/01/2009 - 14:31
in

Hi, This is my first visit to fine gardening, and I hope some one can help me. a little bit about me: I have left the city and my corporate job to live in the country for a year. I'm also home schooling my 9 year old son who has Aspergers. We stay on a farm in Mpumalanga in South Africa. The soil is acid (suurgrond). I hope to grow some salad veggies successfully and just to experience a slower more natural pace of life.


I started a worm farm (kit) 2 weeks ago to create vermiculture. My worm farm now has loads of tiny beetles breeding in it. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Am I feeding my worms too much at this early stage (One or two slices of marrow have gone mouldy)?


I've been googling for 2 hours now and no sites mention beetles - help!!


In advance, Thank You!


 

-A +A
the country gardener's picture

(post #12568, reply #1 of 7)

by the country gardener in reply to FarmerGoddess [original] on Sun, 03/01/2009 - 19:48

Most of us are from the States and might not be familiar, there is a vegetable that the English (and some of the colonists apparently) call "marrow"; FG is not refering to bone here. I left England over fifty years ago (celebrated my 7th birthday on the Queen Mary crossing the Atlantic), but I remember that marrow was a favorite treat of my parents. It is, I believe, a member of the squash family.


I'm going to leave the advice to those more knowledgeable; I've never had a worm garden.


Farmer Goddess, welcome to the forum!



Marty


"The plants have been good to us."  Lester Hawkins


Edited 3/1/2009 1:49 pm by the country gardener

Marty

"The plants have been good to us."  Lester Hawkins

roxanna's picture

(post #12568, reply #2 of 7)

by roxanna in reply to FarmerGoddess [original] on Sun, 03/01/2009 - 20:32

welcome, FarmerGoddess!  your post intrigued me greatly, as (to me) you live in such an exotic place.  as for your beetles-in-the-compost problem -- i barely know the types of beetles here in Massachusetts, let alone those of African origin!  but i found a site that might help you identify yours:  http://www.beetlesofafrica.com/index-old.asp  i had no idea that beetles could be SO colorful until i looked at some of the pictures.  wow!  (same applies to birds in other areas of the world than my little corner.  incredible...)


once identified, you may be able to know if your beetles are harmful in any way.  is there a garden center/nursery nearby where you could get info?  or a university you could contact?  the beeltes aren't likely to harm the worms, as far as i know, but they may pose a problem to your plants, perhaps.  if you can ID them, it would be a good thing.


good luck to you with your gardening!


edited to add:  another site about "bugs" that is fascinating (your son might like the photos!) is:  http://www.whatsthatbug.com/category/beetles/rove-beetles/ 


roxanna


Edited 3/1/2009 2:48 pm ET by roxanna

FarmerGoddess's picture

(post #12568, reply #3 of 7)

by FarmerGoddess in reply to Anonymous [original] on Mon, 03/02/2009 - 09:24

Hi Roxanna,


Thanks so much for your input, I'll pop to the beetle sites now :-)


I guess SA is a bit exotic, certainly our weather and scenery is that of a holiday destination, and my year off is feeling very holiday like too, despite the veggie gardening and home schooling.


Happy day to You, Farmer Goddess

1946's picture

(post #12568, reply #4 of 7)

by 1946 in reply to Anonymous [original] on Wed, 03/04/2009 - 04:07

I had a worm bin in my basement for about 5 years, and the only time I ever got bugs in it was because there was too much food for the worms to eat. Try if you can to scrape off the mucky stuff from the marrow (which might be what we call zucchini squash) and remove as many of the beetles as you possibly can and dispose of them. Then dry out your worm bin by adding some shredded newspaper if you have any (do not use any with colored ink). Are you keeping the foodstuff in your bin covered with damp newspaper or something at all times? Your bin is still pretty new, I found it was easy to overfeed at first. You may need to cut back on the food till they get more established. Hope this may be helpful for you.

FarmerGoddess's picture

(post #12568, reply #5 of 7)

by FarmerGoddess in reply to Anonymous [original] on Wed, 03/04/2009 - 09:14

V. helpful, thanks. I am sure that I've been overfeeding, the temptation is so great. Have calmed right down on the feeding, and will bravely try to extricate the beetles.Yes, I',m keeping the whole thing covered in some damp newpaper.Thanks for the tips.

jem777's picture

Usage of pest control like (post #12568, reply #6 of 7)

by jem777 in reply to FarmerGoddess [original] on Fri, 02/26/2010 - 00:08

Usage of pest control like termite control on houses will definitely eliminates different kinds of bugs.

AstridElsaJo's picture

As one who keeps a compost (post #12568, reply #7 of 7)

by AstridElsaJo in reply to jem777 [original] on Sun, 03/07/2010 - 11:45
As one who keeps a compost heap, I have found out the most beetles, or those that look like beetles that I can't identify are great soil builders. They pick out the small pieces of a wide variety of compost ingredients and poop out the results. This gives me a wide scope of soil which helps make a fertile garden.