Grubs in my compost

[mandieg4]

Last spring my BIL traded me 3 dump truck loads of composted horse manure for several hours of computer work I did for his wife. We used it to fill three boxes last summer and it was fantastic stuff! Much better than my hard Georgia clay. This winter we made 7 more boxes and just finished filling them this morning. There were plenty of nice worms in it, but 10x more grubs. Big fat white grubs that were about as long and big around as my thumb. I picked out over a hundred grubs, but since we were using the backhoe to fill the boxes I'm certain that there are a LOT that I missed. Will they hurt my vegetables and what can I do about them?

 

[boggybranch]

Usually, down here in the south, the white grubs found in compost and composted manure is the larvae of the June bug. Not sure if it's harmful or not....so I try to remove them, if possible, before spreading the compost.

 

[boggybranch]

Here is a link about the grubs. It says that they are not harmful. They call it the larvae of the Green Fruit Beetle....aka June bug


http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/soil/2002013027009234.html

 

[lesa]

Do you have chickens? They sound like a delicious snack....

 

[Ladyhawke1]

Where are the chickens when you need them!

Ahhh.....lesa..ya beat me to it.

 

[wifezilla]

We call those "duck treats" around here! If the ducks see me with a pitch fork, they go CRAZY! Do you have any idea how hard it is to turn a compost pile with 5 hungry ducks standing on it waiting for you to uncover a grub or a worm?

 

[mandieg4]

Thanks for the link. That is exactly what they look like.

We have 35 baby chicks coming in two weeks!

 

[Ladyhawke1]

We call those "duck treats" around here! If the ducks see me with a pitch fork, they go CRAZY! Do you have any idea how hard it is to turn a compost pile with 5 hungry ducks standing on it waiting for you to uncover a grub or a worm?

I live to shovel chickens! I am so afraid that I will accidently chop one of their toes off or hit them in the head. I have learned to shovel slowly. Every bit of earth I turn has their approval.

 

[wifezilla]

Hee hee hee

Here is how it works at my house....

Dig pitch fork in to compost.
Lift slowly because Shelley is now standing on top of the clump of compost.
Look for a place to put pitch fork full of compost (after shooing Shelley off of the loaded pitch fork) because Wendy jumped in the hole and is now rooting around for worms.
Shoo Tweak and Lexus out of the way and put down compost clump.
Wait until all grubs, worms and creepy crawlies have been devoured.
Pick up a few worms and throw them to Chrissy because the other ducks wont share and she is shy.
When the ducks start quacking at you because all the goodies are gone, repeat process.

If you are trying to transport compost to the garden, you have a few different steps...
Push ducks out the way gently with your foot so you can get the wagon near the compost pile.
Pause between each load so Tweak and Chrissy can play "buffet line" as they each pick a side of the wagon and root through the compost as you load it.
Be careful not to accidentally put Shelley in the wagon.
Laugh at Lexus and Wendy as they push and shove trying to be the first in any holes you create.
Once you finally get the wagon full, gently push the ducks out of the way so you can get the wagon out of the pen and over to the garden.
Use the pitch fork to cover your retreat to make sure they don't follow you out of the pen to inspect where you are putting "their" compost.

Then hubby has the nerve to ask "Why does it take you so long to turn the compost pile?"

 

[ducks4you]

TTOO FUNNY!!!

Do you have chickens? They sound like a delicious snack....

Dig 'em out and feed 'em to your birds--they will LLLOOOOVVVEE IT!!