Tired of feeding my kitchen scraps to the rats and opossums

[catjac1975]

Well, you're a good man for that.

I'm thinking about fencing my whole property, both barrier and electric. We want to get goats anyway. And for all the money I invest in my meat birds, I am glad that I didn't do them this year. It would have been a loss. We took the dog back to the neighbor the first time we found him in with the hens and spoke with him about keeping it tied. The dog didn't kill any that time, but he agreed that it would the next. I figure they know it was their dog. Their closer neighbor found one of my chickens in her flowerbed between the two properties. I think they tried to tie it, but didn't do a sufficient job. But I know this man just got laid off from his job and has two small children. They live in a rented trailer. I would have otherwise asked him to pay for the hens, but I hated to ask under the circumstances.

But yeah, good fences make good neighbors. I'm just going to have to tighten down security around here before I put my time and money into anything else right now. Baffles me too, the big gardens I've had year after year and the deer have pretty much left me alone. Yet this year, I didn't plant much because of the new baby. I put all my efforts into a new bed of june-bearing strawberries. Then the deer wiped me out! My husband had put 1x2 wire on on the compost bin to keep dogs out, but smaller vermin still get in. My compost turner is a homemade job. The opossum just pushed the lid in. I guess it wasn't sturdy enough.

 

[thistlebloom]

I think they tried to tie it, but didn't do a sufficient job. But I know this man just got laid off from his job and has two small children. They live in a rented trailer. I would have otherwise asked him to pay for the hens, but I hated to ask under the circumstances.

Well, God bless you for your compassion Journey. That was very decent of you.

 

[Sequoia]

Worm bins can be a great, easy way to compost kitchen scraps and get worm castings at the same time. I wanted to point out though that you'd need a huge quantity of worms to process a quart - gallon everyday. At their most productive, worms might process half their body weight per day. So assuming a gallon of food would be, say, 6 pounds? You'd need 12 pounds of worms, for which you'd need 6-12 square feet of space at least 12 inches deep. That's probably a bit bigger than you're hoping for. I heartily encourage you to pursue vermicomposting, it's a wonderful hobby and very useful. But they're just worms... not superheroes

 

[so lucky]

This thread came up when I couldn't see last month, or I would have been on it. I totally agree with Sequoia about the amount of garbage red worms will go through. The companies that have worms to sell often overstate how much the worms will eat. I have seen as much as "equal to their body weight in garbage daily." Which is just not true. Red worms are interesting and fun for kids, and definitely good for catching pan fish. They don't get very big, not like the night crawlers. I have had them for about 3 years, and I think I have managed to just about kill them out due to not keeping the bedding damp enough. However, I have seen worms hatch out of worm castings that had been dried, bagged and stored for over a year. So those eggs are hardy. There is no smell, and you can keep them in a spare room or basement. Actually, the smell is kinda like good humus. Go figure! lol. However, the smell of dead worms, like in a container that the fishermen forgot about, is one that will stay with you for a long time.
I encourage you to try it. You can get started for practically nothing. Go buy some red wrigglers at the bait shop, and put them in a plastic tote that has tiny holes drilled in the bottom and sides. You can use wet straw, wet newspapers, peatmoss, old leaves or a combination of all this for bedding. When you put garbage in, cover it with bedding so it doesn't stink or attract fruitflies. Need to keep the container covered because they do go for walks occasionally. I have found more than my share of dried up little travelers on the basement floor. If you keep a light on near the container, they will be less likely to wander out.

 

[journey11]

Thank you both for such helpful information! I have seen pics of a bigger worm setup like you are talking about, Sequoia. I believe it was Harvey Ussery who had such, in Countryside magazine. I may have to add that to my list of ongoing projects that I drive my husband crazy with. I can imagine incorporating a bigger worm bed into a greenhouse set up, perhaps utilizing the floor space beneath some growing tables. In the meantime, I think will just start making trenches in my garden and buring my kitchen scraps as I go. Especially in canning season, I have too much output for a small worm bin. I hate to let all those nutrients go to waste. The sludge from the bins beneath my compost turner (it can't keep up with all that either) is currently fertilizing my horseradish which I tucked out of the way beside it. You would not believe all the black soldier fly larvae camping out in there either.