Tuesday, July 21st, 2009 | Author:
admin
Our planet is a host for several creatures. From the tiniest to the biggest, there are countless number of worms, reptiles, animals, birds and even greater number of species under each category. There are roughly around 4400 species of worms on Planet Earth. Out of this number, there are about 2700 species of earthworms. Red wrigglers and Nightcrawlers are the most commonly found earthworms and are present everywhere in the universe. Red wrigglers and Nightcrawlers are most commonly found in the earth’s soil. They also survive in trees, under the rocks, along rivers, ponds and springs. Earthworms burrow themselves deep in the soil and these burrows are very important for the plants. They serve as a path for water, air and other soil nutrients to pass through.
The physical structure of worms has a few vital features that assist the worms to survive on this planet. One of the main features is the absence of lungs. This is the reason why the worms, including your composting worms, are so slimy. Due to the absence of lungs, earthworms breathe through their skin which needs to be moist at all times so as to facilitate breathing. This is the reason why earthworms are rarely found near the sea. In spite of the presence of water, most of the sand is dry. This dryness can cause suffocation to the worms which may eventually die. At the same time, too much water too can be detrimental as the water can take the place of oxygen which causes the worms to surface. On the surface, worms may die as they get exposed to sunlight. As worms as so slimy, it helps them survive. The other physical features include the presence of mouth which is powerful enough to drag a leaf and eat it, all major nerves, circulatory and digestive organs.
Part One of our Worm Q&A: What Do Worms Eat?
Part Two of our Worm Q&A: How Many Worms To Start With?
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in comments and we will answer them as soon as possible.
Tuesday, July 14th, 2009 | Author:
admin
There is a lot of information out there about composting and a lot of it states that you shouldn’t use products like meats or eggshells in your compost because they would attract all sorts of unwanted animal attention and might turn your compost pile into a snacking ground for the area animals. There have been those complaining about bears being drawn to compost bins and other smaller animals as well. However, eggshells can also be a good source of nutrients for your garden, and can also have other uses, so composting them can prove to be quite beneficial if you follow a few golden rules.
The first thing you should know is that eggshells can host salmonella on their surface, and as such, if you don’t want to spread that around to your garden, it’s best to wash the eggshells before composting them. There are those who also like to put the eggshells in a tray in the oven for 20 minutes or so to make sure to kill all the bacteria, and this might not be a bad idea since the procedure would not destroy the Calcium in the shell, which is what the plants will most require out of the eggshells in the first place.
Another thing you could do is to grind the shells into very small pieces. This helps in more than one way. For one thing, the smaller the eggshell bits, the quicker the break down process (and in the case of eggshells, this process will take quite a while so you want to do whatever you can to hasten it). For another, scattering the small pieces of eggshell around plants will keep slugs and other pests away from them.
Spreading the ground up eggshells onto the ground or in the areas where you feed birds or chicken can also be useful, as the birds can take back a lot of much needed nutrients from the shells. If you are going to feed them to chicken, it’s advisable to put the shells into the oven for a few minutes, as feeding the chicken raw shells might encourage them to also pick at the freshly laid eggs that are yet to be collected.
While composting eggshells can be beneficial for your plants and birds and is therefore not discouraged, it would be good to avoid composting other egg parts, as it would not only be a surefire way to attract animals to your compost pile but it would also ensure that your compost would give away a smell that you would not be thrilled to have around. All in all, if you take some precautions, there is no reason why you shouldn’t compost your eggshells.
Tuesday, July 07th, 2009 | Author:
admin
We are living in a time where recycling and making the best use of everything, including organic wastes is of utmost importance. With the depleting natural resources, worm composting is one of the most successful steps taken in the right direction. The process of worm composting is also commonly known as ‘Vermiculture.’ Worm composting is a method of using worms to recycle food waste and other organic material into a valuable soil conditioner called worm compost.
Vermiculture is a scientific process which involves the artificial rearing of worms not only provides manure for plants but also keeps the environment healthy. The worms eat food scraps, cow-dung, farm wastes, municipal wastes, household garbage and non-toxic industrial waste and convert them to compost. The process is straightforward and can be done by with the use of simple equipments. The required materials are worm bin, worms, bedding and wastes. The worm bin is decided depending upon the kind of worms being used. Bedding requires few shredded newspapers, corrugated cardboard and leaves.
Ideally, the worms used for worm composting are Redworms as they thrive on organic wastes such as food scraps, cow-dung. Redworms, which are scientifically named as Eisenia foetida and Lumbricus rubellus ar found in aged manure and existing compost bins. The standard proportion of food waste to the amount of worms that needs to be used to form worm compost is 1:2. For every one pound of food waste used per day, two pounds of worms are required. Two pounds of worms roughly approximates to 2,000 worms. The population will increase depending upon the room to breed and the availability of food.
Part One of our Worm Q&A: What Do Worms Eat?
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in comments and we will answer them as soon as possible.
Thursday, July 02nd, 2009 | Author:
admin
We’ve all heard the environmentalist warnings about how our planet is overcrowded, overexploited and is running out of resources to support us. The weather is changing, the costs of living are rising and everywhere in the media we hear and read about how we should do our part to help the planet. But how do we go about doing that? In most cases, “green” products are more expensive than regular ones, turning our house into a more eco-friendly environment also costs a pretty penny, as does trading our car for hybrids. There are, however, things you can do that don’t cost you anything and that can play a big role in helping our planet stay as green as possible. Recycling your soda or beer cans will save a lot of energy, for instance.
I’ve heard people say that recycling also takes up energy and asking why, in that case, they should do it. The thing is that recycling a can takes up 5% of the energy that would normally get used to produce the aluminum necessary for a brand new can. If you only take those facts into account, you can clearly see how beneficial even a seemingly small thing such as recycling your cans will be for the environment. And while it might seem small, even recycling a single aluminum can, will save up enough energy to operate a TV for 3 hours. Now add that up with the fact that about 35 billion cans are used only in the US over the course of a year and you will see how much energy can be saved with can recycling.
Of course, it can be something of a drag. I mean, you have to collect all these cans and then take them over to the nearest recycling bin while they dangle happily with your every movement for everyone’s entertainment and your embarrassment. Not to mention the space they take up. But that also has a very simple and handy solution in the can crusher. A simple can crusher CAN solve many of your problems. The can crusher will help you reduce the size of cans dramatically, therefore preventing them from taking up a lot of room, and of course, from being uncomfortable to carry around. Not to mention the fact that a mechanical can crusher won’t use up any electricity, all it takes is one pull of a lever for the can to be crushed. Not to mention the fact that many have noted that the can crushing process has helped them relieve a lot of frustration.
When you take everything into account, the answer is simple: get a can crusher and start doing your part for the planet by recycling your cans.
