Thanks Krista. After having a fly outbreak and eating through all our toenails and fingernails, I'm really pleased with how this bin turned out at the end of the summer. ~ Sandra
I started vermicomposting in the very early spring using an UWB. The UWB is outside on a screened in deck. It’s getting cooler at night here in Eastern Massachusetts so I’ve been relocating worms to smaller containers I can bring inside for the winter. I don’t have a basement. I don’t have room for a lot of indoor worm bins. I’m using a mortar tray, a plastic bin meant to store things under a bed, and two old kitty litter bins. I’ve asked people I know if they’d like to try vermicomposting- I’d give them free worms. I really don’t want to leave any outside to freeze. No takers yet. A neighbor has a garden club meeting tonight and said she’d ask there for me. Here’s hoping. If I don’t have takers, I’ll put more worms into an old dishpan and whatever else I find hanging around.
Thank you for being a caretaker for your worms! Can the UWB go indoors (I'm sure you thought of that)? What's your lowest winter temperature? I have 5 gallon bucket worm towers sunk into my garden. Worms live in them year round. Good luck! ~ Sandra
@@NanasWorms I wasn’t thinking ahead when I set up the UWB. I put it together on my deck. It’s extremely heavy when full. I could never move it while full. Plus- it doesn’t fit through the door when it’s assembled. 😂. I’m considering taking it apart when I’ve relocated most, if not all of the worms, and reassembling it inside. Do I really want a large UWB inside? Not really. Maybe if I built a stand with wheels to make it easier to move around it could work. The only place I could easily set it up would be in a very small bedroom that I currently use as an office. I work remotely. I’m hoping to retire in April. At that point, I’d like to be able to set up the small bedroom as a place for some hobbies ( sewing , knitting, and whatever other crafts I find myself interested in. I guess the UWB could be there. I have absolutely no sense of spatial awareness. I’m not able to look at a room and know what will fit and how it will fit. One of my sisters excels in that so I will probably ask her for help. Time will tell! Last winter we had a brutal cold spell. We had many days with temperatures below zero ( Fahrenheit) with crazy wind chill estimates. I know there are other locations that have very low temperatures for most of the winter. I don’t think I could live in those places. There’s an old Saturday Night Live skit that brings up metric vs imperial measurements. Search for it on TH-cam- Washington’s Dream. I found it very funny.
We sound like we are at the same life junction. Our home is up for sale and we are relocating closer to our children and grandchildren. I had to empty my largest outdoor worm bin into multiple other containers - it's not ideal! Until we sell our house and relocate, both of us and my worms are in a holding pattern. I don't think worms will survive in great number at your low temperatures even buried down in a bucket in the garden. You could put a compost heap on top of them, which if you add to it through the winter would create gentle compost heat. I also overwinter worms in a very basic outdoor greenhouse. We supplement it with a space heater on the coldest nights, but any hint of sunshine and it warms up to Maui temperatures through the winter! I've seen people wrap urban worm bags and other outdoor systems with the Christmas lights that heat up to stop the bags from freezing. Festive AND functional! ~ Sandra
@@NanasWorms A friend offered me part of a roll of some sort of insulation she used last winter on her chicken coop. Her chickens survived the winter so maybe the insulation will work for my worms too. I’m considering putting a 17 gallon tote of worms/ castings in my garage for the winter protected with the insulation. The garage isn’t heated but at least that bin would be out of the elements. I sifted out more castings from the UWB this afternoon and relocated the worms and the material not yet composted to an old dishpan. I gave them some food scraps, crushed eggshells and some water. I think they’ll be too busy to be upset that their surroundings have changed. Yes- I’m anthropomorphizing my worms! I chat to them while I sift/ water and feed them. 😂🪱💕
The garage sounds like a great solution. Build up the bedding because the bigger than mass, especially with castings already accumulating, the less it will drop in temperature. Moisture will help too, so keep the bin on the moist side. You can feed the worms something called compost rolls to create gentle heat once a week. I think I have a couple videos on it, but I'm sure there are plenty on TH-cam. ~ Sandra
Great video!! Thank you! My outdoor worm bin is going to have its first winter and I’ve been worrying about if it will survive (I’m in lower mainland/white rock area) but it sounds like it should be fine! I also liked your other video about dryness and layers. Mine is deep so at least it has several layers. Do you do anything to cover or protect your outdoor bins if we get an unseasonably cold winter?
I don't think I would leave an unprotected bin outside, even here in Victoria. I will move all my tote bins into my greenhouse in a few weeks once the tomatoes stop producing. We put a small thermostatically controlled space heater in the greenhouse that comes on if temperatures get to about 7°C. Remember the bedding is never going to drop in temperature as quickly as the air temperature. But, the worms will stop reproducing below 10°. They shouldn't die until they are below zero (bedding temperature). The greenhouse heat up in any sunshine, so daytime temperatures are always quite mild even though it's unheated in there. I'm going to put my large paddling pool/worm bin together here in a week or so as well. We use a thermostatically controlled seed heating mat under it outdoors in the winter. What type of bin do you have for your worms? I may be able to help you with some ideas to keep it insulated for the winter. ~ Sandra
@@NanasWorms thanks so much for the reply! I use a blue tote bin. I started it end of April and when we had colder weather I just wrapped it in a silver emergency blanket for the nights, but that did limit the oxygen and create more condensation inside. It’s on my covered (cement) patio against the wall of the house, and I’ve had it in the shade all summer but maybe will move it so it gets some daytime sun when the weather is cooler. I’ve also been thinking of enclosing my covered patio a bit, so to keep some of the heat in. I’ll start doing some research on that! Is there a thermometer you recommend for keeping track of the soil temp?
You can buy a compost thermometer (I got mine through Amazon). Mine is about 20 inches long, but I think you can get them shorter. Once we put a bin up against the house and draped plastic down from the eaves to create a mini greenhouse (it was in the winter sun). Another thing you can do is wrap the bin with Christmas lights that give off a little bit of heat. You could put them on a timer to come on at night, for instance. I would not put the bin directly on a patio or concrete. A bale of straw would be good insulation for the bottom. Last winter, we had one night that went to -9°C and we stayed below zero even through the day. I don't think live worms could survive that without additional protection. The cocoons definitely would, though. I have up to four bins in my house - is there a reason you can't do that? ~ Sandra
My basement is only somewhat climate controlled and we definitely had a population explosion in the spring. Moreso in the red wiggler bins, to a lesser extent in the Euro bins. Do you know if there has been a comparable reproduction rate study done on Euros? One funny story: my indoor bins mosty get frozen food scraps, trimmings from house plants, and shredded cardboard and paper. And yet, we discovered a nice fat SLUG in one of the bins 2 weeks ago! I'm mystified! (He went outside. Hope he doesn't find the hostas!)
That slug was living the high life! A delicious food buffet was delivered right to him 😉. Anytime I find a slug I put it out on my driveway or patio. If he can crawl to the edge before the birds find him, he deserves to live. Euros tolerance a similar, but slightly lower, temperature range. The cocoon experiments I found were only done on Eisenia fetida, though. Thanks for watching! ~ Sandra
This bin is extremely healthy with adult worms, wisps and castings. Excellent detailed pros and cons discussion. Thanks for sharing Sandra - Krista -
Thanks Krista. After having a fly outbreak and eating through all our toenails and fingernails, I'm really pleased with how this bin turned out at the end of the summer.
~ Sandra
Hi Sandra indoor worm bins should produce more cocoons over winter. 👌😁👍
Yes, unless there's a place that's 20° year around!
~ Sandra
That bin looks great Sandra, hopefully I can start growing some worms next year . Thanks for always sharing your knowledge my friend.
They would do well in your large garden containers, Tony. As long as you reuse the contents year to year, you would never run out of worms!
~ Sandra
The outdoor castings look great.
Yes, all that natural bedding is great for the worms, as you know. Hold onto moisture better than shredded cardboard, I think.
~ Sandra
Great video, Sandra.
Packed with interesting pros and cons ❤
My Can-O-Worms is inside and my other 5 wormbins are outside!
❤Peggy❤
Plus you have those two rich compost systems full of worms, Peggy! I love worms in the wild.
~ Sandra
I started vermicomposting in the very early spring using an UWB. The UWB is outside on a screened in deck. It’s getting cooler at night here in Eastern Massachusetts so I’ve been relocating worms to smaller containers I can bring inside for the winter. I don’t have a basement. I don’t have room for a lot of indoor worm bins. I’m using a mortar tray, a plastic bin meant to store things under a bed, and two old kitty litter bins. I’ve asked people I know if they’d like to try vermicomposting- I’d give them free worms. I really don’t want to leave any outside to freeze. No takers yet. A neighbor has a garden club meeting tonight and said she’d ask there for me. Here’s hoping. If I don’t have takers, I’ll put more worms into an old dishpan and whatever else I find hanging around.
Thank you for being a caretaker for your worms! Can the UWB go indoors (I'm sure you thought of that)? What's your lowest winter temperature? I have 5 gallon bucket worm towers sunk into my garden. Worms live in them year round. Good luck!
~ Sandra
@@NanasWorms I wasn’t thinking ahead when I set up the UWB. I put it together on my deck. It’s extremely heavy when full. I could never move it while full. Plus- it doesn’t fit through the door when it’s assembled. 😂. I’m considering taking it apart when I’ve relocated most, if not all of the worms, and reassembling it inside. Do I really want a large UWB inside? Not really. Maybe if I built a stand with wheels to make it easier to move around it could work. The only place I could easily set it up would be in a very small bedroom that I currently use as an office. I work remotely. I’m hoping to retire in April. At that point, I’d like to be able to set up the small bedroom as a place for some hobbies ( sewing , knitting, and whatever other crafts I find myself interested in. I guess the UWB could be there. I have absolutely no sense of spatial awareness. I’m not able to look at a room and know what will fit and how it will fit. One of my sisters excels in that so I will probably ask her for help. Time will tell! Last winter we had a brutal cold spell. We had many days with temperatures below zero ( Fahrenheit) with crazy wind chill estimates. I know there are other locations that have very low temperatures for most of the winter. I don’t think I could live in those places. There’s an old Saturday Night Live skit that brings up metric vs imperial measurements. Search for it on TH-cam- Washington’s Dream. I found it very funny.
We sound like we are at the same life junction. Our home is up for sale and we are relocating closer to our children and grandchildren. I had to empty my largest outdoor worm bin into multiple other containers - it's not ideal! Until we sell our house and relocate, both of us and my worms are in a holding pattern. I don't think worms will survive in great number at your low temperatures even buried down in a bucket in the garden. You could put a compost heap on top of them, which if you add to it through the winter would create gentle compost heat. I also overwinter worms in a very basic outdoor greenhouse. We supplement it with a space heater on the coldest nights, but any hint of sunshine and it warms up to Maui temperatures through the winter! I've seen people wrap urban worm bags and other outdoor systems with the Christmas lights that heat up to stop the bags from freezing. Festive AND functional!
~ Sandra
@@NanasWorms A friend offered me part of a roll of some sort of insulation she used last winter on her chicken coop. Her chickens survived the winter so maybe the insulation will work for my worms too. I’m considering putting a 17 gallon tote of worms/ castings in my garage for the winter protected with the insulation. The garage isn’t heated but at least that bin would be out of the elements. I sifted out more castings from the UWB this afternoon and relocated the worms and the material not yet composted to an old dishpan. I gave them some food scraps, crushed eggshells and some water. I think they’ll be too busy to be upset that their surroundings have changed. Yes- I’m anthropomorphizing my worms! I chat to them while I sift/ water and feed them. 😂🪱💕
The garage sounds like a great solution. Build up the bedding because the bigger than mass, especially with castings already accumulating, the less it will drop in temperature. Moisture will help too, so keep the bin on the moist side. You can feed the worms something called compost rolls to create gentle heat once a week. I think I have a couple videos on it, but I'm sure there are plenty on TH-cam.
~ Sandra
Great video!! Thank you!
My outdoor worm bin is going to have its first winter and I’ve been worrying about if it will survive (I’m in lower mainland/white rock area) but it sounds like it should be fine! I also liked your other video about dryness and layers. Mine is deep so at least it has several layers.
Do you do anything to cover or protect your outdoor bins if we get an unseasonably cold winter?
I don't think I would leave an unprotected bin outside, even here in Victoria. I will move all my tote bins into my greenhouse in a few weeks once the tomatoes stop producing. We put a small thermostatically controlled space heater in the greenhouse that comes on if temperatures get to about 7°C. Remember the bedding is never going to drop in temperature as quickly as the air temperature. But, the worms will stop reproducing below 10°. They shouldn't die until they are below zero (bedding temperature). The greenhouse heat up in any sunshine, so daytime temperatures are always quite mild even though it's unheated in there.
I'm going to put my large paddling pool/worm bin together here in a week or so as well. We use a thermostatically controlled seed heating mat under it outdoors in the winter.
What type of bin do you have for your worms? I may be able to help you with some ideas to keep it insulated for the winter.
~ Sandra
@@NanasWorms thanks so much for the reply! I use a blue tote bin. I started it end of April and when we had colder weather I just wrapped it in a silver emergency blanket for the nights, but that did limit the oxygen and create more condensation inside. It’s on my covered (cement) patio against the wall of the house, and I’ve had it in the shade all summer but maybe will move it so it gets some daytime sun when the weather is cooler. I’ve also been thinking of enclosing my covered patio a bit, so to keep some of the heat in. I’ll start doing some research on that!
Is there a thermometer you recommend for keeping track of the soil temp?
You can buy a compost thermometer (I got mine through Amazon). Mine is about 20 inches long, but I think you can get them shorter. Once we put a bin up against the house and draped plastic down from the eaves to create a mini greenhouse (it was in the winter sun). Another thing you can do is wrap the bin with Christmas lights that give off a little bit of heat. You could put them on a timer to come on at night, for instance. I would not put the bin directly on a patio or concrete. A bale of straw would be good insulation for the bottom. Last winter, we had one night that went to -9°C and we stayed below zero even through the day. I don't think live worms could survive that without additional protection. The cocoons definitely would, though.
I have up to four bins in my house - is there a reason you can't do that?
~ Sandra
My basement is only somewhat climate controlled and we definitely had a population explosion in the spring. Moreso in the red wiggler bins, to a lesser extent in the Euro bins. Do you know if there has been a comparable reproduction rate study done on Euros?
One funny story: my indoor bins mosty get frozen food scraps, trimmings from house plants, and shredded cardboard and paper. And yet, we discovered a nice fat SLUG in one of the bins 2 weeks ago! I'm mystified! (He went outside. Hope he doesn't find the hostas!)
That slug was living the high life! A delicious food buffet was delivered right to him 😉. Anytime I find a slug I put it out on my driveway or patio. If he can crawl to the edge before the birds find him, he deserves to live. Euros tolerance a similar, but slightly lower, temperature range. The cocoon experiments I found were only done on Eisenia fetida, though. Thanks for watching!
~ Sandra