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lifestyle
01-06-2008, 09:12 PM
Does anyone use Vermicast as a Lawn Conditioner or know of anyone who is a large scale Vermiculturalist ?


Cheers,

63impala
02-06-2008, 08:22 AM
I use compost tea,I make a small bag of compost like a tea bag put it in a 20l bucket.then get a aquaim pump, put one airator in the compost tea bag and one in the bottom of the bucket leave 24h airating, Makes mikro orgnisims Best thing for my veggie and herb garden puts alote of goodies in the soil and brakes it down naturlly. Must use the same day because orgnisims start to brake down when the airating stops.

lifestyle
07-06-2008, 05:13 PM
I use compost tea,I make a small bag of compost like a tea bag put it in a 20l bucket.then get a aquaim pump, put one airator in the compost tea bag and one in the bottom of the bucket leave 24h airating, Makes mikro orgnisims Best thing for my veggie and herb garden puts alote of goodies in the soil and brakes it down naturlly. Must use the same day because orgnisims start to brake down when the airating stops.


Yeah this is a good idea, its also useful for house plants and other plants in pots.

I'm looking to buy some worms in bulk to start a bulk vermifarm (not a huge one, but sufficient for self supply to customers etc)

If anyone has access to or know anyone who does sell worms in bulk i'd be interested in talking...

cheers,

mowjoman
10-11-2008, 06:32 AM
I'm thinking of building a worm farm but have never done it before.
A great article in the Grass Roots magazine about it on the best way and how to harvest etc.
Anyone out there have any? Are they much work to maintain etc...?
I have an old cast bathtub I was gonna use, any other ideas would be much appreciated :wave-hi:
Cheers.

Bgs
10-11-2008, 07:17 AM
I have the three tiered plastic one you get from bunnings, There is not much maintenance, in fact some times I race out there with a container full food because I have forgotten to feed them for a while, I open the lid fearing the worst and its still packed with worms doing their thing.

I get a lot of worm wee from my guys and every three to four months I get a tray of castings which is not a huge amount but its potent stuff.

I imagine with a bath tub you would be getting a lot more castings.

We have three containers in the kitchen for worms chooks and compost , the hardest thing is deciding who gets what :laughing:

Bluey
10-11-2008, 09:13 AM
I get rid of all my clippings to a worm farmer. He is not huge but has basically turned his very large back yard into a worm farm. He does it all in the ground and "moves" his worms around the yard. He builds up garden beds by burying small cuttings, clippings and other green waste and then the worms move in and compost it. He then moves them on to another bed near by and digs up the castings and bags and sell it. He also sells the worms by the 1000's

He has 4 lawnies supplying him and he seems to handle all we can give him. Pretty smart the way he has worked it out.

Premier
10-11-2008, 04:32 PM
Originally posted by Lifestyle
I'm looking to buy some worms in bulk to start a bulk vermifarm (not a huge one, but sufficient for self supply to customers etc)

If anyone has access to or know anyone who does sell worms in bulk i'd be interested in talking...
I looked in setting up a worm farm recently and I recall that compost worms cannot be shipped from the Mainland to Tasmania due to Quarantine regulations.

I note that the Glenorchy Council has deal going on worm farms at cost http://www.gcc.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/2935/Composting.pdf perhaps they might advise as to where you could source compost worms in bulk.

Cheers ;)

Premier

administrator
10-11-2008, 04:52 PM
grassy234
Member Of Indy




Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Newcastle NSW Australia
Posts: 4 Re: Recycling Lawn Clippings

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi,
Luckily we have a Council run worm farm in our area and they take all the grass cuttings we contractors can supply.

administrator
10-11-2008, 04:54 PM
grassy234
Member Of Indy




Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Newcastle NSW Australia
Posts: 4 Re: Recycling Lawn Clippings

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi,
Luckily we have a Council run worm farm in our area and they take all the grass cuttings we contractors can supply.





Bluey
Senior Member




Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Adelaide
Posts: 165 Re: Recycling Lawn Clippings

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I mulch mow as many as \UI can and what I catch I have a worm farmer who takes them. He is close to me so I swing past on the way home. He rang me out of the blue one day asking if I was interested in supplying him.

I said you bet and have been doing so ever since. He told me he had rung a couple of other lawnies but they wanted to sell it to him. How cheap is that. Saves me dump fees and he uses it plus I get a free bag of worms every now and then for my own garden plus castings at half price.

I love the barter system
__________________
Cheers

Bluey
Adelaide Home & Garden Solutions
http://www.ahgs.com.au

"Success occurs when no one is looking, failure occurs when everyone is watching."

lifestyle
10-11-2008, 06:31 PM
I looked in setting up a worm farm recently and I recall that compost worms cannot be shipped from the Mainland to Tasmania due to Quarantine regulations.

I note that the Glenorchy Council has deal going on worm farms at cost http://www.gcc.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/2935/Composting.pdf perhaps they might advise as to where you could source compost worms in bulk.

Cheers ;)

Premier

Thanks Premier,

I'm also looking to purchase and Breed New Zealand White rabbits. They are great eating and their waste is perfect for worm food.

Worms can be sold from/to Tasmania I think, they just need to be completely free of contaminents.

I think they need to be fed a specific diet for a few days before shipping (cornmeal or something).

We were digging out an old French drain in our yard a week or so back and i was pulling Tiger worms out in huge numbers... Didn't have anywhere set up to put them unfortunately but i know where to dig to find them again.

Bgs
10-11-2008, 07:42 PM
Its a great idea a little side earner when breeding animals. What will you breed the rabbits for?

Friends of my outlaws breed Alpacas and use the poo from the alpacas on a worm farm then sell the castings.

Bluey
10-11-2008, 07:48 PM
I wouldn't mind sitting down to a meal of those white rabbits. Yum.

Bgs
10-11-2008, 07:53 PM
I wouldn't mind sitting down to a meal of those white rabbits. Yum.

So they are breed for Food? , Good eating hey

lifestyle
10-11-2008, 07:58 PM
Its a great idea a little side earner when breeding animals. What will you breed the rabbits for?

Friends of my outlaws breed Alpacas and use the poo from the alpacas on a worm farm then sell the castings.

New Zealand Whites are mainly bred for eating. Thats what i would be doing with them.

That breed grows really quick and the meat is tender.

I had a small set up a few years ago and used to trade fresh table ready rabbits for farm fresh free range eggs etc,

I had the cages up in the air with worm bins underneath. All the waste fell into the worms. It was a self supportive set-up.

I'm looking at something similar this time round only on a little bit larger scale.

haireyscarie
10-11-2008, 10:06 PM
New Zealand Whites are mainly bred for eating. Thats what i would be doing with them.

That breed grows really quick and the meat is tender.

I had a small set up a few years ago and used to trade fresh table ready rabbits for farm fresh free range eggs etc,

I had the cages up in the air with worm bins underneath. All the waste fell into the worms. It was a self supportive set-up.

I'm looking at something similar this time round only on a little bit larger scale.
we have a place up river here

Highly commended: Macleay Valley Rabbit
John and Margaret James began breeding rabbits in NSW’s Macleay Valley in 1996 and they are now the biggest producers of farmed white rabbit in the country. The herd of purebred New Zealand White males and Flemish Giant/California does is protected from disease-carrying insects in a specially designed shed, and are fed hormone-free grain pellets. No preservatives or chemicals are used in the processing of the rabbits.
“They are beautifully fresh and smell of butter. I’ve never tasted a more tender or flavoursome rabbit.”


they make a nice smoked rabbit

http://www.fria.com.au/index.php

when i went up there for a 8x5 tralor of poo.
i could not get over how many you can have in a shed
big money if ya do it right
ps
no PROCESSORS in tassie.
so you might want to try that
http://www.fria.com.au/fria.php?page=Proc.htm
cheers

Bgs
10-11-2008, 11:10 PM
I get rid of all my clippings to a worm farmer. He is not huge but has basically turned his very large back yard into a worm farm. He does it all in the ground and "moves" his worms around the yard. He builds up garden beds by burying small cuttings, clippings and other green waste and then the worms move in and compost it. He then moves them on to another bed near by and digs up the castings and bags and sell it. He also sells the worms by the 1000's

He has 4 lawnies supplying him and he seems to handle all we can give him. Pretty smart the way he has worked it out.

Is this a full time job for this bloke or a side earner be great if you could make a living out of it.

lifestyle
10-11-2008, 11:19 PM
we have a place up river here

Highly commended: Macleay Valley Rabbit
John and Margaret James began breeding rabbits in NSW’s Macleay Valley in 1996 and they are now the biggest producers of farmed white rabbit in the country. The herd of purebred New Zealand White males and Flemish Giant/California does is protected from disease-carrying insects in a specially designed shed, and are fed hormone-free grain pellets. No preservatives or chemicals are used in the processing of the rabbits.
“They are beautifully fresh and smell of butter. I’ve never tasted a more tender or flavoursome rabbit.”


they make a nice smoked rabbit

http://www.fria.com.au/index.php

when i went up there for a 8x5 tralor of poo.
i could not get over how many you can have in a shed
big money if ya do it right
ps
no PROCESSORS in tassie.
so you might want to try that
http://www.fria.com.au/fria.php?page=Proc.htm
cheers

I've spent ages trying to find Pure Bred NZ Whites. I'll make contact with that site and see what i can find out.... Thanks.

Bluey
11-11-2008, 07:43 AM
Is this a full time job for this bloke or a side earner be great if you could make a living out of it.

He does it on the side. He is retired but use this to supplement the pension. It is pretty intensive work. I reckon you could do it as an income if you had the land and money to back you until it started producing. Would give the tips a run for their money if it was big enough and could take everyone's clippings