Fertilizer that doesn't hurt the earth made from worm shit.

[lonestarnot]

http://www.homeandbeyond.com/prod-0153573.html

[kentuck]

1. It's gonna take a lot of worm shit to fertilize...

one of those large corn fields so we can make ethanol.. :)

[jody]

2. No shortage, just clean up after every Republican candidate!

:rofl:

[originalpckelly]

4. Republicans: Giving a whole new meaing to "Red Bull"

:P

[lonestarnot]

7. Red Bull?

[originalpckelly]

13. Psst...

Redstate Bullshit.

Get it?

;-)

[lonestarnot]

14. Oh shit! Is this a red product?

[originalpckelly]

16. No, it was a joke...

I guess it just didn't click. You see I was commenting on the post above mine about the Republican politicians being full of shit. Then I said what I said about "Red Bull".

[lonestarnot]

29. Oh Dee Dee Dee me.

[originalpckelly]

30. Mencia much?

:P

[lonestarnot]

32. Not much lately, but I do love that phrase! Yesterday

I saw a license plate that said DDD. :rofl: looked like a repug too!

[originalpckelly]

46. !

:rofl: :spray:

[lonestarnot]

5. Oh most excellent point.

:rofl:

[lonestarnot]

3. Check it out. There are lots of worms.

[izzie]

6. I read this once

After 100 years of farming in our South with this new fertilizer that the ground was very poor yet after over a 2 to 4 thousand years fields were in better shape that had never used the new fertilizers. Could that be true?

[lonestarnot]

8. Commercial farming?

[izzie]

55. I do not know just the use of commercial fert. was the point.

I read it because I was reading about gardens and what was better for them. It always seems to point to putting the stuff back in from nature and not some thing dreamed up in a lab. I am not sure if the lab stuff is bad or not it was just something I read and it stock in my mind.

[Warpy]

9. Every organic gardener out there

knows the value of worm castings in improving soil. The worms also aerate the soil as they tunnel through it.

I was lucky in New England, the soil was good enough to support them. I'll have to work on it a lot here in NM to attract them.

[lonestarnot]

11. Isn't NM soil pretty much like red cement?

[Warpy]

18. It is about a foot and a half down

There's a layer of rock hard clay called caliche. It's why people out here make their houses out of it, if they're rich enough to afford the labor.

[Fierce]

26. Worms do a lot of damage where I am.

They're good for gardening; bad for the forest.

[lonestarnot]

33. They are bad for the forest?

How so?

[Fierce]

41. Read more here.

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/invasives/terrestrialanimals/earthworms/index.html

[lonestarnot]

48. Damn!

We just can't do anything right when it comes to the environment. Thanks for the link and disregard my last question to you. I just now saw this post.

[silverweb]

10. Fascinating stuff.

I've been reading about it for a long time... finally moving next week to a place where I'll be able to start experimenting with a small worm farm of my own.

[lonestarnot]

12. Cool. Is it true if you cut them into two pieces, you get two worms for the price of one?

[silverweb]

19. I don't know yet.

Ask me again in a few months -- after I've had a chance to get started and play with my worms for a little while.

:D

[lonestarnot]

34. eeek! What if it doesn't work! You'll have only one dead worm and be known as the worm murderer.

[irislake]

23. No

If you cut worms in half one part dies the other part grows new tail --- or whatever. You do NOT get two worms. I know this I have red wrigglers in a box in my bathtub and I feed them compost and get castings. Just started two months ago. They multiply like crazy if they are happy in their box and you can start new colonies.

[lonestarnot]

35. Way cool.

red wrigglers... do they come in blue?

[irislake]

53. They gotta be red

[in_cog_ni_to]

50. It depends on where the cut took place and you don't get 2 worms, but

If a worm is cut at the posterior end, sometimes a new tail will grow back on. Sometimes a second tail will appear next to a damaged tail. However, the posterior half of the worm can't grow a new anterior (head.)

[jmowreader]

52. That's planaria--great big flatworms

I think every schoolchild in America, at least the ones who took biology before NCLB hit, has either seen or read about planaria.

You cut them in two lengthwise and they grow out sideways.

You cut them in two crosswise and the back half grows a new head while the front half grows a new tail.

You cut them through the head into a Y shape, and you're left with a planaria that has two heads.

Chop planaria into ten pieces, you get ten new planaria.

Planaria are lots of fun.

Earthworms? Not so much fun. These have organs, and they're all at the front. Cut one in two, and the front half (which contains the organs) grows a new back half while the back half (which contains only the intestine) dies.

[Mojorabbit]

22. I have this one

or one similar to this one (mine was cheaper)on my porch. Scroll down a bit to the worm condo. I get wonderful castings and casting tea. No odor. They eat kitchen scraps.Easy care.
Edited to add link
http://www.composters.com/docs/worms.html

[silverweb]

28. Very nice!

How long have you had it? I haven't decided whether I want a round one or a square one yet, or one designed as drawers rather than stacking bins. Once I get organized in the new place, I'll be making serious decisions about these things. Can't wait!

[Mojorabbit]

56. I have the round one

My worm population is steadily increasing and I have found they love melon. They come up and surround it like they are having a picnic. I really thought there would be odor but nada. It is very easy to take care of. I've had mine for six months. First saw it at the county fair of all places.

[silverweb]

57. I've been reading up on line.

I wish I could have started doing this years ago. As soon as I'm settled in the new place, I'll be ordering my bins and some starter worms. Can't wait!

[lonestarnot]

36. I had no idea there were such beautiful worm boxes! Hell, I could

live in one of those! Do they have sofas and TVs?

[kitkat65]

15. You can even make your own with a personal worm farm!

Just feed them your uneaten food. There are some limits on what you can reasonably feed them - for instance lots of meat due to the stench and the questionable environmental safety of having rotting meat around.

There are other organic options for composting such as Bokashi.

If you're interested, search online for worm composting - or Bokashi - and you'll find several sites that sell what you'll need.

[alfredo]

25. meat attracts predators.

You should see all the worms in my compost. They love it.

[kitkat65]

31. The worms love the meat? What kind of predators are we talking?

We hardly eat meat - not because we're vegetarian but because it's expensive and kind of a pain to cook. I plan to do the composting thing someday and figure what little meat we eat would be okay. I'm also guessing it would make the compost more . . . well-rounded?

Probably this biggest thing we live on is coffee and since coffee grounds are compostable I wonder if we'll have the most hyperactive worms on the planet.

:bounce:

Are you using red worms?

[alfredo]

40. Coyotes, dogs, raccoons, and if you are in the outback,

bears.

forgot to add.


I didn't have to add worms, they find the compost all by themselves. If the compost is in contact with the ground you don't have to add them. If not, go to a bait store and buy some worms. You can also grab your shovel and find them on your own.

[ashling]

17. Is Lieberman moonlighting as a nightcrawler?

:)

[originalpckelly]

21. ...

:spray:

[JohnyCanuck]

20. Our soil needs all the help it can get.

Eating Fossil Fuels

by Dale Allen Pfeiffer

SNIP

To give the reader an idea of the energy intensiveness of modern agriculture, production of one kilogram of nitrogen for fertilizer requires the energy equivalent of from 1.4 to 1.8 liters of diesel fuel. This is not considering the natural gas feedstock.⁹ According to The Fertilizer Institute (http://www.tfi.org), in the year from June 30 2001 until June 30 2002 the United States used 12,009,300 short tons of nitrogen fertilizer.¹⁰ Using the low figure of 1.4 liters diesel equivalent per kilogram of nitrogen, this equates to the energy content of 15.3 billion liters of diesel fuel, or 96.2 million barrels.

Of course, this is only a rough comparison to aid comprehension of the energy requirements for modern agriculture.

In a very real sense, we are literally eating fossil fuels. However, due to the laws of thermodynamics, there is not a direct correspondence between energy inflow and outflow in agriculture. Along the way, there is a marked energy loss. Between 1945 and 1994, energy input to agriculture increased 4-fold while crop yields only increased 3-fold.¹¹ Since then, energy input has continued to increase without a corresponding increase in crop yield. We have reached the point of marginal returns. Yet, due to soil degradation, increased demands of pest management and increasing energy costs for irrigation (all of which is examined below), modern agriculture must continue increasing its energy expenditures simply to maintain current crop yields. The Green Revolution is becoming bankrupt.

SNIP

Modern intensive agriculture is unsustainable. Technologically-enhanced agriculture has augmented soil erosion, polluted and overdrawn groundwater and surface water, and even (largely due to increased pesticide use) caused serious public health and environmental problems. Soil erosion, overtaxed cropland and water resource overdraft in turn lead to even greater use of fossil fuels and hydrocarbon products. More hydrocarbon-based fertilizers must be applied, along with more pesticides; irrigation water requires more energy to pump; and fossil fuels are used to process polluted water.

It takes 500 years to replace 1 inch of topsoil.²¹ In a natural environment, topsoil is built up by decaying plant matter and weathering rock, and it is protected from erosion by growing plants. In soil made susceptible by agriculture, erosion is reducing productivity up to 65% each year.²² Former prairie lands, which constitute the bread basket of the United States, have lost one half of their topsoil after farming for about 100 years. This soil is eroding 30 times faster than the natural formation rate.²³ Food crops are much hungrier than the natural grasses that once covered the Great Plains. As a result, the remaining topsoil is increasingly depleted of nutrients. Soil erosion and mineral depletion removes about $20 billion worth of plant nutrients from U.S. agricultural soils every year.²⁴ Much of the soil in the Great Plains is little more than a sponge into which we must pour hydrocarbon-based fertilizers in order to produce crops.

http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/100303_eating_oil.html

[lonestarnot]

37. Agriculture is one complicated business. 500 years to replace 1 inch of topsoil.

That is astounding. We are all going to hungry unless we get pollutants under control. Mind boggling.

[Pathwalker]

24. It works wonderfully! I used this in my garden

last year, and my plants thanked me for it all summer long. Trees love it, too. Fabulous stuff - I highly recommend it!

[lonestarnot]

38. I am definitely buying some come spring.

[AikidoSoul]

27. The Terrible Truth About Most Fertilizer Products

AMMUNITION ABOUT SYNTHETIC FERTILIZER PRODUCTS

Some years back Duff Wilson of the Seattle Times (now with the New York Times) wrote an investigative reporting series about how hazardous wastes are routinely recycled into fertilizers, and these haz wastes are NOT REQUIRED TO BE LISTED ON THE LABEL. The people who use them are completely clueless. As shocking as this seems, this activity is actually legal and in keeping with the laws of the U.S. Wilson was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for the 29 part series. He also wrote a book on this topic.

What we learned is so horrific that even if you are a cynical person, it will cut you to the soul to realize how our government fails miserably to protect us from harm. The U.S. DOES NOT REGULATE fertilizers and neither does it regulate the use of hazardous wastes being put into these products. OTHER INDUSTRIALIZED COUNTRIES HOWEVER DO REGULATE FERTILIZERS.. EVEN CANADA. After this series was printed, Washington state began a process to regulate fertilizers in that state, but because it is a single state, this is an iffy venture.

Worse, the U.S. EPA allows the most toxic industries to PROFIT from dispersing its hazardous wastes all over the country by permitting them to be "recycled" into fertilizers. Our government even permits RADIOACTIVE hazardous wastes to be "recycled" into fertilizers!!! Normally these hazardous wastes would go to superfund sites, or other haz waste facilities and the polluting industries would be CHARGED for putting them there -- but because of a LOOPHOLE in the law, the EPA allows them to "recycle" them and the polluting industries can actually sell them to fertilizer companies. When converted into an agricultural "product" it loses its haz waste status!

This disgusting mix is then...

Spread on agricultural fields.
Spread on your lawns.
Spread on your vegetable garden!!

The practice of recycling hazardous wastes into fertilizers AFFECTS ALL TYPES OF FERTILIZERS ... NOT JUST THOSE USED ON FARMS. The Seattle Times paid to have many types of fertilizers analyzed, and then responded to citizen requests AND TESTED FERTILIZERS ADVERTISED FOR HOME USE. THESE ANALYSES FOUND THAT MOST THEM CONTAINED HAZARDOUS WASTES LIKE THE ONES FOUND IN FARM FERTILIZERS!!

Some links to the articles in this series are below. I think this is extremely important ammunition.

The question to ask would be.... Are the fertilizers used in Chem-Lawn products any better? (I would bet my life that they are not) Do they have an ecological program? I doubt it!!! They use highly toxic pesticides and fungicides....why would they make an effort to exclude haz wastes in their products? Would they be willing for us to spot check them and have them analyzed?

Ed... didn't I read somewhere that you have some kind of a "blending" operation for your fertilizers? What do you use as your basic materials? If you truly do use all safe, organic material -- this would help your reputation as a business that is protecting the health of the public. But the public needs to know what their choices are... and what the problems are. Most of the public DOES NOT HAVE A CLUE that this kind of thing is being done and is actually promoted by the EPA as a way to get rid of haz waste. Duff Wilson's investigative series should be reprinted and re-circulated.

SOME RESOURCES:

Home Fertilizers: Tests Find Some Safe, Some Not

http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=2751213&date=19980517

And here are a number of links to a few of the 29 articles that were part of the series at the Seattle Times entitled, "Fear in the Fields: How Hazardous Wastes Become Fertilizers" (not all the articles are available):

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/news/special/fear_fields.html

When this Seattle Times series first came out, outraged citizens and politicians contacted the EPA which said it would "bring under review" this activity, but predicted that it would take a long time to complete. Thus far, there has been no word whatsoever that this activity has received any change in status.

By the way... we use worm castings here and it is outstanding!

[lonestarnot]

39. This stuff in the OP is supposed to be all natural and good for the planet.

[Fierce]

42. In Minnesota? Please read this.

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/invasives/terrestrialanimals/earthworms/index.html

[lonestarnot]

43. Nope AZ. Should I still read?

[Fierce]

44. I knew you weren't...

...I just wanted to catch the eye of anyone from MN who was scanning the thread. It's really a huge issue here, worms wrecking forest floors.

[lonestarnot]

45. How do the wreck the forest floor? Eat it, deposit something? What are they up to?

[Fierce]

47. Well, it's all at the link.

The eat the leaves that create the environment for hardwood tree seedlings, ferns and wildflowers.

There's a pretty dramatic picture at the link.

[lonestarnot]

49. I just saw it. Thanks again.

[otherlander]

51. If you have a compost pile

the worms living in it make it break down into fertilizer faster. Then when you add it to your garden, the worms burrow down and airate the soil. We get some earthworms in ours, but mostly red worms, which are smaller. Then there are grubs, and we can't get all of those out, but we do when we see one.

[lonestarnot]

54. Mine are all crispi on the sidewalk from drowning today.