The Benefits of Worm Farming - For Small Animal Farmers

The farming of small animals is increasing in popularity as traditional farmers diversify from typical income streams. Minimal space is required for small animals compared to larger grazing animals or broad acre cropping.

Common small animals include Rabbits, Quail, Chickens, Ducks and other small species grown for meat and by-products.

Worm farming is an ideal sideline when raising these types of animals as there is ample supply of manure, old nesting and food scraps to feed your worms with. Worms are equally as beneficial for eliminating waste in these situations as they are practical and profitable.

Rabbits are perhaps the easiest to establish a joint worm farming operation due to the practical way the rabbit cages are set up. Commercial rabbit cages are around 500mm (or more) from the ground allowing worm bins to be set up under the cages so that manure, food and bedding waste falls through to the worms. This is a seamless operation with the only ongoing maintenance being the emptying of the bins when the worms have finished.

Alternatively, regular cleaning under cages will provide ample food for traditional worm farm set ups.

Poultry such as Chickens, Quail, Ducks and other bird species have high Ammonia manure which may require prior partial decomposition before feeding to worms. Some growers are happy to feed it straight to worms but I have experienced worms spilling over (evacuating) a worm bed when they experience high ammonia feeds.

The size of your worm farming venture should be in line with the size of your small animal production. Too many worms and not enough feed and your worms will suffer. Too much feed and not enough worms and you will have a pile of rubbish with a potent odour waiting to be fed to the worms.

Worms will typically eat their own body weight in food each 24 hours. Translated to a larger scale 10kgs of worms will consume an average of 10kgs of food in the same time frame. This is handy to know when working out how many worms you will need to consume the amount of waste your small animal farm produces on a daily or weekly basis.

As your worms breed and numbers increase you will have to either expand your food source or sell your excess worms to other breeders, farmers or as fish bait.

In addition, to selling excess worms you will also have worm castings you can either use on your own property or bag and sell as a natural fertiliser, soil conditioner or potting mix additive.

The same principle could apply to larger animal farms with the only difference being the collection of manures from paddocks and manually feeding to your worm beds.

? Eric J. Smith

Eric J. Smith writes about his interest in many areas of Environmental concern including the Health impact of Toxic Chemicals in our Community. As an experienced Horticulturist, Eric has a passion for Organic Gardening and Permaculture with an emphasis on the sustainable use of environmental systems. Becoming a representative for ONE Groups Certified Organic Miessence range of Skin, Body, Health, Oral and Home care products was a natural follow on from his interest in Organics and The Environment. Miessence Representative enquiries are welcome by visiting http://www.lifestyle-advantage.com/ or for product enquiries visit http://www.buy-organic-products.com/.

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The Benefits of Worm Farming - Organic Farmers

Organic Gardening and Farming have a synonymous connection with Composting and Worm Farming. Organic gardeners have known the benefits of compost since times when domestic gardening first made an appearance. The benefits worms have to the soil have been known in some circles for centuries though some have written they felt worms would eat a plants roots and should therefore be eliminated from a garden environment. This logic proved false. Worms now hold a place in all garden environments. In fact, a large amount of worms in a test area would be a sign of an active healthy soil with ample organic matter to please both plant and worm.

Organic Farmers are in an excellent position to use worm farming for the natural feed source for their crops and pasture with an abundant supply of greenery, manures, hay, straw and of course household scraps.

Organic farmers are in an excellent position to use worm farming as a supplemental income stream to their regular farming income. Organic Farmers who venture into worm farming as an income stream will typically offer vermicast (worm castings) and breeding or composting worms for sale, though organic farmers could easily participate in all aspects of worm farming for profit.

As a general rule, Organic Farmers will use worms for 2 purposes.
To compost left over plant material and other farm based waste products.To create a growing medium and fertiliser for propagating seedlings and for conditioning and fertilising before and during a crops growth cycle.

Containing Options for Large Scale Worm Farming

Organic farmers are able to use many things at their immediate disposal for holding their worm farms. Simple things like old bath tubs have been used for smaller scale farms while 200Litre drums split in half have been used on others. Old crates used to hold and transport bread make excellent containers as these can be stacked allowing worms to move up each level as they have completed working each crate. This allows for easy separation of worms and castings - when worms have migrated to the top container it can be moved to become the bottom crate for the next batch. Castings in the bottom crates can be harvested and bagged or used as required.

Pasture worms

Worms in pasture are excellent for soil aeration and transporting nutrients to various parts of the topsoil. There are various figures used to estimate the required number of worms per metre of pasture but a good measure is to aim for at least 1000 worms per metre of pasture.

Breeding worms allows you to increase the number of worms per metre. You could add worms directly to the soil but many prefer to add capsules to the soil allowing them to hatch and populate themselves. Casting worms would also be a good secondary measure to increase immediate populations.

Certified Organic Farmers will need to ensure the supplementary food given to their worms was derived from within the property or it was purchased from Certified Organic growers to ensure compliance with strict and worthwhile testing criteria.

? Eric J. Smith.

Eric J. Smith writes about his interest in many areas of Environmental concern including the Health impact of Toxic Chemicals in our Community. As an experienced Horticulturist, Eric has a passion for Organic Gardening and Permaculture with an emphasis on the sustainable use of environmental systems. Becoming a representative for ONE Groups Certified Organic Miessence range of Skin, Body, Health, Oral and Home care products was a natural follow on from his interest in Organics and The Environment. Miessence Representative enquiries are welcome by visiting http://www.lifestyle-advantage.com/ or for product enquiries visit http://www.buy-organic-products.com/.

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The Benefits of Worm Farming - Sewerage Treatment

Worm farming has been used to reduce waste in many commercial applications in addition to the increasing popularity of home worm farming. Commercial use of worms for waste reduction requires a huge quantity of worms. I have seen some commercial worm farms that have several windrows each being hundreds of metres in length and 3 to 4 metres wide.

The treatment of raw sewerage using worm farming is in use in many parts of the world. As more and more local governing bodies become more realistic about respecting the environment, alternative treatment options are being sought - worm farming is an obvious winner in this alternative approach. It has been said that treating sewerage using worms is so good it can actually produce drinking quality water through the treatment process.

All worms typically used for worm farming are suitable for the treatment of sewerage - Reds, Blues and Tigers. Considering this is a large scale set up the process is relatively simple and straight forward.

The standard operation uses a boom to trickle raw sewerage over large worm beds. As with a home worm system the worms eat their way to the surface. More slurry as added and the process repeats.

The worm castings become the filter medium for the slurry as it builds up. The particles stick to the surface of the castings and the liquid filters through the castings and is collected.

Similar to a home worm farm, the castings left by the worms become a quality rich soil conditioner and fertiliser which can be bagged or sold in bulk to nurseries, garden centres or farmers.

The traditional treatment of sewerage requires several biological processes requiring much more effort compared to sewerage treated using vermiculture (worm farming) principles. The end result also has many added advantages through varied industries.

On a smaller scale but similar in principle to sewerage treatment using worms are waterless toilets. These work by directing human waste into a pit or holding vessel where waiting worms reduce it to castings for use on domestic gardens and council parks. Waterless toilets can be designed to include a water (urine) only section and a solid waste section. This can be useful if installed in public toilet or camping facilities where the ratio of liquid to solid waste is typically higher.

Bacteria is always present in these types of natural fertiliser so as a standard safety measure when handling the finished product it is recommended you wear gloves and a dust mask to reduce the intake of small particles as you breath. Always wash your hands before handling food after working with your worm farm or commercial operation regardless of the source of raw material.

Eric J. Smith writes about his interest in many areas of Environmental concern including the Health impact of Toxic Chemicals in our Community. As an experienced Horticulturist, Eric has a passion for Organic Gardening and Permaculture with an emphasis on the sustainable use of environmental systems. Becoming a representative for ONE Groups Certified Organic Miessence range of Skin, Body, Health, Oral and Home care products was a natural follow on from his interest in Organics and The Environment. Miessence Representative enquiries are welcome by visiting http://www.lifestyle-advantage.com/ or for product enquiries visit http://www.buy-organic-products.com/.

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Benefits and Uses of Orchid Flowers and How to Care for Them

Gardening specialists from around the world all love Orchids, sometimes referred to by their scientific name of Orchidaceae. These beautiful flowers cross-pollinate rapidly and can often be observed to take over vast gardens.

There are two major types of Orchids. First is the Phalinopsis and next is the Oncidiums. Allow me to elaborate a bit more about their characteristics.

Phalinopsis are the easy pollinators, causing them to propagate easily to the extreme satisfaction of owners. Phalinopsis orchids are used by advanced gardeners for cross pollination, meaning, they could "breed" this orchid with other species and as a result, could create a more distinct kind of orchid. This is one of the factors as to why there are still tons of unidentified orchids around the world.

Now, as to the second type of orchids, they are the ones that are preferred by more affluent gardeners. They are called Oncidiums. Oncidium orchids are relatively expensive. They are more expensive because most of the rare and hard to find orchids belong to this specie. Their growths are well augmented and are nurtured better indoors. Meaning, they seek places where sunlight is not as strong. Like Phalenopsis, Oncidiums are good cross pollinators, so new hybrids are released in the market every year.

In taking care of orchids, regardless of whether or not they are of the Oncidium or Phalenopsis specie, is that their water and light requirements must be taken into great consideration. Study your orchid's need for you to avoid any harm that may befall to your plant. Once you get a hang out of it, you will soon develop your own way of taking care of orchids.

Aside from beautifying your garden, Orchids have a variety of other uses. Some are used to make perfumes, fabrics, drinks, and so on. If you are that of person who loves to drink alcoholic beverages, an orchid could also help you! Jumellea fragrance are used to make rums.

Some orchids are also used to satisfy one's taste buds. For instance, did you know that vanilla is a kind of orchid? Yes! Vanilla is an orchid used to give any food that distinctive sweet vanilla taste. Another orchid that is used in the food industry is purple terrestrial orchids. These orchids are turned into powder for cooking Turkish soups or beverages.

In summary, orchids have a lot to offer. Be sure to add these magnificent flowers to your garden today.

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Real Benefits From Indoor Bamboo Plants

Have you already decided on what type of plant you'd like to place inside your home? I suggest that you place in plants that are convenient and are very easy to take care of. One of the most flexible indoor plant are indoor bamboo plants. These plants, unlike bonsai plants are very easy to maintain at home. Unlike indoor cactus plants, bamboo symbolizes several positive energies. As a whole, this type of indoor plant has a lot of advantages to anyone who plans on getting one.

What are the things you already know about indoor bamboo plants? Have you seen them in many Chinese movies? In Chinese, bamboo plants are constantly used in many different ways because they are very versatile and strong. They are also very abundant in China. They mean luck to Chinese people. During Chinese New Year, they are often given as a gift with red ribbons around it which also follows the law of energy in Chinese called "chi".

Bamboo has some attributes which makes it one of the most important and useful plants. It is strong and tall. Its simplicity makes it elegant and beautiful. Its flexibility makes it easier to use for creative purposes.

Aside from the characteristics mentioned above, let us look closely on how indoor bamboo plants can benefit us. They basically add beauty to a house. Their stalks are often braided to form a more artistic look.

Taking care of indoor bamboo plants is easy. In fact, they are the easiest plant to take care of. They can thrive on both water and soil. You can also regrow them by cutting one stalk from it. They are pretty strong and sturdy. In fact, they are formed into many different forms by Chinese people to use them for martial arts, cooking and more.

Indoor bamboo plants are very easy to take care of compared to bonsai plants. All you need to do is to constantly change the water two or three times a week to make sure that it is not utilizing a stagnant water. Make sure that you do not use water directly from the faucet. You can however leave tap water for 24 hours and use it on your plant.

Bonsai tree seeds are required to grow an indoor bonsai tree. Indoor bonsai tree seeds are not really bonsai seeds but are just ordinary tree seeds of trees that can be grown into an indoor bonsai tree. On the other hand, indoor bamboo plants can be regrown by simply cutting a bamboo stalk and transferring it to another ceramic pot.

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