English; What Belongs In A Worm Farm; What Does Not Belong In A Worm Farm - plastia urbalive worm farm Benutzerhandbuch

English

Composting step by step, in detail
• Create a bedding at the bottom of the composting tray (B1) using moistened
crumpled paper. One layer is enough. The box your Urbalive worm farm came
in is perfect to use for this purpose. But you can also use egg cartons,
newspaper, rolls from toilet paper, grass, leaves, peat, wood shavings or coconut
fiber.
• Put your earthworm hatch on the bedding. For start, one pound (0.5 kg) of
earthworms will be sufficient. For those counting, it would be about two
hundred earthworms. We'll tell you later in these instructions where to get your
worms.
• Cover the earthworms as well as the entire bottom of the composting tray (B1)
with about an inch (2–3 cm) thick layer of bio-waste chopped to small pieces.
• For the first month, feed the earthworms once or twice a week with a handful
of bio-waste. Beware of overfeeding. Otherwise the earthworms won't manage
to process the bio-waste and it begins to go mouldy. If this happens, simply
remove the mouldy parts from the worm farm.
• As there are more earthworms, you can increase the volume of the bio-waste.
In about three months the worm farm manages to process approximately
half a pound (quarter of a kilo) of bio-waste per day. This is approximately
the amount produced daily by a four-member family.
• Check the moisture level several times a week.
• Once a week carefully rake through the content of the worm farm and see how
the earthworms are doing. This also nicely aerates the compost.
• Keep the worm farm closed, the earthworms like darkness.
• In about two months, the worm farm begins to create the earthworm
tea, a liquid product of composting. This runs down into the bottom tray
with the release valve. Remove the earthworm tea about once or twice
a month, depending how much is formed. Wash out the bottom tray of
the worm farm every time you tap off the earthworm tea.
• Once the composting tray (B1) fills up entirely, add a pile of bio-waste
in the middle to create a mound. Press the second tray (B2) on this and start
filling the new tray with bio-waste. The earthworms will either move to the
second tray (B2) by themselves or you can help them and move a part of the
earthworms to the upper floor. Leave the full tray (B1) in the set for another
month. During this time all earthworms will move to the tray (B2) and the
material in tray (B1) will turn into vermicompost. If you need to use the fertilizer
immediately, you can spread it in a thin layer on an underlay and make
a mound in the middle. The worms will move from the thin layer to the mound.
• Then remove the vermicompost from the composting tray (B1), fertilize your
plants and wash the tray under running water. The composting tray (B1) thus
becomes the empty tray (B2). For now add it empty to the composter or set it
aside until you fill the tray in which you are composting at the moment. Then
repeat the entire cycle with moving the earthworms to the upper floor. And so
on, over and over.
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What belongs in a worm farm
• peels and leftovers of fruits and vegetables (for example
potato peels, apple cores, green tops, etc.)
• tea bags (earthworms often like to reproduce
in them, so don't forget them)
• coffee grounds, coffee filters
• leftovers of boiled vegetables
• crushed eggshells
• paper napkins
• dampened paper carton
• dry baked goods
• leftovers of house or outdoor plants
TIP: Chop large pieces into smaller, the worms will process
them better.
What does not belong in a worm farm
• flavor-intensive foods such as ginger
or an excessive amount of citruses
• milk products
• meat products
• bones
• oil, lard and other fats
TIP: In the beginning of composting, don't
dispose of leftovers of stalk vegetables
or potato peels. The initial small number
of worms cannot process them with their
enzymes and the leftovers could smell.
Where to put the worm farm Urbalive?
The worm farm Urbalive can stand in the kitchen,
on the balcony, in the hallway, in a garage, as well as in
a classroom or an office. If you maintain a few simple rules,
you don't need to be afraid that the contents of the worm farm
would smell badly.
Keep at an adequate temperature. The earthworms like
a temperature around 68 °C (20 °C). In the winter, don't leave
the worm farm outside without insulation, so that it wouldn't
freeze through. In the summer, don't put it directly in the sun,
where it would overheat and dry up. The temperature
in the worm farm should not drop below 41 °F (5 °C)
and exceed 77 °F (25 °C).
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