Grit for Worms: Eggshells, Biochar, and Bone Meal 

Thank you Rodoslaw! I appreciate the feedback!

Awesome!!! I kept red wrigglers in Southern California for years. Happy to assist you if you have any questions! I used to put ice packs in the bins twice a day when we had heat waves. That helped a lot!

What a great system!! One of my concerns with bone is the quality of life animals receive in commercial farming. I really like how you are closing the loop!! Question, why bone broth? Is there a particular benefit? I make lots of veggie broth but have not tried bone.

@@GardensofNewEngland Bone broth is an incredible source of easily digestible protein in the form of amino acids, so it's good for your gut. These amino acids are essential to build connective tissue in the body, so bone broth can help if you have joint or bone issues or connective tissue problems.

@@NanasWorms Thank you!! This is great information!!!

​@@GardensofNewEngland I always thought bone broth was the base broth for many common soups like chicken noodle :)

@@carpentryfirst3048 it is!!

Thank you!!

Thank YOU!

oh interesting! I never thought about perlite as an option. Thanks for sharing!

Awww! Thank you!!! I have one on how I harvest. I do not use a sifter. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-wVfrEK_qY24.html Here is good playlist on the basics: ru-vid.com/group/PLJQ7A3Z50v5H67itC8VmY6YnQ-X9jpg7R

Worth trying!! I have used crab shells before but discontinued because it still had a bit of a seafood smell. Animals will break into your system if they smell something they would want to eat. So, if your system is outside, be careful.

I use sand too but in combination with biochar and eggshells. Biochar or charcoal is pretty ph neutral. Ash is what you really don’t want to use because it’s very alkaline.

@@GardensofNewEngland I once commented on another worm channel that I was using charcoal to regulate moisture and he cautioned me against it because of the high pH. But further research does show the charcoal is relatively neutral. Thanks.

@@ckmbyrnes oh so glad we got that sorted out!! Charcoal is one of the best additions to your bin, but you do have to make sure it is clean from ash. You can even wash if you are making it yourself.

Hi there, thanks for saying hello! 200 degrees for 10-15 min would do it. I usually just dry mine for several months before use. The key is to eliminate moisture.

@@GardensofNewEngland ok thanks again. 🤗

I use micro wave..1 minute intervals about 2 times a day for couple days...haven't had problems in the 30 + years I have had a wormery.

Awesome!!!! have you noticed any difference? probably a cleaner source of calcium than commercial eggs.

I was reading about that. How is the smell? Are there any concerns about mercury content? I have an indoor system so I wonder if it would smell too much. I will check it out for my orchard.

I just bury the fish heads under my trees.

@@t3dwards13 Thank you! I have been thinking about doing something similar. There is a great fish market close to where I live. I have hesitated because I have bears around and I know fish has a strong smell.

Thank you!!!! I am going to look into some of these. I have been thinking about greensand.

These are probably good sources of grit, but for the most part harder to get in quantities sufficient to use in a worm farm. The items he outlined are readily available and can be made/collected at home without buying anything.

I use lateral flow or migration method. It works relatively well and it is non intrusive. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-wVfrEK_qY24.html

Jorge, I recently found a new source of food--a juice bar is making their pulp available to me. It gets digested in a matter of days. I still do bokashi but I am adding that to my regular composting pile. I might move and no longer have access to the pulp, in which case I will go back to bokashi. Yes, these materials, all three, I add to the food scraps weather it be bokashi or pulp.

@@GardensofNewEngland Sounds great! And what is your recommendation from your experience. To give food scraps directly to worms with those three ingredients from your video. Or to put the food scraps + 3 ingredients in bokashi and once the bokashi is ready, to give it to worms. What is best from your experience? thanks by the way! :)

Jorge, it really depends on your preference. I started to do bokashi because I was doing indoors composting in the middle of winter in Massachusetts. So, I needed something to make the process easier, less excess fluids, less issues with bugs, and potential smells. Bokashi helps eliminate lots of fluids before the food gets to the worms, and it kills fly eggs. No more fruit flies or black soldier flies after I started doing bokashi. I would add the grit materials when I am going to add either the bokashi or the fresh food scraps to the bin. I would not add that to the bokashi because it is going to soak lots of acid from the fermentation. You want to add it after the stuff is fermented to neutralize the acidity. If you have an outdoors system, you could try to do a regular composting pile and then feed that to the worms--but make sure invasive worms do not get into it. In sum, I would do bokashi if I was doing indoors composting. Once the food is fermented, I would add the grit as I add it to the bin--make sure you are adding it to a section of the bin and not all of it because it is VERY acidic. You want the worms to come to it and not to be forced to live in it. You can kill them if you make them live in fresh bokashi. So, give them lots of areas without food for them to be. They will move in on their own. I hope that helps! Ask anything else if you have further questions.

@@GardensofNewEngland Incredible! I appreciate so much all your insights. It's SO helpful! :)

Jorge, you are most welcome!!

Yeah! That works too!

Interesting question! I am not an expert on the chemistry of composting. But, as we dry food, nitrogen content decreases and some of it is transformed. If you dry vegetables to their bare bones, you get a carbon structure. Carbon is the foundation of most living tissue, including our own bodies. At that point, the food scraps become more carbon. However, you want quality carbon material to help your bin with key functions like air flow and structure. Dry food scraps wont likely do the same job as dry leaves. You have a couple of options, you can ferment the excess food scraps via bokashi fermentation or you can bury them if you do not have a regular compost pile. Bokashi fermentation has a lot of positive attributes and it enriches the soil. I feed bokashi to my worms, but you can just bury it directly into your garden beds. Where do you live? Cardboard, leaves, and even saw dust can help you with the brown/carbon ratio.

@@GardensofNewEngland Thanks for getting back to me. This is exactly what my thoughts are - dry food is a carbon rich structure. I will have a look at bokashi composting. In the meantime, I bury excess scraps in the front of the garden.

Denise, you are most welcome! Bokashi is a great way to enrich the food scraps before you bury them into the soil. I use two basic homedepot buckets. You do not have to buy a bokashi bucket. There is a myriad of benefits associated with bokashi so definitively check that out. I have video where I explain how to use it in my worm bin, but you just need to ferment and add to you garden since you are trying to reduce kitchen waste. Here is my diy bokashi bucket: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-TOgkSO7GA8U.html

@@GardensofNewEngland Thanks 🙏

@@denislukasov4813 you are most welcome!

Awesome!!! you get the bone and the biochar at the same time.

Awesome!!! Congratulations and welcome to Vermicomposting!

Wow!! Very interesting. Thanks for sharing!

Worms need moisture and lots or organic material. You would not find them in sand alone. But, most soils have a certain level of sand particles which worms use as grit in the wild.

I think we are talking about a minute amount of sand, like the crushed eggshells. We aren't talking about raising worms in a bin full of eggshells or sand. Just like chickens, you don't feed them sand, butvyou do have to provide some sand/Grit so they can "chew" their food in their gizzards... just like worms.