Kick-start Winter Composting With -- Well -- Worms.

Thanks for clarifying the dog doo (er, is that don't?) dilemma with composting.

Where in CO are you, Rose? I'm in the Boulder-ish area. Hooray for a spring-like day today! :)

Amy
Crunchy Domestic Goddess ( http://crunchydomesticgoddess.com )
BlogHers Act contributing editor ( http://www.blogher.com/special-events/bloghers-act )

Hi Rose -

OK - that makes sense :)

Mmm - would love to smell spun silk and mulberry leaves!

Re dog poo pathogens and veggie gardens, the roundworm eggs (dangerous) often found in dog waste is very difficult to kill and can remain viable for years.  If you use the composted poo with edibles, there won't be uptake from roots.  But the compost can stick to crevices in tubers (carrots, beets, etc.).  Also the compost might cling to leafy veggies or veggies that are dropped, even after they are cleaned.  So why risk it.

This has been a bad winter in Colorado for composting.  We've had none of the usual winter warm spells to break down the food scraps.  I've never seen anything quite like it.  Still have pails of scraps waiting for some action in the composting trench so that I can mix them in with the heap.

The worms we kept were silk worms.  We fed them on mulberry leaves, and some kids even got them to spin their silk around shapes.  I loved the smell of them, and the smell of the mulberry leaves.

I think the concern about composting dog poo is the parasites that can be in the poo. I've read that you can do it, but you have to make sure the compost gets to a high enough temperature to kill whatever nasties could be in the poo (but I don't know what it is off the top of my head). Some hard-core enthusiasts even compost human waste (!)..."humanure" As you can imagine you have to be *very* careful.

Anyway, I was so excited to see this post pop up on my FB page. When I was a kid I *DREAMED* about growing worms in a box. I saw it somewhere--probably in a book--and I begged and begged my mother for a worm box. Of course she said no (the meanie), and I had to be content with memorizing the pages (I can still see the cut-away diagram that showed the inside of the box). I, on the other hand, am not a meanie (at least about worms), and I think my kids are going to get a worm box :) 

I knew you would ask that!

I know people say you should not use it for anything you plan to eat, but I must say, the reasons they give do not convince me.

I have used it mixed up with earth, to prepare an area that is a sort of "paving stones with ground cover and grass in between" bit.  And I dont use it for plants that I plan to eat.

It really gets just exactly like earth.  You would never tell by looking (or smelling) what it used to be. Pretty amazing!

And I guess if you have small children, it might be an issue if they root around in the soil.  But not any more, surely, than using chicken poop, or cow manure, which people around here do a lot.  But Im not knowlegeable about these things, so maybe there are pathogens that are unique to dog poop :)

That's a great solution you came up with for the dog doo! I know there's a thing called a doggy dooley on the market that basically accomplishes the same thing (but probably costs a whole lot more). I'll have to keep this in mind for my own yard once we move this spring or summer. Thanks!

One question for you though - you don't use the compost from the dog poop for your garden, do you?

Amy
Crunchy Domestic Goddess ( http://crunchydomesticgoddess.com )
BlogHers Act contributing editor ( http://www.blogher.com/special-events/bloghers-act )

Isnt it odd how we are about words?  I think we need to figure out a new name for Earthworms than "worms".  I mean - they are not worms in the sense of tape worm, round worm, ring worm, hook worm aaaah yuck.  Those horrible parasites.  They are quite wholesome.  Just like I don't feel the same about a bee as I do about a fly. :)

But on a different topic.

I'm lucky enough to live where it never freezes (although it gets damn cold, and most of us dont have interior heating) so my compost is happy all year round. 

I have two large dogs and one small garden.  I hate throwing away dog poo, especially in a plastic bag (encapsulating it for posterity?) and burying it does not work (I'm told that also breeds flies?)  so I found a solution.

I dug a hole in the ground, not too deep, about a foot (because it got too hard to dig any deeper :)  )
I got a plastic rubbish bin - about two foot high- that had a lid that is held firmly closed by some big clips.
I cut the bottom out of the bin - its easier if you drill a number of holes first, as many as you can, to create a sort of perforated line, and then cut it.
I buried the bin over the hole.
Then I started putting the dog poo into the bin, and sprinkled in some compost starter from my garden centre.

I also added some vermiculture style worms, who are VERY happy in there.  But I dont think they are necessary.  Just happy :)

I was worried that the bin would get too full, too stinky, or breed maggots.  None of these things have happened.  There are no flies, because the bins clip closed, and therefore - no maggots. The bacteria in there processes the poo so quickly that there is no unpleasant smell.

I now have two smallish bins, next too each other.  The one has the old poo, the other the new. :)

Old poo is actually just like earth, and makes a fabulous compost.

I top them up with water if they look a bit dry, but otherwise this is by FAR the best solution to my dog poo problem.

I've noticed that the worms have spread out into my garden a bit, but they seem to love that lovely protein rich food I'm giving them so much that they stay in the bins.

I plan to have a vegetable garden in my backyard and was planning on buying a compost bin when one day I noticed that there is already a compost bin hidden in my backyard!  I think I'll consider the indoor worm composter (I live in PA and we're going on week three of being buried in snow).  Great article!

Somer blogs at Merry Wife of Canon ( http://www.merrywifeofcanon.com ) as well as Smell My Plate ( http://www.smellmyplate.com ).

I'm just outside of Chicago, and can relate to the troubles of vermicomposting year-round.  When it's not snow covered, I continue to add my kitchen waste to the composter, and layer my newspaper when needed.  I haven't tried vermicomposting in my basement yet, though.  I rely on the months when it is warm and it bakes nicely outside.  I had usable compost last spring, and I just started composting in the summer of '08. Perhaps next winter I'll do the indoor bin!