The Benefits of Worm Composting & How Do You Get Started

The Rusted Garden Seed and Garden Shop

The Benefits of Worm Composting & How Do You Get Started

Worm composting is a method used for composting down kitchen vegetable scraps and other garden materials. Instead of piling up the organic waste, and letting it breakdown over time, as is typically done to make compost... we use red wiggler worms in a container.  Red wigglers are different than earthworms in habit, appetite and reproduction. Composting worms live around the surface of the compost bedding and digest new organic matter. They have a huge appetite and reproduce quickly, matching their population to the amount of food and space available to them. 

The Rusted Garden Homestead  - Feeding Worm Composting Worms

Your composting worms will create worm castings from what they excrete after digestion. I like to call that "the end product of Nature." They also excrete liquid, which is often overlooked, that can be collected with many, but not all, worm composting systems and I like to call that "liquid gold." Castings and liquid is what a worm composting system creates for you to use in your gardens. 

The Rusted Garden Homestead - Red Wigglers Eating Kitchen Scraps

To get started you need to purchase or make a worm composting bin. There are many different kinds of bins to purchase. I use and recommend the Hungry Bins worm composting system. I chose it because of the simple set up, the easy collection of materials and the use of a continuous flow system for feeding the worms and harvesting the castings and liquid. The latter means I dont have to move containers or shelving around to collect castings and manage the bin. I like putting the food in at the top and collecting a castings brick from the bottom. Whatever system you chose, the basic set up and benefits to your garden are pretty much the same.

Once you have your worm composting bin, this is how I recommend setting it up but you will have to adjust it, based on the type of system you are using. All bins need bedding material for worms. You can use potting mix, peat moss, coco coir, compost and even shredded paper.  The bedding material should be loose and hold moisture. I use 'Leaf Gro' which is local to my area and is essentially composted leaves. I recommend using quality compost or 'Leaf Gro' for the bedding material. The others work. I feel my suggested materials edge out the others. 

In the Hungry Bin system, to get started, you fill it 3/4 the way up with the bedding material. I purchased 2000 red wigglers and added them to the top of the bedding. Your bedding material should be moist but not soaking wet. If it seems dry to you, add some water several days before introducing the worm and let it absorb through the bedding materials. Damp bedding material is the goal.

The Rusted Garden Homestead - 'Liquid Gold' from Composting Worms

Composting worms do not want rotted organic matter. It should be fresh. You should also give the worms all they can eat but not so much it rots and begins to smell. In the video below, I talk about how the liquid and bedding have no odor at all. If your bedding is to compact or wet, it might cause an anaerobic state with odor. You dont want that. Rotting food will attract other insects.  

In the Hungry Bin system, once up and going for 4-5 months, the worms can eat 2-4 pounds of food daily. That total can be a combination of kitchen scraps and garden waste. The worms will increase or decrease in population based on the available food. You dont have to have pounds of scraps available daily. When the worms are first established, start with 1/2-1 pound of food, based on the number of worms in your bin. Slowly increase that over time. Your composting worms will adjust to the amount of food you feed them over the week.

Your compost worms can eat most organic matter. It is recommend not to feed them citrus fruits as the oils can irritate them.  Onions and garlic are also on the list but I do feed mine onions. They eat it without issue. An established worm composting system can take several pounds of organic matter daily.

Your bin, once set up, should be placed in a completely shady area. If not, the heat of the summer sun will bake and kill your composting worms. My bin, in the video, sits in full shade. We get high 90 degree temperatures with high humidity. The red wigglers managed just fine and really took off in August. It is a good idea to put some burlap or cardboard over the food, if you need to manage moisture in the bedding. If your bin is going to freeze in the winter, it will kill off the worms but the eggs are insulated and survive. They will repopulate the bin with worms as the seasons change. I recommend putting your bin in a garage or a basement. My outdoor basement holds temperatures above 40 degrees.

The Rusted Garden Homestead - Worm Composting Bin

Worm composting systems vary on when the first castings will be available. The Hungry Bin takes about 4-5 months before rendering the first brick of worm castings and that is because it is continuous flow system. The casting will work their way from the top to the bottom of the bin over time. Once the cycle is establish, you can get a brick of casting every 6-8 weeks depending on the worm activity and amount of organic matter processed. The liquid is collected in a tray that sits below the system I use. The liquid starts dripping regularly about 2 months into the process. You can see all I collected over a month in the video. Realistically, you can get about 1/2 gallon a week based on humidity, amount of worms, and the amount of organic matter processed. I'll be doing future articles on how to use the castings and liquid.

Now, when I said castings are the end product of Nature, it meant the worm castings have everything Nature intended for your garden plants to thrive. You are collecting what Nature has created since the beginning for plants to grow. For perspective, chemical fertilizers may have a nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium rating of 24-12-12. And organic granular types may have an N-P-K percentage of 5-4-3. We are accustomed to thinking bigger numbers are better. That is not true for garden plants. What holds true for them is a consistent supply of the things they need to thrive. What they need is more than just N, P and K. Compost, the other gold standard, has a rating well below 1-1-1.

The Rusted Garden Homestead - Keep Your Worm Bin in the Shade

Worm castings supply the major macro-nutrients of Nitrogen (N), Phosphorous (P) and Potassium (K) to your plants. They supply the minor macro-nutrients of Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg) and Sulfur (S). They supply micro-nutrients and trace elements. They are pH neutral and help adjust the pH level in your soil. They contain growth hormones (humic acid) and healthy microbiology for plant growth and soil development. The key is regular use of the castings and liquid. I use castings to set up my container soil and in the planting hole for my garden transplants. I use the liquid, diluted 50% with water, as a regular feeding to my container plants when available.

There is a lot of research, if you want to do a search, that show castings help with managing diseases and pests. They help increase seed germination rate, plant growth, flowering, and production. There is good research that shows the worms have an enzyme (chitinase) that breaks down the exoskeleton of insects for digestion. These enzymes, which are present in the castings, my deter beetles and other insects. Now... this is not a 1 use cure all. These benefits come from regular use and presence of castings in the soil. The old adage that a healthy plant fights off diseases and pests better is true when the soil holds what it needs.  Worm castings will bring that to your plants. 

Good Luck in Your Gardens,

Gary (TRG)

Here are some links to learn about the technical  benefits of worm castings and worm liquid:

Vermicompost a Living Soil Amendment (Cornell University)

About Worm Castings (University of California)

Using Worm Casting for Insect Repellent (Chitinase) (OptiGrow Group)

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How to Grow Squash, Zucchini , Cucumbers & Tomatoes in Containers: Soil, Containers, Care & Trellising (With Videos)

The Rusted Garden Seed and Garden Shop

How to Grow Squash, Zucchini , Cucumbers & Tomatoes in Containers: 

Soil, Containers, Care & Trellising (With Videos)

You can grow just about any garden plant in a container. The key is matching the container size with the mature size of the vegetable plant. Container vegetables like squash, zucchini, cucumbers and tomatoes demand a lot of water and fertilizer. Sure, they look like you can fit them all into one little pot when they first germinate and are young but once they start maturing, you will be greatly disappointed. 

Container Plants & Trellising - The Rusted Garden Homestead

The goal with any container garden is to give your plants what they need to thrive and not just survive. A thriving plant is much more productive. My book: The Modern Homestead Garden: Building Self-Sufficiency in Any Size Backyard https://amzn.to/3kOXGdF covers the key principles for container gardening, provides minimums for container sizes and plants, and it covers container soil recipes.

Generally speaking, for these larger plants you want 15-30 gallon containers. The metal containers in the video are about 17 gallons and the half whiskey barrels are 20-30 gallons. The more you plant in them, the more often you will need to fertilize and water them. Plant them based on your ability to manage watering and fertilizing when they are larger and producing. Watering frequency is very dependent on your summer temperatures. To help address watering related issues, potting mix or container mix should really retain water. Nutrients are important but water retention is the key to the mix, as you can periodically add fertilizers to your container garden. Fertilizers dont need to be given to your plants daily, so being late is more forgiving. You may have to water your plants on a daily bases when they are large and the summer is in full swing.

If you are buying bagged soils, make sure the bag is a Potting mix or a Container mix. It will say that on the packaging. They typically are made from peat moss and shredded woods. This is the most expensive way to fill your containers. You can make your own mix using 50% peat moss or coco coir and 50% earth.soil from your property. This is a good base mix. You can substitute composts for earth or other materials, as you wish. It is important to make sure the compost is fully broken down and the process is finished. Otherwise, it will continue to break down in your container mix and challenge your plants for nitrogen and other nutrients. A good water retaining potting mix, the right size container (with drainage) and some basic organic fertilizers is all you need for success.

Many potting mixes come with fertilizers, which is fine, but that should just be considered a bonus. You will need an organic granular fertilizer which is a slow release fertilizer and water-soluble fertilizer which is mixed in water and provides nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium to your plants immediately.
The key to fertilizing, and spraying or dusting for managing pests and disease, is a routine.  Success is more about sticking to a routine than it is about the brand or type of fertilizer, anti-fungal or insecticide. Many options are effective but only as effective as we are consistent with our application routines. 
Try and find a granular fertilizer with a nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P) and Potassium (K) that is around a 5-5-5. You will see those numbers on the packaging. A few numbers up or down is fine like a 4-3-3, 7-3-5 or 4-4-7. The key is to represent the N, P and K.  Any water-soluble with N, P and K in the single digits is also fine. If you buy one that is really high in those numbers, you can cut the dose in half.



Trellising helps you manage the plants and protects them from damage. As the plants mature to size and produce heavy fruit, it is easy for that weight to pull plants over into the edges of containers. Vines often bend, break or get severely damaged when this happens. Trellising also allows you to more easily manage the plants for inspections, spraying, and managing pests and diseases. They best way to trellis is to just get it done and think out of the box. Trellising is not a beauty contest, it is done for plant care. It is much easier to place your trellises when the plants are smaller before growth makes it harder to set them in place.
Many of your vining plants will produce additional roots where the growing stem of the vine touches the ground. This can be used to your benefit to manage insect destruction, for example from the vine borer. I show examples of new roots and discuss how to train some vine along the container mix to make secondary roots, in the video. 'Back-Up' roots will mitigate damage if the vine borer gets into the main the stem and to the main root area. 
Insect dusts, organic or human made, kill all insects and should be used with respect. Never douse an entire plant in dust. You can dust some outer leaves away from the flowers to kill off cucumber beetles. You can dust just the stem and earth where it comes out of the ground. Dust a few inches of stem, and insects walking across it will be killed. Another good way to protect the pollinators and good insects is to dust late in the evening and rinse it off in the morning. Many insects are active at night and you can control the pests that way. These principles will help you have a thriving and productive garden.

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24 Cool-Season Crops You Can Plant in Your Gardens in Both the Spring and Fall

The Rusted Garden Seed and Garden Shop

24 Cool-Season Crops You Can Plant in Your Gardens 

in Both the Spring and Fall

A  Mix of Cool Weather Vegetables: The Rusted Garden

What Makes A Vegetable a Cool-Weather Vegetable?

The cell structures of vegetable plants differ in that some vegetables have plant cells that will burst if they freeze or encounter even a light frost.. Cool weather vegetables tend to have the ability to freeze without cell damage. They are designed for the cooler temperatures. The cells can freeze and defrost in the sun without damage to the plant leaf. When a extend cold comes that will freeze the roots or area where the roots meet the stem, that is when the plant usually dies or is damaged. So you have a lot of time to grow cool-season vegetables!

Cool-weather vegetables enjoy cool soil temperatures as well as ambient temperatures but most plants regulate themselves based on the soil temperatures. The cool-weather crops thrive when soil temperatures remain in, generally speaking, a range of 50-65 degrees. As the soil temperatures increase, the plants often move from leaf, bulb and bud production into full flower production mode. That is when you see lettuces bolt and flower, broccoli and cauliflower heads flower, radishes become pithy and our cool-weather crops  have one goal. That goal is to flower and produce seed. When the soil temperatures leave that 'cool' range that is when we often pull them and plant our warm-weather or warm-season crops.

Fully Frozen and Survived: The Rusted Garden

Cool season vegetables prefer the cooler weather. This group of vegetables grows best and taste their best with ambient temperatures of 50 degree (F) nights and 60-70 degree (F) days. These temperatures are easy to look up than soil temperatures.  Cool-weather vegetables can be broken into two sub-categories which are Hardy and Semi-Hardy.

Hardy Cool Weather Vegetables: 

This group of vegetables can manage well with mid 40 degree days and can survive a prolonged frost. Many vegetables in this group can over-winter in your garden and bring you early spring greens. Vegetables in this group can be planted up to 4 weeks before the average last frost date in your area. You can probably even get away with 6 weeks if you like pushing garden limits.

Semi-Hardy Cool Weather Vegetables: 

This group of vegetables doesn’t fare as well with frost although they can handle a light frosting with minimal to no damage. They prefer daytime temperatures in the 50’s and nights that don’t fall below 40 degrees, although they can handle nights in the 30’s. Vegetables in this group can be planted up to 2-4 weeks before the average last frost date in your area.

Cool-Weather Crops Can Often be Planted Twice a Season

In many gardening areas, you actually have two cool weather seasons. I plant in Maryland. I can start my cool-weather plantings March 1st and I can plant them again mid August for a fall crop. I actually also plant at this time to also establish vegetables that I will let over-winter. Your cool season crops can be planted in the spring and fall. In the spring, we often seed start indoors as the ground temperatures are to low for a speedy germination. In the fall we can direct sow the seeds as the warm soil temperatures actually increase the speed of germination. The key with fall planting is timing, as you are planting into the coming winter and freezing temperatures. You want to have enough time for your crops to mature.

*I will be doing a full video series and blog series on Fall Gardening & Cool-Weather Crops for Fall 2020/Spring 2021. Sign up for emails on my blog for the most recent weekly post and follow me on YT for videos.

Different Types of Cool Weather Vegetables

The exact split, between hardy (H) and semi-hardy (SH), and where to place a vegetable in the sub-categories is debated. It is best used for general planting guidelines and understanding they simply like the cool weather. My guidelines for each vegetable is based on my growing area in Maryland (Zone 7). I am giving you the general range for first planting of these vegetables when moving from cold weather to warm weather.. You can plant successive crops every 2 weeks as you wish based on your planting zone. I will be doing new blog posts on planting your fall season cool-weather crops. Planting these crops in August doesn't require you to start the seeds indoors or worry about planting around your last average frost date.

Some Cool Weather Vegetable Crops: The Rusted Garden

Asparagus (H) (Perennial) It takes about 3 years to establish a viable crop. It is a perennial plant that will start sending up stalks in March when planted the previous year. If you are planting it for the first time to establish it your garden, it is best to use transplants. You can grow them from seed in cell trays. They should be planting in the garden in May.

Arugula (SH) It can be started indoors and planted in the garden 2 weeks before last frost date. You can also plant seeds at the same time.

Beets (SH) It can be planted as seeds 2 weeks before last frost date. I have had success growing transplants.

Bok Choy (Pak Choi) (H) It can be planted as seeds directly in the garden 2-4 weeks before last frost date. I do recommend growing it indoors and transplanting it into the garden 2-4 weeks before last frost date.

Broccoli (H) It is best planted as a transplant 4 weeks before last frost date. I would not recommend starting it as seeds in the ground in Zone 7.

Brussels sprouts (H) It is best planted as a transplant 2 weeks before last frost date. I would not recommend starting it as seeds in the ground in Zone 7.

Cabbage (H) It is best planted as a transplant 4 weeks before last frost date. I would not recommend starting it as seeds in the ground in Zone 7.

Carrots (SH) Carrots should not be grown as transplants. They can be seeded in your garden 2-4 weeks before last frost date.

Cauliflower (H) It is best planted as a transplant 2-4 weeks before last frost date. I would not recommend starting it as seeds in the ground in Zone 7.

Celery (SH) It is best planted as a transplant 2 weeks before last frost date. I would not recommend starting it as seeds in the ground in Zone 7.

Cilantro (H) It can be planted as seeds directly in the garden 2-4 weeks before last frost date.

Collard Greens (H) It can be planted as seeds directly in the garden 2-4 weeks before last frost date. I do recommend growing it indoors and transplanting it into the garden 2-4 weeks before last frost date.

Kale (H) It can be planted as seeds directly in the garden 2-4 weeks before last frost date. I do recommend growing it indoors and transplanting it into the garden 2-4 weeks before last frost date.

Kohlrabi (H) It can be started indoors and planted in the garden 2 weeks before last frost date. You can also plant seeds at the same time.

Lettuce (H) It can be started indoors and planted in the garden 4 weeks before last frost date. You can also plant seeds at the same time.

Mustard Greens (H) It can be planted as seeds directly in the garden 2-4 weeks before last frost date. I do recommend growing it indoors and transplanting it into the garden 2-4 weeks before last frost date.

Onions (H) If you are using bulbs you can plant them 6 weeks before last frost date. I have not used seeds.

Parsley (H) It can be planted as seeds directly in the garden 2-4 weeks before last frost date. I do recommend growing it indoors and transplanting it into the garden 2-4 weeks before last frost date.

Peas (SH) They should be planted directly in the ground 4 weeks before last frost date. Peas do not like soggy cold soil.

Potatoes (SH) They should be planted directly in the ground 4 weeks before last frost date.

Radishes (H) They should be planted directly in the ground 4 weeks before last frost date.

Spinach (H) It can be planted as seeds directly in the garden 2-4 weeks before last frost date. I do recommend growing it indoors and transplanting it into the garden 2-4 weeks before last frost date.

Chard (SH) It can be planted as seeds directly in the garden 2-4 weeks before last frost date. I do recommend growing it indoors and transplanting it into the garden 2-4 weeks before last frost date.

Turnips (H) They should be planted directly in the ground 4 weeks before last frost date

More Cool Weather Vegetable Crops: The Rusted Garden

Good Luck with Your Garden, 

Gary (The Rusted Garden) 

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5 Things New Gardeners Should Know When Starting Their First Garden: Basic Information to Make it Less Overwhelming

The Rusted Garden Seed and Garden Shop

5 Things New Gardeners Should Know When Starting Their First Garden:

Basic Information to Make it Less Overwhelming

Welcome to the world of vegetable gardening! It can be confusing. Leave it to us fellow gardeners to make things a bit more complicated than it needs to be.  With time, you can sort through all the information out there but when you first start, it is quite overwhelming.  So let's start with the basics that are most important for the first year garden. My new book is all about setting up the foundation of a new garden and using those principles to build your own homestead and edible landscape, at your pace.

    

Sunlight

The bottom line is, for a minimum, your garden needs 6  hours of direct sun. Direct sun is when the sunlight directly contacts the leaves of your plants. When selecting the spot for your garden, in the earth or containers, you must pick a spot where your plants will be directly contacted by the sun and not just a spot that looks bright. It does not need to be 6 continuous hours of sun. But it must total 6 hours. Pick your spot,  check on it every hour or two and total the number of hours the sun hits that spot.  The best place for your garden, if you have options, is 8-10 hours of direct sunlight.  Usually the southern side of homes is where they most sun falls.  When selecting the spot in the the spring, before leaves are on trees, you have to consider how the shade will impact your placement. 

Watering

The is no way any gardener can tell you when to water and how often to water. There are too many factors involved from temperature to the size of plants. When it is cool and plants are smaller, naturally you water less. When plants are larger and you are at the height of summer heat, you may be watering daily.  Plants do not like to sit in water that is pooled or in overly soggy soil. All containers should have drainage holes. Earth beds should be able to shed heavy rains in a few hours. Place your gardens where water doesn't pool or move to, during heavy rains. A good test is digging a hole, where you want your garden to be, and fill it with water. The hole should be about 1 foot wide and 1 foot deep. Fill it with water. If it drains in an hour, the soil drains well. You can fill it again and if it drains in an hour or two, you know you have a place that drains really well.  Drainage holes and draining soil gives you confidence you can't over water your garden.  My advice, when in doubt, water.  More damage is done by under-watering than over-watering.  Soil always dries from the top down. You can water based on that for both your container and ground gardens. If the top 1-2 inches is dry, not dark brown with moisture, water it in.

 

Organic Granular Fertilizers

This is where things can get really confusing.  Plants need nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P) and potassium (K) at higher levels and all the 'other stuff ' at much lower levels. If you are just getting started, worry about N, P, and K. Those are the numbers you see on fertilizer bags and boxes. You will want to get some organic granular fertilizer which is a slow release fertilizer. That means the granuals you toss in the soil will slowly break down over weeks and feed your plants.  Any granular is fine. They are all essentially the same. You want the numbers of  N, P and K on the bag (for granular) to be around a 5-5-5 up or down a few numbers. You will see all KINDS of number and titles on your bag. Like Tomato fertilizer 4-3-3, Garden fertilizer 5-2-4, Pepper fertilizer 3-5-5 and all kinds of vegetable names on the bags. You do NOT need separate fertilizers for different plants 99% of the time. You can use the 3-5-5 Pepper fertilizer on tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, squash and on flowers. Just get a bag that meets your budget and sits around a 5-5-5. You can learn more about fertilizers the following year. When and how you use them is another blog entry.  But you set the soil up with them at planting, and add some mid-season, to the surrounding ground surface, as a basic starter plan.

Water Soluble Fertilizer

These types of fertilizers are typically always mixed with water. Instructions vary and the level of N, P and K vary. Water soluble means the plants can use the nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium immediately, that day. It is what you really need for container gardening.  Container gardens need to be fed with the water solubles every 7-21 days based on the plant size.  Earth bed plants can be fed every 14-28 days with it, generally speaking.  I use organic fish emulsion which is a 5-1-1 N, P, and K.  Other organic fertilizers have higher numbers but they can be expensive. The chemical fertilizers, which you often hear are awful, are not, when used sensibly. You may be on a budget and that is all you can afford. They wont harm you or your plants.  They could harm soil life if used and abused on a mass scale farming level.  They are all basically the same and I would recommend using them at 1/2 strength as they have a very high nitrogen number, often 20+. Too much nitrogen grows very green plants but often excess leaves at the cost of the vegetables you want to harvest.. 

When & What Should I Plant

There are plants that like the cool weather and those that like the warm weather.  I recommend planting lettuce, spinach and peas in the spring. They like the cool weather and can even take a frost. These three varieties are perfect for new gardeners.  Once summer arrives and the heat comes, these crops get pulled out and the warm-season crops get put in the ground. I recommend 2 tomatoes plants, 2 pepper plants, a squash or zucchini plant and some cucumbers. They get put in the ground when the chance of frost is fully gone and the summer approaches.  This mix of plants are garden standards and they will produce for you.  You could also plant some herbs like cilantro, basil and even dill.  Don't overwhelm yourself the first year. Plant what you like to eat and don't over plant. The first year is about learning and figuring out how to build and plant your gardens.

 

Keep a Journal

As a bonus tip, I recommend keeping a journal of when you plant, problems that come up, success, and your first harvest dates of each variety as a way to have notes to reflect back on. It is important to write down the dates when insects, diseases and other pests arrive. This helps you build a plan for the following year. It will help you adjust planting times and figure out how to manage problems. There are many more aspects to gardening but starting here with the basics will get you started and help you establish the foundation of your garden. If you found this post to be helpful, my book details more principles to help you have a successful garden.

Good Luck in Your Gardens,

Gary (TRG)

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel The Rusted Garden Homestead

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Visit The Rusted Garden Seed and Garden Shop for your Seeds, Starting Supplies, Neem Oil,
Peppermint and Other Oils, Calcium Nitrate and More.
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