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Experimental work :
In 1999 we conducted an experiment with different foodstuffs in one of our boxes.We set out about 60 plastic liter flasks,
without a bottom, at one side of the box.
In these plastic surrounds, we put a variety of edible materials for the worms to get their "teeth" into.
(mind you, they have no teeth, but suck the food when it is fluid )
As the bottoms were missing, the worms had opportunity to make a choice about where they wanted to go for dinner and breakfast.
It was surprising, to find that there was so much difference in time, to finish off one litre of foodstuff.
A full listing was published in the local magazine of our Wormgrowers in New Zealand.
In the year 2000 we started trials with the actual analysis of the most used foodstuffs, used in the industry.
We now have some pure wormcast from : newspaper, advertising paper, potatoe (leaf and tubers ), Grassclippings, lupine, horsemanure, carrots
and a local waterweed.
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Owing to lack of further finance, these samples are still waiting to be sent for analysis.
It costs about $300 (NZ) to do ONE sample.
In the meantime we just keep plodding along with it.
At the moment we experiment with WOOL, but the worms are not too keen on that !
Anybody interested in Donating to this venture in a practical way, could buy some of our vermicast,
and help create some cash !! NZ only !
Just drop us a line by E-Mail !
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Some popular foods worms like :
Most popular : boiled cauliflower
Least popular : Minced meat.
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What and how often to feed your worms :
As worms can often consume their own weight in foodstuffs in a 24 hr period, it is recommended to keep a close watch on the boxes.
Try NOT to leave food unused for too long though, as it can become soured or mouldy, depending on conditions.
Sometimes it is necessary to put the worms on a reduced feed regime, even starve them for a while. (see below )
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Foodstuff : Days:
Newspaper 71
Cardboard 71
Brown bread 32
Lupins 14
Dock 16 (leaf)
Nightshade 52
Mincemeat Long time
Rotten corn Long time
Soja bean cooked Long time
weed unknown (1) 46
weed unknown (2) 12
weed unknown (3) 12
weed unknown (4) 12
Note :
those with "long time" were abandoned after 99 days !
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Foodstuff : Days:
Grape 24 (mash)
Grape 20 (leaves)
Feijoas 13
Pears 23
Blueberries 67
Orange peel 97
Persimmons 16
Bananas 23 (flesh)
Bananas 21 (skins)
Melon 32
Kiwifruit 21
Raspberries 11
Tomatoes 11
Celery 14
Cucumber 15
Nasturtium 12
Treeleaves Long time
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Looking at the Experiment
with the different foodstuffs.
( note the Author's feet )
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Foodstuff : Days:
Potatoes 14 (raw)
Potatoes 21 (boiled)
Potatoes 32 (chips)
Potatoes 42 (leaves)
Kumara chips 20
Cabbage 30
Kitchen scraps 20 (fresh)
Kitchenscraps 67 (rotting)
Carrots 14 (preserved)
Carrots 15 (raw)
Swedes 15 (raw)
Parsnip 15 (raw)
Silverbeet 16 (stems)
Silverbeet 24 (leaf)
Rotting cauliflower 5
Pumpkins 8
Beans 15 (preserved)
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The main diet for our worms is now :
Grass clipping from a contractor, stacked for a few weeks until cool enough, Carrots from a local grower processed through our chipper,
Lake weed from a local lake, collected because it should not go through the electric generating station, Potatoes surplus seconds from a local grower, weeds without the seedheads out of our own garden, old white and brown bread as we collect it from the kitchen, shredded newspaper, cancelled checks from a local bank and shredded junk mail.
The kitchen scraps are used in small wormbin units to get them ready to sell to customers.
All the food going into the wormboxes is weighed before we put it in, that way we keep track of what percentage of each foodstuff is used.
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