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Published Friday August 29th, 2008
A local man is making the world a little better with a worm composting business in Upper Coverdale
Joseph Babineau of Upper Coverdale has taken up a new hobby, which he describes as making "garden lasagne" for worms.
Joe was watching the television show Dirty Jobs when they showed how worms could be used to turn compost items into both liquid fertilizer and solid manure for fertilizing plants and gardens.
About a year ago, Joe decided to try to do just this; unfortunately, his worms froze during the winter. Having learned the hard way that worms need a temperature between 5-30C, Joe bought more worms this past July.
He then set up about a dozen or so large plastic storage tubs on tables in his garage. By alternating layers of compost items in each plastic tub, the "garden lasagne" is created. Joe uses newspaper, cardboard egg cartons, coffee grounds, coffee filters, vegetables, bread, eggshells, and/or fruit - and then adds from 500 to 1000 worms, depending on the size of the container.
The worms burrow down and eat the "lasagne", which takes approximately six to eight weeks.
When the smell gets bad, new bedding is added. Since each worm can have around 900 babies a year, there is no problem finding enough worms to turn the compost into fertilizer. As the compost is digested by the worms, they cast the digested matter at the top of the "lasagne", while liquid seeps to the bottom of the container and is drained off.
Approximately 1.5 cups of this liquid fertilizer is produced every two weeks. The solid matter, which Joe refers to as 'worm manure', is similar to an enriched soil and can be used in gardens.
One of the undesirable by-products of the composting process is fruit flies. But Joe has a solution for that. He puts apple cider vinegar and one drop of dishwashing liquid into a small plastic container. The fruit flies are attracted to the vinegar and drown in the liquid.
A former sheet metal worker in Ontario for 43 years, Joe and his wife, Margaret, recently moved back East and settled on a three-acre property at 1772 Coverdale Road. Joe, who is deaf/mute, spoke through an interpreter.
"I was looking for something to do," he says, "So I took this up to keep me busy."
Joe, who refers to himself as the "Silent Vermi Guy", is keen on this green initiative and hopes to educate others. He invites anyone who is interested to stop in at his place. He has a large paper pad on the wall that he can use to communicate with people and hopes that school children might take trips to learn more about worm composting. Joe is also eager to have people provide him with compost items.
"People can drop their compost off to me, or just let me know when is the best time for me to go and pick it up from them," he says. Joe cautions that he can't use meat, dairy products, fish, or oils.
He prefers that people fax him at 384-7837, but they can also e-mail him at sonnyviii@msn.com.
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