Pkboo
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Joined: Fri Oct 20, 2017 10:06 pm
Location: Archer, FL (by Gainesville FL)

food scraps from store for worm bin?

Right now my bin is just starting out so I am not at the point of needing to find outside sources for food scraps to add to my worm bin but I am definitely at least thinking about places to see where I can get some either free or at a very low cost. I have read in different places that if you ask at a grocery store they may give you any of their over ripe food that they cant sell. I was wondering for those that have done it who did you ask at the store for the scraps?

ACW
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Posts: 152
Joined: Mon Sep 13, 2010 7:20 am
Location: London

If you have a caribean resturant using Plantain ,they should be happy to part with the peel .
I know this as I work for one and the volume of peel is large .
My Bins benefit from some every few months ,and a few local gadrners collect ,for some reason it does speed up my bins which run warm rather than hot ,but I rarely turn mine just layer it and leave .

thanrose
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Location: Jacksonville, FLZone 9A

Pkboo, it depends on how big the store is. A super sized market will have tiers of reportability and fewer people willing to give you an answer, but they will have tons more stuff. Go for the people with the walkies. They may ultimately tell you no, and say that it's for your protection. That's manure of the first order.

Smaller markets may have just one manager you have to seek out, usually known by everyone who works there. They might tell you when and where, but they will probably discourage you from dumpster diving.

Produce stands may be the best. They generally don't want the debris hanging around overnight, so buy a pound of pecans and ask if they will let you have the smashed apples and buggy corn and cracked pumpkins or what ever. They may already have a poultry or pig farmer who collects their stuff, though.

It's always best to ask, but if you get a negative reply, you are out of luck there for a year maybe.

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rainbowgardener
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Location: TN/GA 7b

Dumpster diving! Read "Farm City: the Education of an Urban Farmer" by Novella Carpenter. Very entertaining about her experiences raising meat birds and hogs in the city! Did a lot of dumpster diving at first and ultimately made arrangements with some restaurants to get their scraps.

How big is your worm bin, that you can't feed them off of your own kitchen scraps? When I was keeping a worm bin, I still had to have a compost pile, because the worms couldn't eat my kitchen scraps fast enough (and of course for garden waste). Like a regular compost pile, a worm bin has to be supplied with both greens and browns, e.g.:

Greens: Vegetable and fruit scraps, bread, pasta, coffee grounds and filters, teabags, dead plant matter from houseplants, pulled weeds.
Browns: Paper, junk mail, paper egg cartons, cardboard, fall leaves

Between all of that, you don't have enough to keep your worms fed without looking for outside sources? I don't believe it, unless your worm bin is about the size of a shed. Just remember to tear things like paper into small pieces.

Pkboo
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Joined: Fri Oct 20, 2017 10:06 pm
Location: Archer, FL (by Gainesville FL)

I just got the vermitek bin and I just started it and I had already started saving some stuff before the worms got here but I am just thinking ahead incase there is a time I need to look to an outside source incase what we save isnt enough since there some days we don't add anything to the "holding bins" besides for coffee grounds, egg shells and the occasional paper napkin

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rainbowgardener
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those look pretty cool. Did you get the three tray one or the five tray?

Pkboo
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Joined: Fri Oct 20, 2017 10:06 pm
Location: Archer, FL (by Gainesville FL)

I got the 5 tray one. It was a little cheaper on amazon but for some reason amazon has it twice on there and with different prices but they are same thing so went with the cheaper one since didnt see the point in paying higher price for same product.

xtron
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Joined: Sun Jun 25, 2017 5:20 pm
Location: christiansburg virginia

the local starbucks is happy to give up their grounds. sometimes a few sometimes a lot, depends on how busy they are and if someone else hit them up an hour ago.
we buy carts full of bread/pasteries from the day old bread store for $5/cart full...and full means all they can get in there without it falling out. 3 or 4 carts at a time sometimes, then stored in plastic 55 gallon barrels for pig food.
if your mornings are open, make friends with the "opener" at wendys. he/she is the one who sets things up for opening, and can easily accumulate a trash bag full of lettus leaves, pickle slices, tomato stems, and all the other things that go on a burger. he will also occasionally have empty 3 gallon pickle buckets...most handy for lots of things.

toxcrusadr
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Joined: Thu Sep 09, 2010 4:50 pm
Location: MO

Usually juice bars and similar restaurants have a lot of vegetative food scrap and some will be happy to have it recycled so you can try that.

Grocery stores want to avoid liability because there are people who dumpster dive and eat all the perfectly edible food they find...search using the term 'Freegan' if you aren't familiar with the concept already. Their lawyers tell them the best way to avoid getting sued by someone who got food poisoning is to 1) not give away expired or partially spoiled food (even produce), period and 2) lock their dumpsters so no one can get to it. Terrible waste, in my opinion. If you explain what you're doing - composting for your garden - you *might* have better luck but don't expect miracles.



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