Food in refrigerator for worms ?

[RandyE]

Hi,
I just started a red wiggler worm farm about 2 weeks ago (250 worms) . I blend all the fruit, veggies, egg shells, and coffe grounds in a blender and was wondering if I can blend up a gallon of this and keep it in my spare refrigerator for weeks in a zip lock baggie ? Is it okay if the food rots in the baggie? Or do worms prefer fresh food?

Thanks for a wonderful group of people,
Randy

[applestar]

How big is your "worm farm" ? I have a commercial Can O'Worms unit, and I think I could easily spread 1 gal of that smoothie in a layer IF I was feeding them that way.

As it happens, when I'm using it, I have been following cynthia_H's method that she described so long ago, which is to put the scraps cut in reasonably small pieces in a 1/8 pie shape section if the circular tray, filling the tray from top to bottom each time.

I like that by the time I go all the way around in 1/8 pie segments, the 1st segment is well on its way to being just worm casting, just like she said. And of course I can stack the next tray on top after one tray is filled.

Eggshells get ground up into fine powder separately and are sprinkled on top.

[RandyE]

I only have roughly 250 worms and I have them in a plastic tote which is probably about 2' x 1' 1/2 I have never measured the food but I guess I put about a cup of food each week.

[applestar]

OK. Well, I don't think it wil matter if the food "rots" but it would be stinkier. I have heard some people keep veg scraps in the freezer and then process them or feed to the worms after thawing. Maybe you could divide the "smoothie" into Snack Size zip bags and freeze, then double bag them in the gallon? This way you only have to thaw the amount you need each time.

I saw a neat trick in food storage blog or article somewhere -- can't remember where. If you put the freezer bag of liquid in rectangular containers to freeze, you can get them to freeze into precise brick shapes that will be easier to stack in the freezer and save space. You just need to experiment to find just the right size.

[imafan26]

If I have too much food for the worms which will make them have a strong ammonia smell if they are overfed, I just freeze the left overs. I don't chop or puree them. I can use the frozen scraps for trench composting or I can thaw them out to room temperature and put them in the worm bin. Freezing helps burst the cells and they get mushy and decompose faster. I do have to thaw them in a bucket though because they do get juicy.

[RandyE]

OK. Well, I don't think it wil matter if the food "rots" but it would be stinkier. I have heard some people keep veg scraps in the freezer and then process them or feed to the worms after thawing. Maybe you could divide the "smoothie" into Snack Size zip bags and freeze, then double bag them in the gallon? This way you only have to thaw the amount you need each time.

I saw a neat trick in food storage blog or article somewhere -- can't remember where. If you put the freezer bag of liquid in rectangular containers to freeze, you can get them to freeze into precise brick shapes that will be easier to stack in the freezer and save space. You just need to experiment to find just the right size.

Okay thx for the good idea.... I will just break down the scraps in smaller portions and freeze them in small plastic containers

[RandyE]

Hey I'm a fan 26
That's good to know... I must not be over feeding my worms because I don't have a ammonia smell. I have read that it makes it easier for the worms to eat if the scraps are pureed and I don't mind doing it as long as I do a lot at one time.

Everyone in my house throws scraps in a bucket I keep in the freezer for composting and we eat a lot of citrus fruits so I hand pick the foods for the worms without citrus foods.

[imafan26]

I have not pureed, my friend does like to chop them. The worms like soft parts like leaves but they don't like stems or stringy vines much. I usually have wild bitter melon growing in my yard and when I need quick food I pull them out and put them in the worm bin. The worms eat the leaves and I fish out the vines and toss them later.