Vermicultura

adrimm says on May 28, 2008, 22:33:

I have no ideas for you but I think that projects such as yours, stuff like communtiy gardening, etc has a huge opportunity to be helpful to people who really need the help.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

adrimm says on May 28, 2008, 23:43:

I have one on my balcony ;)

0 funny, 0 helpful.

gato-bandido says on May 29, 2008, 06:42:

I would also like in general how valuable composting is in Colombia. With the soil so rich I am just not sure if it needs any amendments at all, unlike some other places where the soil is mostly clay.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

adrimm says on May 29, 2008, 23:11:

All land that is constantly farmed needs something to go back into it, or a rest..better compost than chemicals.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Alma del Norte says on May 30, 2008, 09:36:

Thanks for your encouragment. To be honest, PBH being PBH, I expected there to be a fair bit of sniggering.

adrimm - I don't expect your average Bogotano to immediately embrace this concept for the sake of the environment. Most apartment-dwellers have great trouble separating their rubbish as things stand. As Rubito so forcefully expressed, it would be great but unlikely if there was a local government incentive. The idea is to make this scheme easy and financially important to someone. Lessons learnt from the Moon Graden Project:

http://www.atlantiscommunity.thinkhost.net/moon_garden.html

would show that financial reward, (unsurprisingly), is the biggest primary motivator. In this case many of those involved were interested in growing cash crops for sale locally.

You are quite right in that all productive soil needs constant refertilisation whether by flooding (how ironic), natural or chemical fertilisers.

Rubito - I think you are right that Colombia doesn't produce as much waste as US or Europe. There is less packaging, small-scale highly motivated recyclers, (Basureros) and naturally-packaged food like fruit and vegetables are more highly valued. That's why composting schemes have such potential here.

La vida es una rutina

0 funny, 0 helpful.

adrimm says on May 30, 2008, 18:02:

Trust me I get plenty of weird looks when I mention my "worm bin" to folks.

About the red wrigglers: You might be able to ask the authors of this study:

http://www.colombiasinhambre.com/educativa_detalle.php?idb=60

or find out here:

http://www.infoagro.com/abonos/lombricultura.htm

0 funny, 0 helpful.

adrimm says on May 31, 2008, 10:49:

:P

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Alma del Norte says on Jun 5, 2008, 10:46:

adrimm. Thanks

The first link looks really useful...and interesting. You know, it`s just too easy to do my own research ; )

As for nutritional value of worms, Rubito has been watching too much "Bear Grills" ;P

La vida es una rutina

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Tinto (Moderator) says on Jun 6, 2008, 10:34:

Interesting topic... all I have to add is that you should be careful, do your research and don't try to illegally import non-native earthworms into Colombia. Many regions of the world have invasive plant and animal species (including earthworms) that are doing major, long-term damage to the local environment.

0 funny, 0 helpful.