Grit For Worms

Why do worms need grit? What is considered grit? How often does a worm bin need grit added? Get the answers to these and more this Wiggle Wednesday

[@Elementtreecompany]

Thank you, Troy, for your presentation and attentiveness. Form always shapes content, and I understand the challenges with live lecture and Q&A--I respect your work. Would love to buy you a drink at a conference this year and talk shop about microbiology brews and soil food web. I've worked at a couple compost and worm farms in the United States and two of the more well-known ones don't add grit directly to their feedstock for worms and those wigglers thrive. Interestingly, both of those operations were using windrows/direct earth contact. Topsoil provides necessary components for healthy composting worms. Commercially, grit as a conversation and necessity from my experience always came out of operations with batch systems indoors and were mainly just feeding worms peat or worse just come out of academia and isolated not peer-reviewed experiments. I recognize that this may come off as 'just, like, my opinion, man' but I feel this is important for people to know, even if they don't understand it. If people have an indoor worm bin or bin not in contact with the ground, but feed their systems mixed food scrap waste and/or compost then the worms are getting their grit naturally through the various inputs in that material. Troy is right, grit resources are everywhere and are plentiful, please don't buy and ship girt materials to you when a handful of landscape or yard soil will do the trick. Food waste grit ftw: eggshells are great and make sense for most people but don't forget about your seafood shells/chitin and bones. Biopolymers and food scraps like bones, when pulverized or grind up will provide grit to a worm system--yes, worms can metabolize biopolymers overtime but the biology of the worm that can breakdown biopolymers and things like crushed bone are post gizzard. This is one of the arguments for freezing/pre-processing/grinding/pre-composting feedstocks as it breaks down the material into more of a form the worm can slurp. In nature, there are only a few processes that do this naturally and regularly, freeze/thaw seasons and what comes out the backside of animals are great examples. Biochar/charcoal micronized or crushed is also amazingly great for grit. I joke with colleagues that in a decade from now all worm nerd bins are going to be filled with only biochar and bokashi fermented food scraps . . . market research is clear . . . That wave is coming and all of us in this niche community are going to laugh that we used to buy and ship coir and peat and worm chows halfway across the world just so we can tend to what we think is current industry standard. Note: an industry standard is not the same as best practices. Its not just about regenerative protocols, cost-benefit analysis, sustainability, or renewable resources, its about what makes common sense at scale. Thank you for the post and for your time, Troy. I wish you all well. Kindly.

[@tomrector6]

Florida!

[@eve66able]

Hi from Pula, Croatia. I would love for you to drop the countdown. Other than that no complaints.

[@lauranonamaker2610]

Beignets, my favorite part of the French Quarter with Louisiana mud coffee. Only coffee I drink with cream and sugar. Central Florida. Found a russula decolorans mushroom by my new fruit tree. Put the ectomycorrhizal fungus in my worm bin. Such big words for such a small thing. If I find more they will become plant fertilizer. Most of my soil is sand. It needs help from the worms. So, in a few months, I plan to try your recipe for worm tea and spread it everywhere. Thank you!

[@ronaldanderson2560]

First timer!!

[@jcmusc]

I love using glacial rock dust, azomite, basalt rock dust but that's because I'm trying to make high quality fertilizer rich castings to use under all my plants. The rock dust takes so long to break down, i like having the worms go to work on it for a few months this way it's available to the plants right away.

[@ronaldanderson2560]

North carolina

[@sgransar]

If you use sand as grit. Will it breakdown in sufficient amounts to release silica to the plant?

[@cathyhumphries5870]

Drop it❤️🙏

[@kinsjsmggoiktaylor5659]

Juno From Peterlee In County Durham England

[@clivesconundrumgarden]

Excellent Troy !! Common sense approach. I assume if I'm adding most finished, once thermophilic compost, grit isn't needed ? Btw CC isn't enabled. Cheers

[@capcats]

There’s no CC in a live stream. I may be wrong.

[@WDWormsnGarden]

Are all worm castings legally organic, or do the food they eat affect whether it can legally be called organic.

[@bhsdecaclassroom]

MSBISH from Memphis area. Worms did great through the winter. Watched a video on vermiculture, where an old deep freezer was used. Seems logical except for ventilation. Thoughts?

[@JohnDoe-id9hi]

Is beach sand acceptable grit?

[@UrbanWormCompany]

I think it is, yes!

[@sgransar]

If you biochar coffee grinds, would that turn it to a grit? I heard you can use biochar as grit.

[@UrbanWormCompany]

Interesting thought.....I suppose so!

[@sgransar]

@@UrbanWormCompany Is biochar considered grit?

[@smith899]

Hey!! Question- I seem to be able to get the organic matter almost composted. What ai mean is, when I take it out of the bin and it dries, it is really hard and sticks together. Could it be I didn’t supply enough grit? Any other ideas?

[@UrbanWormCompany]

That doesn't sound like an issue of a lack of grit. There a several variables to consider regarding inputs, airflow, and moisture levels. There isn't a quick, easy answer.

[@smith899]

@@UrbanWormCompany It seems great when I take it out of the bin. It smells like earth. It is moist and can clump together when squeezed. But when I put it on top of my plants, and the sun dries it out, it can be picked up like a sheet of paper. Now, I do put shredded cardboard and mail in the compost, but the worms seem to like that MORE than the fruits and veggies. 🤣

[@sgransar]

HI what about gypsum? Is lime better? Thanks.

[@UrbanWormCompany]

As mentioned in the live stream, things that you can get for free are best. A handful of soil, sand from a stream...Gypsum and lime will affect bins similarly.

[@candywalker483]

Is diatomaceous earth acceptable for grit?

[@UrbanWormCompany]

I would not consider diatomaceous earth as a form of grit.