Vermicomposting and the No-Till Garden

Early this November, I took a trip up to Philadelphia to see my friend Jennie Love's farm called Love'n Fresh Flowers and... wow. What a place. Anyway, in this video Jennie and I each break down how we amplify the material in our worm bins.
Follow Jennie's work:
lovenfreshflowers.com/blog/
Or instagram at / notillflowers
Her podcast is "No-Till Flowers"
Check out my book www.notillgrowers.com/livings...
Support our work: patreon.com/notillgrowers
This material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under award number 2020-38640-31521 through the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program under project number LS21-348. USDA is an equal opportunity employer and service provider.
Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the US Department of Agriculture.

[@premiersnow331]

Right, mhm, right, right, ya ya, ya, right..... let the guy talk!

[@katipohl2431]

Here in Germany (because of cold winters) I have big compost Systems using basically horse manure with the bottom of the Piles sunken into the soil. Eisenia fetida worms survived minus 20 degrees celsius outside because the adults could migrate for survival and the cocoons were safe too. My main product is Yacon and there is great harvest.

[@TrickleCreekFarm]

fantastic!

[@robertdouglas8895]

I live in Northern Idaho, near the Canadian border, in the mountains. It gets down to -25 C/ -15 F . I started my worm beds like you do and the worms migrated into the soil. Now I triple insulate my 6 piles with three layers of plastic sheeting and three layers of spoiled hay. Snow collects on top. When I start my tomatoes the beginning of February, traditionally on Groundhog Day (a good movie, by the way) the worms are on the top of the pile doing quite well. I thin them out into buckets, feed them, be sure not to water too much, and then sell them or give those away at farmers' market in May to help others get started with worms.

[@brianrodman1033]

@@robertdouglas8895 are you near Bonners Ferry?

[@robertdouglas8895]

@@brianrodman1033 Between Priest River and Priest Lake.

[@brianrodman1033]

@@robertdouglas8895 beautiful country. I miss the winters up there.

[@YouareasheepX]

My no-til garden from last fall has nothing but worms and no weeds. I love you.

[@justinatscc8419]

i LOVE this discussion, but it would be helpful to have the guest allow you to talk and not interrupt constantly. Keep up the good work, you guys!

[@newquayfti]

OK, right, OK, good, OK, right, right, good, OK ok...

[@hopegardens]

She is probably very sweet, but I couldnt hear him easily because of her.

[@Adksnate]

Very annoying yeah yeah yeah.

[@sylvexer7514]

I think it was a nervous habit, but it made me turn off the video. It made my head hurt

[@wackyjaci6869]

Oh my goodness, the frequency of her affirmations... XD Very informative. Was a bit hard to concentrate through all that yeah, yep yep, okay, mhm, yup, etc. Thank you!

[@KJW2022_]

I love both of these farmers and follow all their content (Jesse’s book was incredible for anyone who hasn’t picked up their copy yet) But I will say (respectfully) the conversation in this video was very disjointed particularly when Jesse is speaking. A lot of interruptions on Jennie’s end, several times per sentence in many cases, with “right” and “yes” coming every few seconds just makes it hard to follow and relatively unpleasant to absorb from a viewer/listener’s perspective. Just something to consider - thanks for all you do!

[@simonem.3092]

Thank you for expressing this so tactfully. My experience was the same--so utterly distracting that I couldn't complete the video. Hopefully they will watch to see what we're seeing. thanks.

[@HyaenaHierarchy]

Ohhkay. Right. Yep. That makes sense. Okay. Good to know. Right. Good. 😉 I.e I’m glad I wasn’t the only one who was distracted by that.

[@diggysoze2897]

I’m appalled at the audience of this channel. This information is being spoon-fed to you, free of charge and you have the audacity to complain? Your comments have been worthless, as nobody will gain anything from your choice of critiques. I would suggest the video isn’t the problem, but rather your attention span. If you could not follow, rewind and watch it again!

[@KJW2022_]

@@diggysoze2897 Oh are you appalled?? I’m sure you’re real fun at parties 😂 Nobody is complaining. Clearly there was some consensus in the feedback I shared. As for your own suggestions, kindly keep them to yourself 🙂

[@diggysoze2897]

@@KJW2022_ Appaled is an understatement. Damn near aghast!

[@robertdouglas8895]

I live in Northern Idaho, near the Canadian border, in the mountains. It gets down to -25 C/ -15 F . I started my worm beds with no cover and the worms migrated into the soil. Now I triple insulate my 6 piles with three layers of plastic sheeting and three layers of spoiled hay. Mice will eat through the plastic sheeting to get to food beneath. Snow collects on top. When I start my tomatoes the beginning of February, traditionally on Groundhog Day (a good movie, by the way) the worms are on the top of the pile doing quite well. I thin them out into buckets, feed them, be sure not to water too much, and then sell them or give those away at farmers' market in May to help others get started with worms. The worm compost I make is with old, at least a year old, manure because if it's hot, it kills the worms. The beds are in the shade. This past summer was the first time I made my beds with coffee grounds by the bucket, from a big coffee shop. I think the worm population will increase a lot as the grounds are a worm aphrodisiac. I get veggies that a supermarket throws out. So it's not technically organic but I want my customers to trust me more than government certification. The weeds I compost I put in separate piles: late ones with weed seeds get put in trenches or tree holes under plantings to prevent weeds. Forest soil adds microorganisms.

[@michaelfoster8530]

I had a Can-O-Worms system for many years. I never added water to the bin, because it was always wet from the process of breaking down the food. I always added dry leaf mulch to soak up the moisture.

[@ahavarichardson5426]

I love Jenny and aspire to have a successful flower farm and market garden!

[@TheVigilantStewards]

I don't think farming could get anymore exciting, Jesse this is the first I've heard about you having a microscope and I've seen a lot of your videos... I like the nerd farmer coming out for a peek! This video was very detailed and valuable, I enjoyed it a lot. I hope you come out with more books in the future!

[@trumpetingangel]

The only time my worm bin smelled was when I added a lot of cauliflower leaves! But, smell aside, this is exciting! I am new to vermicomposting and I didn't realize it was so easy to get such a valuable amendment! I will probably do this today! Thanks, as always.

[@brianbyrne7506]

Colorado worm castings company has the worm casting you want to buy on the market. They ship it very fresh and it always still has live worms in the bag. But you guys are absolutely correct that most worm castings on the market do not have the diversity and biology that fresh casting have. Loved this episode Jesse!! Nothing but love for the worms! 🪱

[@barbarahenn-pander5872]

I appreciate the scientific questions and the tests that are conducted. As for leachate from the worm bins, I put a layer of spent potting soil in the leachate capture tray and then mix it with compost for new pots or garden beds. I’d like more info on the leachate life span, microbial life over time, etc. new to the channel, I’ll watch more to see if you have already done videos on these questions.

[@mistygruesbeck3574]

I really like this format. The conversation between you was very informative. Thank you, both.

[@chrisrond1022]

Could you please do a vlog on your microscope ? What kind to get, how much, how to use ? What you're testing for ? etc. I didn't do well in HS biology/chemistry so it's a bit intimidating.

[@notillgrowers]

I'm still very much getting the hang of the microscope but we are working on content around microscopy taught by someone knowledgeable! Oh, but if you watch the Studs and Duds video from the fall, I say which model(s) I use.

[@janicejurgensen2122]

I enjoyed this verme composting video. Thank you. I learned quite a bit and took copious notes.

[@whiskersisters8511]

So many incredible tips and interesting to hear about the different perspectives during the production of casting-tea.

[@AJsGreenThumbLLC]

I am fascinated that you all went into such detail covering this process and I will definitely use it next season to boost my gardens' productivity. Thanks!

[@AmzBackyardOrchardandVineyard]

I love this! We compost everything in our Arizona backyard! We never fertilize.

[@helenstephenson832]

Loved it, such a good chat. From Australia

[@cassybooboo]

Great video, Jennie is brilliant!!

[@jrejoey1]

Yeah, right, right, yeah

[@mattwise4623]

This is a whole different world, Going to try this

[@ahavarichardson5426]

1st comment!! I plan to use the vermicast, compost ...and Korean, African, East Indian Japanese practices for permaculture gardens! I start a flower farm soon after winter 2022! Thanks for your help!!!

[@TrickleCreekFarm]

How exciting! I'd love to learn more about the other resources you've been gleaning from to get prepared....

[@SlackerU]

I've got a 4x5ft & I could probably produce $800 worth of castings per year with our cardboard & yard-waste. Tea is so much extra work where you can just throw the castings(castings being the bacteria habitat) in the garden. With the importance of eliminating pollution in neighborhoods from pointless gas-lawn-equipment I think there probably ought to be a plan/culture designed around the yard-waste created by the 10 minutes per day of mowing that the average electric-mower can produce. We can't all have half a dozen batteries but if we were all mowing 10 minutes per day to feed our worms it'd be a win-win.

[@cherylanderson3340]

What kind of mower & battery are you using? They stopped making the 24 volt battery that fit in my Neuton mower. The space that was designed to hold the old 24 volt battery requires that I find another 24 volt battery shaped to fit into the housing which I still have of that shape battery which is no longer made. Luckily we have KZbin & I found that I can fit two 12 v batteries into the original plastic housing which will pop right into place. I saw on the vid that he uses a metal piece to connect the two 12v batteries, but have no idea what it's called or where to buy a few. Did go to a battery store but they had odd hours & had closed for the day. If anyone knows what that metal connector is called, please tell me so I can search online. I could try to call that or another battery store & ask them, then try to order the batteries & that part online.

[@SlackerU]

@@cherylanderson3340 Sometime in the last few years the manufactures realized that anything less than 48 volts just isn't efficient with overheating lawn equipment. I use a diesel machine for yard-waste collection but my current battery powered equipment is Dewalt b/c I think the batteries are the cheapest for the amount of power they put out. If your plastic mower is more than 6 years old then it's considered garbage to manufacturers b/c they can't guarantee plastic or rubber parts for much longer than that. The materials just biodegrade or UV damage too easily/naturally.

[@cherylanderson3340]

@@SlackerU I have a small 9600 Sq ft lot, & I'm 76 yrs old, so this mower is something I can manage to carry up from the basement as needed. The mower itself is not deteriorating yet, so I'm only looking for info on that metal piece used to link the two 12 v batteries. Will keep an eye on wheels & any visible deterioration of materials. Thanks.

[@SlackerU]

@@cherylanderson3340 I see Neutron CE5 Battery Cases two refurbished for $99 online, battery not included & free shipping. The CE6 cases costs the same.

[@dangota7820]

valuable informations, thanks for that! on the other hand: a lot of ok, good, yes from the other side, when she shoud listen. When she talk, you listen... she like to talk...:)

[@jaclynbrown8641]

Thank you!

[@yLeprechaun]

Ha!! Only the very best videos on youtube close out with banjo music. Top shelf content here! 😀

[@lilianazalokar7886]

Thank you for another very good video. Torben Gram, Denmark

[@paxtianodirtfrog8947]

Great job yall! Thanks for shedding more light on this. The idea that folks don't need an industrial scale worm set up to feed an acre or so is really a relief.

[@stevezemke1838]

I have two old iron baths which I use for our entire organic farm but could easily getaway with one if I had to

[@paxtianodirtfrog8947]

@@stevezemke1838 That's crazy but really good to know. Thanks for sharing!

[@elihuthompson4446]

Thank you

[@noelynkoutalo6174]

Love your informative video guys. Following from PNG.

[@MrKen-longrangegrdhogeliminato]

Oh yes Uncle Jim's, bought thousands of worms and a few bags of compost, excellent condition of the worms, and excellent compost.

[@mushethecowboycook9353]

I'm glad you liked my design-build projects at Sattin Hill Farm. Gene

[@jstoner2455]

I grow comfrey for making tea, but the worms love it.

[@DrCorvid]

A lot of people and even market gardeners use no till or a combination, not so much like a faith-based repetition but by knowing when to till the beds, the objective being aerated soil for about 3-4" and then tightening up a bit so it wicks. Otherwise, as taught under Shredded or Chipped Ramial wood (Bois raméal fragmenté) in agronomy courses in McGill and Laval Universities there will be compaction, and with 30 years of research they came up with farm and forest treatments that do encourage till about every 4-5 years depending on the compaction, and that the fresh chips are preferred because compaction is slower than layering with lush greens and there's still no or little nitrogen draw. It was cool to see them shredding the hawthorn and willow hedge and ditch rows directly onto the enormous beds.

[@5ystemError]

I'm in south florida have a ton of native milipedes in the soil so not worms but decomposers nonetheless. I got a truck of fresh woodchips delivered onto my (asphalt) driveway in early 2020. I didn't add anything to the pile. In maybe 6 months, I'd say that at least 1/3 of the pile had become fine, black milipede frass aka poo. And my suspicion is that a good chunk of it remained intact only due to a lack of moisture. I was absolutely floored by how quickly they chewed through it. I'm thinking of setting up a kind of milipede composting system involving kitchen scraps and wood chips. So anyone in south florida or other tropical regions, consider using milipedes that might already be in your yard/land!

[@TrickleCreekFarm]

This is an excellent consideration I will be digging into further, any resource recommendations are much appreciated!

[@karensterling5246]

5ystemError I’m in 10b as well and yes the millipedes are abundant in woody material. They are excellent in addition to compost worms. You can buy them or just put a bucket or flower pot outside and they will populate on their own. It’s an amazing process.

[@TrickleCreekFarm]

@@karensterling5246 Thank you for your addition...

[@theresemenez4964]

I enjoyed the info of this video tremendously. Although the constant interruptions with “ yeah, right” was really distracting

[@DaraRich]

Thanks for sharing about wormcomposting. I wondered about for a long time. Good to hear the sifgnificant benefits on Flower beds. Where can I get to find out what exactly to feed the worms with and what really to avoid? At what temperature should they go indoors and what are the critical temperatures (high as also low) to move the wormbin?

[@liquidcow]

Most excellent video! Thanks for the info sharing! In your testing, have you had an opportunity to use one of your beds / blocks as a control for comparison? I'd be very interested to see just how more abundant microbial life is on the "treated" areas..

[@notillgrowers]

So now that our new property is established I am working on more data for practices like this. It's gonna take some time but I will have a better idea in the next few years

[@craigsuccee3404]

I started my first worm bin this summer. My buddy gifted me some worms from his setup. I have been feeding them with scraps, leaves, soiled pine shavings from my chickens. I live in a cold climate, and had intended to bring the bin in before freeze up. However I forgot, and the bin was exposed to several days of freezing weather. It was a solid block of frozen material when I brought it inside. I was expecting the worst, and figured all the worms would be dead. However, to my surprise there was plenty of worm action after 36 hours when it thawed out. It appears worms can survive a freeze event. I always thought they burrowed under the frost line in the winter to survive. I hope to make as many castings as possible over the winter, and I will use them for the nutritional element in my spring seedling mix for my homestead scale growing.

[@robertdouglas8895]

I live in Northern Idaho, near the Canadian border, in the mountains. It gets down to -25 C/ -15 F . I started my worm beds with no cover and the worms migrated into the soil. Now I triple insulate my 6 piles with three layers of plastic sheeting and three layers of spoiled hay. Mice will eat through the plastic sheeting to get to food beneath. Snow collects on top. When I start my tomatoes the beginning of February, traditionally on Groundhog Day (a good movie, by the way) the worms are on the top of the pile doing quite well. I thin them out into buckets, feed them, be sure not to water too much, and then sell them or give those away at farmers' market in May to help others get started with worms.

[@tonysu8860]

Worms are cold blooded which means much better than warm blooded mammals they can survive brief spikes in extreme temperature more easily. I wouldn't push your luck though and recommend bringing your worms indoors or providing your bin with some insulation with next frost. Also, the maturity of your worm bin can make a difference... A brand new worm bin has plenty of air in the bedding which means that if there is good air circulation the bedding temperature will change with the ambient temperature. But a mature bin with a very heavy mass of castings will maintain its own temperature through several cycles of day and night.

[@stevelarson4925]

Nice video :) A couple years ago while in Mexico I visited a worm operation at a local university. They had a common practice of running water through the worm beds (feed stock was primarily manure if I remember correctly) and collecing the lechate. We looked at some under the microscope and saw very little biology, including bacteria. Now autoinducers, organic acids and whatever water soluble molecules in the beds probably made it into the lechate but biology didn't seem to. As you said, very hard to tell what you'll be getting especially if it's run through a system of various degrees of maturity. Worms do like a moist environment but I wonder if that practice over saturates the beds too much. Dr. Elaine Ingham makes a point to massage the compost material to dislodge the microbes from their sticky environment, with a goal of getting all of those microbes out of the compost and into the water. Makes sense to not massage much if your primary goal is for extracting autoinducers. Seems like the massaging would do both, though.

[@tonysu8860]

I wonder what in your leachate would have resulted in very little biology. How was the leachate stored before collected, could there have been a lack of oxygen? If your leachate didn't contain anything toxic, I'd expect like poorly stored vermicompost that has dried out that simply restoring the proper conditions (moisture, oxygen) that within a short time the microbiome can be restored easily.

[@OnTheCommon]

Reminds me of Steiner's horn manure, BD 500. I'm sure he would say it should be stirred.

[@johnjude2685]

Our library perhaps could have microscope for community use 🤔. Add flour and corn meal today to my compose. Will get some soil from the woods before summer.

[@ryanarmstrong1506]

What is being done with the castings during the winter months? Is it collected and stored? My garden has finally showed through after over a month of snow. So what to do when there isn't anywhere to use it?

[@ChrisMeyer-gv1vh]

EM1 aka lab is also great for composting toilets. It kills the smell and gets rid of the flies. I prefer rolled oats over fishy yuck. I see just as much fungal growth with oats. I start a brew in the morning and apply in the evening and the ciliates aren’t out of control yet.

[@kangnanangsuudi81]

Good

[@chrishayes4023]

What was the video where you list the mi ros open you use? I've been looking forever.

[@drthuntclub4153]

I have a pile that started as a compost pile but has turn out to be a worm farm. However, I don't have worms. I have millipedes. The pile is full of them. I have been using their castings but, are they the same as worm castings?

[@sparkofhope-withkatrinadar8707]

This seems to be excellent information! I am just now learning about this and would like to set up my own system. However in many places you are both talking at the same time which makes this very difficult to follow. Please! One at a time!

[@5ivearrows]

Graeme Sait mentions in his most recent podcast episode that he tested leachate vs high pressure water extraction with a microbiometer (I still have question marks about the accuracy and etc of that thing, but I reckon it is measuring something)- according to him the pressure extraction contains orders of magnitude more active biology than the leachate alone. I have been extracting my Johnson Su by using a hose on a high pressure shower setting and running it through a cheesecloth bag thing (that I call a granny pantie, incidentally), until the water is clearish rather than dark brown.

[@notillgrowers]

Yeah, I mean that's pretty much what I see in the scope. The squeezing really makes a shocking difference. I think I even demonstrate that in my "studs and duds" video. I show the difference in two different time lapses.

[@5ivearrows]

@@notillgrowers yep- makes complete sense to me. I need to unbox the microscope I bought a couple years ago and learn how to use the thing, lol. Too many busy all the time.

[@notillgrowers]

oh I'm still very much getting my brain around it haha!

[@5ivearrows]

@@notillgrowers well I deeply appreciate that you do tests like you do, on both ends of the spray nozzle and so on. I am endlessly questioning those kinds of things.

[@HippocratesGarden]

I'm fairly certain that a "tincture" is defined by using alcohol or vinegar to extract.. whatever is being extracted.

[@lindat23]

Any chance you can go over how you use and harvest from your worm bin? I got the same one and can’t find too much info about how to use once you’ve started. Great video otherwise! Thanks!

[@richiefrizzell171]

Do you have to bring the worm bin inside the house during the winter?

[@cassieykexperiences9101]

I'm a little bit distracted with Jenny's "yeah yeah right right great." I could barely hear what you say. I hope it i'll be lessen for us to understand well. All in all, I will be doing this to my farming. Thanks

[@faustocabanas2387]

How often will you make the application?

[@curte7739]

earthworms and microbes in the soil is another reason I'd love to see Farmers here in the US go to no-till farming you have a much healthier soil and you can grow better crops over time. you also need to use less fertilizers and herbicides if you always have something growing a good cover crop that you can know till plant into and then you roller crimp the cover crop down which creates a mulch which breaks down and holds moisture in the soil and benefits the new crop every year you do this process over and over again.

[@tonysu8860]

Consider improving on your suggestion with Plant Biodiversity theory. Grow as many different plants as possible in close proximity to each other instead of separating every crop into its own zone. Your plants will then benefit from the synergy of the root microbe systems each plant produces, essentially cross transfusing each plant with unexpectedly new qualities beyond what any single crop would create. See YT videos using keywords like plant biodiversity, endophytes, Dr Christine Jones.

[@theteenagegardner]

Um in about 8 years will you take an intern lol I love your channel I have my one worm bin And I love looking at the worms (probably why I have no friends lol) great video.

[@colinsutherland4709]

Great video. I have been looking into worm bin so this is awesome to see. You mentioned LAB a few times. What is that?

[@stevezemke1838]

Lactobacilus bacteria

[@notillgrowers]

Indeed, look up LAB preparation for KNF. I think Chris Trump has a video on that. Probably more out there. Super simple

[@AmeliaRate]

I heard her say rainwater, which I understand doesn't have the same chlorine/fluoride content as water from the tap. I recapture my AC condensation, would that work?

[@matthewmatiasek1777]

random comment spurred by this video, could or have you done a video on bed prep prior to winter?

[@notillgrowers]

Good question! I uh don’t really think I have done one that is specifically about prepping beds for the winter. We do a lot of cover cropping and mulching. Basically if I can’t fit a cover crop I mulch heavily. Be a good video for the future tho!

[@lavenderinbloomflowerfarm1420]

Great info! I’ve just put my “no-dig” dahlias to bed and would like to start a worm bin. Can you start in the winter in 6b?

[@notillgrowers]

Absolutely! Just try to keep them somewhere fairly warm

[@panko97]

Seed mat worked for me during winter

[@ontherocksinthesoilmichael6739]

I use the leachate on my lawn and I havent used chemicals in years on my lawn just dilute 10/1.

[@davewhiteaker413]

Do you think honeybees would take sprayed pollen back to the hive and possibly contaminate the honey?

[@katiew6716]

Is it okay that there are at least two other species (besides the worms) of creepy crawlies in my worm composting? I have seen a lot of white bugs and even different types of worms. It's sort of put me off vermicomposting, but your video is making me re-think that. Thanks for any thoughts or pointing me to any videos on these hitch-hiking creepy crawlies :)

[@notillgrowers]

There will be a lot of stuff in your worm bins--definitely not a bad thing unless for some reason you see your worm populations dwindling. But I doubt that would happen--spiders, holy polys, it's all part of it. Pick up Rhonda Sherman's Worm Farmer's Handbook for great guidance on worm bin management.

[@kimh4434]

Not an expert at worms, but tiny white bugs *might* be springtails. They are often used in bioactive enclosures for reptiles and the like, along with isopods ("potato bugs"/rolly pollies) to break down poop and shed skin and other detritus in the soil.

[@jaysonvance594]

Can you use the lechate or worm tea to inoculate biochar?

[@Aermydach]

Yes, you sure can! If you want to leave it sit for a time, it'd be worthwhile setting up aquarium pumps for oxygenation.

[@yuialde9821]

What’s your thought about EM1? I reckon cannot expect hormonal benefits like worm castings but is food grade and you know the exact strain of microbes that are in it. Don’t have to worry about pathogens. I’ve never tried EM1 myself. Very curious if it really works.. does anyone have experience?

[@jstoner2455]

It helps makes my plants look healthy. I used it in winter when it’s too cold to make tea.

[@jhost0311]

Just use an old bathtub. You can get it for free and it’ll hold 20 times what one of those will hold. I bought 50 red wrigglers from petco and use a bathtub as my worm farm. A year later I probably had 5000+ worms. I elevated the tub on blocks, put a 5gal bucket under the drain and have a piece of plywood as the lid. So easy, inexpensive, and much more productive than this.

[@joannmcculley8253]

So it doesn't need the layers?

[@Alchemyforall]

@@joannmcculley8253 no

[@checkpants1]

What sort of volume will that worm bin handle? I guess the question should be how many pounds of scraps per week? Thanks!

[@Aermydach]

Best way would be to get your own worm bin to experiment and learn! Give it a few months to ramp up.

[@sarahflood9505]

If you have a pound of worms they will eat a pound of food scraps a week.

[@SlackerU]

I'm currently in a cycle of Sulfur research & wonder if tea-promoters might be confusing tea-benefits with sulfur applications. Sulfur leaches & is no longer in our fuel/gas & polluted into the air/rain so my generation must buy the element as a soil amendment. Also sulfur attaches to magnesium when it leeches so applying tea with those elements will green the plants. I get too much rain in my climate & have a surplus of organics in my soil so I don't use tea... yet...

[@plotsixtyone4188]

Jesse do you have a good free resource for learning about the soil food web in more depth please? For someone nerdy but not a trained scientist!

[@y0nd3r]

What did she say at 9:27. Otter inducive signals of quorum sensing...

[@jesswatt5824]

What if you aerate the leachate I wonder...

[@sharnie528]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@Alchemyforall]

A light bulb moment - my can of worms is enough for my 3 acres. Worm castings tincture used straight away is the way to max the benefit. Yay!

[@jilliancook5625]

Would it be wrong if I gifted my four year old a worm bin for Christmas? She would love it, my garden would benefit. Seems like a win-win?

[@TrickleCreekFarm]

Add "Worms Eat My Garbage book and activity pages and you have an awesome family study! Sounds like a lot of fun, good job Mama!

[@notillgrowers]

I endorse it. Our kids love the worms!

[@tcotroneo]

Jesse, where did you get your microscope education? Did you take Elaine’s course?

[@notillgrowers]

No central location and I am very much still learning. Just watching a ton of videos and reading a bunch of random info I could find on the web. I have not taken Elaine's course.

[@tcotroneo]

@@notillgrowers That would be an excellent video topic for the future!

[@mattreinecke4399]

I think you are great Jesse. I have learned tons from you. But this time I wonder if you are suggesting things that you don't understand completely. I don't either, but compost teas are pretty dangerous animals. From going anaerobic to producing too much bacteria, I wonder if compost teas are safe for most of your listeners... I know it scares me a bit and I feel more confident doing extracts and maybe adding a little biology after the extract is made. Maybe I am going for low risk low reward... Good luck! Love your work! PS my compost pile in spring has thousands of worms that have set their iPhone calendars for a April appointment at my pile...

[@notillgrowers]

Hi, I don't mind the criticism. Will definitely never claim to understand everything. One thing I don't say in this video is that my general preference is actually just slurries, but they are harder to spread out. So in lieu of spraying, I inoculate trays with a quick slurry (or squeezed out extract) before taking to the field. Teas I usually do early in the season, but anyone who is doing teas or anything else microbial should do a lot research. The only damage I've ever knowingly done to my garden was with an accidentally high concentration of LAB. So, it's not just teas that have risk. It's anything you apply without fully understanding first.

[@johnjude2685]

Thanks for I'm trying to be a better Stewart of my suburban 3 car size garden and better vegetables 😀

[@collinrothwell8532]

Why can't we just use the leached liquid ?

[@kathleenplitt3067]

I wondered this too. I have tried diluting it with pretty good results.

[@tonysu8860]

Regarding leachate vs "proper" worm tea, IMO there is hardly any difference. Both are essentially the same, a large quantity of water strained through worm castings resulting in a liquid infused with the microbia that worm castings supports. There is one difference though, which is that leachate may also be the accumulation of what worms will not consume, and the theory is that could be toxic. In the first place, I don't know of anything that worms can't or won't consume and remediate. There might be though, and if it accumulates enough perhaps it could be a concern. Possible dangers can probably be divided between chemical and non-chemical(biological) pathogens. As for chemicals, some persistent herbicides for example are known to not decay within 6 weeks, and the question is whether those would also not be remediated by worms. Regarding biological pathogens, worms are known to be voracious consumers of everything that passes through their tiny mouths which includes just about everything microscopic including fungi, virus, bacteria and single celled animals like paramecium. I'd think that there would be little worry about biological pathogens surviving worms. I don't know if there are many studies that have identified what worms cannot remediate but worms have been known to remediate common sewage and that's pretty impressive.

[@richm5889]

I'm a rabbit follower of Jesse and No Till. The content seemed great but I found it very difficult to follow Jesse's conversation because Jenny kept rapid-fire talking over Jesse every time he was speaking. "Yup yup okay sure uh huh uh huh I get it I see oh good idea yep yep oh to see if it's working yep yep okay sure okay..." She never stopped and seemed unaware that this video is for people who are watching it, not just a conversation between them. I tried listening to it a second time to get the guts of it. It may just be me but I found it enormously distracting and it made it very difficult to get the content out of it that's there. It was recorded 10 months ago at this writing so I'll take a look and see if there is a subsequent Jesse or Jenny video that covers the content in a less confusing way.

[@richm5889]

I meant rabid, not rabbit ... Although I hop to it whenever I see Jesse's posted something new.

[@t0mt0mt0m]

Fyi, properly made worm castings that are older have more fungal life.

[@elainetyler1710]

129

[@innercompass9510]

Tincture is usually an alcohol based product so maybe tincture isn’t a good term to use lest people get confused ? Lol

[@Perseverance4477]

She's awesome and great video! However she needs to let the other person talk and stop saying "right, yeah, sure, uh huh" etc. Hard to even watch

[@peaceofmyhearthomestead4611]

This lady saying...right right right, yeah yeah...right right yeah....couldnt watch past 5 mins

[@marscrow]

Please stop agreeing after every word he says, okay, yeah, right, okay, okay, gotcha. Also interruptions stops his flow of thoughts and the ability of your audience to 'hear' his thoughts. Otherwise, good information. Thank you.

[@catherines506]

I was so excited to watch this, but her constant interruptions when Jessie was talking made it unbearable. I couldn't hear what Jessie had to say because she just would not shut up for two seconds. I hope another video is made without her bc this was rough and unwatchable.

[@lamassu4491]

it's a pitty... she says way to much "ok, ok, yeah, right, ok, right, yeah, ok, right, right, ..." while he is talking... this is very distracting and makes one nervous! so please, *just LET HIM TALK!* it seems like you want to cut him off because you know already what he wants to say. kinda rude

[@BaltimoresBerzerker]

Can't do the constant "yeah" and "okay", it's not acknowledging what's being said, but almost interrupting out of a need to be the person speaking. Unbearable.

[@RUNNINGWylde-wq1bi]

Yea I had to start it over muted with the subtitles on, then you can pretty much understand what he was trying to say

[@yuialde9821]

For sure

[@BaltimoresBerzerker]

@@yuialde9821 🤣 good one!

[@BasicPoke]

Yes please just be quiet

[@michaeleshbaugh6797]

Smh nobody is forcing yal to watch the video

[@simonem.3092]

great content mussed up by TOO MUCH INTERRUPTING! UGH.

[@tompowell6723]

Truely DISAPPOINTING! You spoke of how that tiny bin was now going to treat a 3a farm. So what happened to that?

[@diggysoze2897]

The answer is by making a compost extract and spraying it as a foliar feed / soil drench. Lol