That didn't take long.
The larvae I encountered were Black Soldierfly larvae. It would seem these critters are pretty handy to have around in vermicomposting operations in and of themselves.
Secondly, I saw some pics of the worm 'egg sacks', and am happy to report that I did see them in my worm bed. I did read that worms seem to be attracted to paper sludge for egg case laying. So now, I am tasked with adding sand and newsprint to my worm bed.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
The worm bed project
Today, I got around to taking a census of the worm bed. Over 3 months ago, I bought a container of redworms from a bait shop, and brought them home to my worm bed. The colony started with 31 worms. 'By the book', the worms should have doubled in population in three months. Here is what I found today.
My population did not double. My census was 45 worms. From this, I can see that my worms are reproducing, but not at the expected rate. While the population was not doubled, the majority of the 'herd' was huge! I uncovered one worm, and he was so big that I thought for a split second that he was a garden snake that had worked his way into my worm bed to hybernate!
For those of you who either are, or are planning to start your own worm bed project, here are some more observations from this project:
- The worms seemed to congregate around clumps of grass clippings, and the waste apple/yeast 'sludge' left over from apple wine making. One word of caution...if you use chemicals on your lawn, do not put your grass clippings in your worm bed!!! They really seemed to like those two things. This spring, I will increase the percentage of grass clippings that go into the worm bed. When I added the wine making waste, I thought it may have been a mistake. Afterall, that stuff is pretty potent. My fears were without warrant. The worms seem to love it! I also found some larvae of some other critter concentrated around the apple wine waste. They looked kind of like maggots, but much larger. I wish the weather had been warmer, I would have taken them to the lake to see if the fish liked them! As I was going through the pile, I came across hundreds of these 'larvae'. Whatever left them, I couldn't help but wonder if they were competing with my worms so aggressively for food, that the competition was what kept my worm population down. I have more research to do here.
- My bed is sand deficient. This may also account for my less than ideal worm population. Worms ingest grains of sand to help them digest their food. I shouldn't have to add much, but I definately need to add some sand to the bed.
- The Really cool thing was the soil that the worms are leaving behind! That stuff is black gold! I could grab a handfull of that stuff and smell it. It was rich, dark, and very loose! I can't wait to harvest some of it this spring for planting!
Even though my herd didn't increase as predicted, I am still exceedingly pleased with the progress of this project!
My population did not double. My census was 45 worms. From this, I can see that my worms are reproducing, but not at the expected rate. While the population was not doubled, the majority of the 'herd' was huge! I uncovered one worm, and he was so big that I thought for a split second that he was a garden snake that had worked his way into my worm bed to hybernate!
For those of you who either are, or are planning to start your own worm bed project, here are some more observations from this project:
- The worms seemed to congregate around clumps of grass clippings, and the waste apple/yeast 'sludge' left over from apple wine making. One word of caution...if you use chemicals on your lawn, do not put your grass clippings in your worm bed!!! They really seemed to like those two things. This spring, I will increase the percentage of grass clippings that go into the worm bed. When I added the wine making waste, I thought it may have been a mistake. Afterall, that stuff is pretty potent. My fears were without warrant. The worms seem to love it! I also found some larvae of some other critter concentrated around the apple wine waste. They looked kind of like maggots, but much larger. I wish the weather had been warmer, I would have taken them to the lake to see if the fish liked them! As I was going through the pile, I came across hundreds of these 'larvae'. Whatever left them, I couldn't help but wonder if they were competing with my worms so aggressively for food, that the competition was what kept my worm population down. I have more research to do here.
- My bed is sand deficient. This may also account for my less than ideal worm population. Worms ingest grains of sand to help them digest their food. I shouldn't have to add much, but I definately need to add some sand to the bed.
- The Really cool thing was the soil that the worms are leaving behind! That stuff is black gold! I could grab a handfull of that stuff and smell it. It was rich, dark, and very loose! I can't wait to harvest some of it this spring for planting!
Even though my herd didn't increase as predicted, I am still exceedingly pleased with the progress of this project!
Obama's 2 year economic stimulus plan
“We’ll be working out the details in the weeks ahead,” Mr. Obama said, “but it will be a two-year, nationwide effort to jumpstart job creation in America and lay the foundation for a strong and growing economy. We’ll put people back to work rebuilding our crumbling roads and bridges, modernizing schools that are failing our children, and building wind farms and solar panels, fuel-efficient cars and the alternative energy technologies that can free us from our dependence on foreign oil and keep our economy competitive in the years ahead.”
Does this sound a bit like FDR's New Deal, or am I mistaken. How do we elect leaders who refuse to learn from the past?
Does this sound a bit like FDR's New Deal, or am I mistaken. How do we elect leaders who refuse to learn from the past?
Saturday, November 22, 2008
This from the REPUBLICANS!!! Your money is not yours!!!
http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=81485
The socialist/democrats have long held that your money is not really yours, now we see just how entrenched the socialist dogma is in the republican party. What do you ecpect from a party that would run John McCain as a candidate.
The socialist/democrats have long held that your money is not really yours, now we see just how entrenched the socialist dogma is in the republican party. What do you ecpect from a party that would run John McCain as a candidate.
US asking for foreign aid???
Could this be the depth of depravity we have slipped to as a nation???
KUWAIT CITY (AFP) – The United States has asked four oil-rich Gulf states for close to 300 billion dollars to help it curb the global financial meltdown, Kuwait's daily Al-Seyassah reported Thursday.
Quoting "highly informed" sources, the daily said Washington has asked Saudi Arabia for 120 billion dollars, the United Arab Emirates for 70 billion dollars, Qatar for 60 billion dollars and was seeking 40 billion dollars from Kuwait.
The borrower is slave to the lender.
Nuff said
KUWAIT CITY (AFP) – The United States has asked four oil-rich Gulf states for close to 300 billion dollars to help it curb the global financial meltdown, Kuwait's daily Al-Seyassah reported Thursday.
Quoting "highly informed" sources, the daily said Washington has asked Saudi Arabia for 120 billion dollars, the United Arab Emirates for 70 billion dollars, Qatar for 60 billion dollars and was seeking 40 billion dollars from Kuwait.
The borrower is slave to the lender.
Nuff said
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Saturday, November 15, 2008
An open letter to the 'rich' people of the United States of America
Dear 'rich' people,
First and foremost, I declare that I do not hold you in contempt. I do not envy your wealth, no matter how you got it. I hold no claim over your wealth.
We have elected a class of politicians who DO hold you in contempt. They DO envy your wealth, and they DO hold claim over you and the product of your God given talents and abilities. They have incited class warfare against you. Without you, they can not exist or function. It is this last point that I wish to hold council with you on.
This class of politician has risen to power, and plans to stay there my taking from you, and giving to everybody else. Three things must remain in place for them to continue to implement that plan successfully. First, you must continue to be there to provide them with the cash. Second, they must have the cash to redistribute. Third, there must someone to give the money to. Let us examine these in greater detail.
The third point is beyond our control. There will always be leeches eager to take that which they have no title to. There will be countless excuses for their 'need'. One excuse that will never be proposed for their need, however, will have anything to do with their own faulty actions. The number of this third element is a direct function of the availability of money to be taken. The more money, the more leeches. The less money, the fewer leeches. We can minimize them, but we can not eliminate them.
Now, let us examine you - the first element. For years now, you have stood by and watched politicians on both sides of the aisle, increasingly legislate you to shoulder larger and larger tax loads. This is money that you could have hired more people in your businesses with. You could have spent it on research and development. I'm sure some of it would have wound up in some very worthy charitable causes. Instead, it went to taxes, and a great deal of it wound up in the hands of the leeches. I personally know of one person that took her last 'economic stimulus check' and bought herself breast augmentation. I ask you, was that the most effecient use of your money? Think how much of your money went to buy beer, cigarettes, and big screen TV's that cost more than the apartment's monthly rent. Personally, I find it exceedingly ironic that money that may have gone to finding a cure for lung cancer, instead bought thousands of packs of cigarettes. That one makes you think, does it not? Some of you see what is ahead, and are acting accordingly. For the rest of you, how long will you enable this system to operate like this? Make no mistake, you are the enabler. Without you, they have no money to redistribute. Am I asking you to quit? No, not exactly. Have you thought of going on strike? Stop generating income. Stop creating the very environment that the socialists need to live. Some of you can afford to take a 4 year vacation. I hear the Bahamas are nice. However you deem it most effecient for you, I beg of you.....stop enabling the system. You are the 'good guy' giving the alcoholic a beer to 'take the edge off'. Stop.
The second element, the politicains, is where I come in, and the real reason for this letter. Even if you decide to continue to enable the system. It only works as long as there is money to go around. Either you choke off the supply, or they will bleed you dry. My intent is to do everything in my power to bankrupt them from the inside out. When the 'economic stimulus packages' come around, I will gladly take mine, and I will use it to make myself more independent of the system. I have come to the conclustion that the return to fiscal responsibility in government is now impossible, so they need to be bankrupted. I will vote for socialized medicine (even though I know the private sector handles it better), I will vote for increased social security benefits (even though I know it is a Ponzy Scheme). I will support everything that has the government spending money that they, in turn, have to get from you. I will do so, not because I think it is OK for them to take your money and give it to the likes of me, but because this is the power I have in fixing the system. I ask you to use your power to do the same. If we both exercise our powers, their socialist dream would collapse under its own weight in a matter of weeks to months and we could get back to the business of making things better through personal responsibility.
Now, I would like to address the 'non rich' who may happen upon this letter and read it. I ask you to join me. We are doing nothing illeagle. Take every 'government benefit' you are 'entitled' to, and help us bankrupt the system. Be carefull though! Do not become dependent of the 'benefits'! Use them to make yourself more independent of the corrupted system, lest you be hurt when it goes bankrupt!
It is time for the economic revolution. Let Freedom Ring!
First and foremost, I declare that I do not hold you in contempt. I do not envy your wealth, no matter how you got it. I hold no claim over your wealth.
We have elected a class of politicians who DO hold you in contempt. They DO envy your wealth, and they DO hold claim over you and the product of your God given talents and abilities. They have incited class warfare against you. Without you, they can not exist or function. It is this last point that I wish to hold council with you on.
This class of politician has risen to power, and plans to stay there my taking from you, and giving to everybody else. Three things must remain in place for them to continue to implement that plan successfully. First, you must continue to be there to provide them with the cash. Second, they must have the cash to redistribute. Third, there must someone to give the money to. Let us examine these in greater detail.
The third point is beyond our control. There will always be leeches eager to take that which they have no title to. There will be countless excuses for their 'need'. One excuse that will never be proposed for their need, however, will have anything to do with their own faulty actions. The number of this third element is a direct function of the availability of money to be taken. The more money, the more leeches. The less money, the fewer leeches. We can minimize them, but we can not eliminate them.
Now, let us examine you - the first element. For years now, you have stood by and watched politicians on both sides of the aisle, increasingly legislate you to shoulder larger and larger tax loads. This is money that you could have hired more people in your businesses with. You could have spent it on research and development. I'm sure some of it would have wound up in some very worthy charitable causes. Instead, it went to taxes, and a great deal of it wound up in the hands of the leeches. I personally know of one person that took her last 'economic stimulus check' and bought herself breast augmentation. I ask you, was that the most effecient use of your money? Think how much of your money went to buy beer, cigarettes, and big screen TV's that cost more than the apartment's monthly rent. Personally, I find it exceedingly ironic that money that may have gone to finding a cure for lung cancer, instead bought thousands of packs of cigarettes. That one makes you think, does it not? Some of you see what is ahead, and are acting accordingly. For the rest of you, how long will you enable this system to operate like this? Make no mistake, you are the enabler. Without you, they have no money to redistribute. Am I asking you to quit? No, not exactly. Have you thought of going on strike? Stop generating income. Stop creating the very environment that the socialists need to live. Some of you can afford to take a 4 year vacation. I hear the Bahamas are nice. However you deem it most effecient for you, I beg of you.....stop enabling the system. You are the 'good guy' giving the alcoholic a beer to 'take the edge off'. Stop.
The second element, the politicains, is where I come in, and the real reason for this letter. Even if you decide to continue to enable the system. It only works as long as there is money to go around. Either you choke off the supply, or they will bleed you dry. My intent is to do everything in my power to bankrupt them from the inside out. When the 'economic stimulus packages' come around, I will gladly take mine, and I will use it to make myself more independent of the system. I have come to the conclustion that the return to fiscal responsibility in government is now impossible, so they need to be bankrupted. I will vote for socialized medicine (even though I know the private sector handles it better), I will vote for increased social security benefits (even though I know it is a Ponzy Scheme). I will support everything that has the government spending money that they, in turn, have to get from you. I will do so, not because I think it is OK for them to take your money and give it to the likes of me, but because this is the power I have in fixing the system. I ask you to use your power to do the same. If we both exercise our powers, their socialist dream would collapse under its own weight in a matter of weeks to months and we could get back to the business of making things better through personal responsibility.
Now, I would like to address the 'non rich' who may happen upon this letter and read it. I ask you to join me. We are doing nothing illeagle. Take every 'government benefit' you are 'entitled' to, and help us bankrupt the system. Be carefull though! Do not become dependent of the 'benefits'! Use them to make yourself more independent of the corrupted system, lest you be hurt when it goes bankrupt!
It is time for the economic revolution. Let Freedom Ring!
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