KF7TBA+K7LWA's Friday Insomniac-Net BLOG

KF7TBA+K7LWA's Friday Insomniac-Net BLOG
Have we got some really, really good Qs&As for you!

Friday, March 25, 2016

2016[13]A -- Ins-Net As for Mar 25, 2016: Worms Crawl In... [A-A-C]

Insomniac-Net ANSWERS -- Friday[13], Mar 25, 2016 [ A - A - C ]
Tonight's Topic: Worms Crawl In...
ANSWERS = [ A - A - C ]
(Sorry for the delay in posting to Yahoo-Groups!)
    Good morning/evening, everybody! Thank you for joining us last night.
    We hope you discovered something interesting during the time we spent together on the Insomniac Net last night.
    Thanks to you all for playing along -- it was a lot of FUN for us. Hopefully, you had fun too!
        -- The ever-delightful Shelley [KF7TBA] and just plain old LW [K7LWA] (email K7LWA.INS@gmail.com).
    (Please Note: The Net Controller's Answers are always CORRECT (even if they aren't every time!)
    Please check out Winsystem's Insomniac Trivia Net page.
    You can get these Questions & Answers at the Yahoo-groups' Messages Link
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    Once again, the ever-delightful Shelley [KF7TBA] is camping out at her Dad's house tonight and she sends a BIG Radio Wave to everybody.
    We really dig tonight's trivia topic:  "vermiculture" -- basically known as "worm farming" or "raising earthworms".
    Are you -- or have you ever a been -- a "worm rancher" who may compost your kitchen food wastes with a "worm bin" instead of dumping them in your community's food waste handler?     So how much do you know about vermiculture and vermicomposting -- i.e, making earthworm compost?
    Please choose your answers from any of the 3 (reuseable) answers of "A", "B", or "C" (if applicable!) for each of the following question  
    Ok, lift the worm bin's lid, add some food waste, and then sit back -- let them do all the composting!
++ Worms Crawl In... ++
Question #1: There are over 4,400 species of earthworms that have been identified by taxonomists -- however, not all of these are good for vermicomposting -- True or False?
        A. True, or
        B. False
    At this time, there are over 4,400 species of earthworms that have been identified by taxonomists.
    While some scientists have divided these into three primary groups (epigeic, i.e. “litter dwelling,” anecic, “burrowing, soil dwelling,” and endogeic “deep soil”), a two-fold division seems more convenient:
      
Earthworkers are worms such as the common nightcrawler (Lumbricus terrestris) an excellent earthworm for gardens because it creates burrows, mixes soils and improves tilth.
    While these are desirable for your garden, they are difficult if not impossible to grow in bins.
      Composting earthworms, on the other hand, dwell exclusively in organic matter that they process and transform into an extremely valuable bio-fertilizer and bio pest-control agent, castings.
    It is not recommended that you put these directly into your garden, because they will not create burrows.
    [SOURCE: Vermico -- Earthworms]
Question #2: The last book published by the famous and controversial British scientist, Charles Darwin, was a 300+ page book on earthworms -- True or False?
        A. True, or
        B. False
"Earthworms was Darwin’s last book.
 It was published on 10 October 1881, just six months before he died, and was reviewed enthusiastically in The Times that day praising Darwin for exalting ‘them of low degree’.
The book was an instant success and remains a significant part of Darwin’s
oeuvre.
It is written in a clear, informal style and betrays, perhaps more than any of his other books, Darwin’s true delight in engaging with nature."

    [SOURCE: DARWIN ONLINE: Introduction to Earthworms]
Question #3:  Vermiculturalists (i.e., "worm ranchers") often use the terms "vermicompost" and "worm casting" interchangeably when describing the end product of worm composting. However, they are different. How?
        A. "Worm casting" is the excrement of digested (or partially digested) material that has been passed through a worm (i.e., "worm-poo"), or
        B. "Vermicompost" is a mixture of worm castings, humus, organic material, living worms, their cocoons ("worm capsules"), and other organisms, or
        C. Actually, both Answers are correct.
    "It helps to remember the distinction between worm castings and vermicompost.
    Worm castings are deposits that once moved through the digestive tract of of a worm.
    Vermicompost is a dark mixture of worm castings, organic material, and bedding in various stages of decomposition, plus the living earthworms, cocoons, and other organisms present.
    ... A large portion of your vermicompost will be worm castings.
    A worm casting (also known as worm cast or vermicast) is a biologically active mass containing thousands of bacteria, enzymes, and remnants of plant materials and animal manures that were not digested by the earthworm.
    The composting process continues after a worm casting has been deposited."
    [SOURCE: WORMS Eat My Garbage by Mary Appelhof]
For more information on Worm Composting, please see:
WORMS Eat My Garbage by Mary Appelhof
The Worm Book by Loren Nancarrow
Cornell University Worm Composting Basics
Manual of On-Farm Vermicomposting and Vermiculture (PDF)
Vegetable Mould and Worms -- The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms by Charles Darwin 1881.
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++ QUOTES OF THE DAY ++ -- by cartoonist Gary Larson (from his book There's A Hair In My Dirt -- A Worm's Story)

"Well, truthfully, earthworms don't really sit around dinner tables complaining, telling stories, laughing, and so on.
     On the other hand, they do have a message for us all....
"
     [Source: There's A Hair In My Dirt -- A Worm's Story]
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BLOG LINKS:
Questions = 2016[13]Q -- Ins-Net Qs for Mar 25, 2016: Worms Crawl In...
Answers = 2016[13]A -- Ins-Net As for Mar 25, 2016: Worms Crawl In...
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Please include you name, Callsign, and those correct answers.
Good luck everyone!
Shelley [KF7TBA] & LW [K7LWA]
K7LWA.INS@gmail.com
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Next Week: Earthworm Recipes????
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Thank you!
Shelley [KF7TBA] & LW [K7LWA]
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INS2016[12]-03-25 [2016-085]
Posted 2016-03-26 23:45PT
BLOGed 2016-03-26 23:45PT
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Posted by K7LWA.INS  at  2016-03-26 23:45PT USA


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