Author Archives: CandyTobias

What is Vermicomposting?

by CandyTobias Posted on August 18, 2018

Vermicomposting is a composting?method?that uses earthworms to supercharge the process of organic waste conversion. Earthworms feed on organic waste material (vegetable scraps, egg shells, strawberry tops) and, through their digestive process, turn it into granular excrement castings called vermicompost.

Which?worm varieties are ideal for vermicomposting?

There are nearly 3,600 types of earthworms. They fall into two categories: burrowing and non-burrowing. Among these types, the most ideal for compost making is Eisenia foetida,?also known as red wiggler worms.?You can find them at many nursery suppliers or online.

What types of material can go into?a?vermicomposter?

In general,?worms can process just about any type of?organic, biodegradable material, from kitchen scraps and coffee grounds to dry carbon-based materials like straw and leaves to poultry litter, dairy wastes and a lot more.

How quickly do worms convert organic material?

The average earthworm can eat and excrete half its body weight in organic material per day. As the worm population grows and multiplies, this capability only increases. To create an efficient vermicomposting system, you’ll want to start with one pound of worms. One pound of worms can consume up to 3.5 pounds of food waste per week!

How can vermicompost be used?

Vermicompost contains a much higher percentage of both macro and micronutrients than standard garden compost. As such, it enhances plant growth, suppresses disease in plants, increases microbial activity in the soil, and improves water retention and aeration.

If you’re able to extract vermicompost tea ? the liquid produced during the composting process ? you?can apply it directly to foliage on your plants. This can help suppress plant disease. Cool, right!?

Related Stories:

How and Why to Make Compost Tea
80 Items You Can Compost
The Best Composting Option for City Dwellers

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

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What is Vermicomposting?

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Here Is Today’s French Fiscal Horsepower History Lesson

by CandyTobias Posted on February 7, 2016

Mother Jones

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No one is going to care about this post. Too bad. I feel like writing, and on a weekend you take what you can get.

Anyway, I was musing the other day about the fact that I’ve always owned foreign cars. Partly this is just chance, partly the fact that I live in California, and, I suppose, partly because my parents always owned foreign cars. The first one was purchased around the time of my birth, and we kids called it the bye-bye, for reasons I presumably don’t have to explain. It was, as it happens, a Renault. But which Renault?

I did a bit of lazy googling last night, but nothing looked quite right. Then this morning, I noticed one of those Fiat 500s that J-Lo hawks on TV, and thought that it looked a little like the old Renault. Except I was sure the Renault had vents in the rear.

But wait. Rear vents means a rear engine. So I googled that, and instantly got a million hits for the 4CV, which was clearly the old bye-bye. My mother confirmed this telephonically a bit later. And that got me curious. Citroën, of course, produced the iconic 2CV, which first came off the assembly line at about the same time. What’s with that? What’s the appeal of __CV to postwar French auto manufacturers?

The answer turned out to be pretty funky. CV stands for chevaux vapeur, or horsepower. But the 4CV is not a 4-horsepower car. CV, it turns out, is used to mean tax horsepower. After World War II, France (along with other European countries) wanted to encourage people to buy low-power cars, so they put a tax on horsepower. But just taxing horsepower would have been too simple. Instead, they used a formula that took into account the number of cylinders, the piston bore, and the stroke. Here’s the formula for the 4CV:

These numbers were undoubtedly carefully engineered to produce the highest result that would round down to 4. In fact, the 4CV had a whopping 17 horsepower, and could get to 60 mph in just under 40 seconds. Ours had a few wee problems chugging along at 6,000 feet in Flagstaff on the way to Denver in 1960, but what can you expect for 17 horsepower?

So that’s your history lesson for the day. Apparently the French tax the horsepower of cars to this day, though the formula has changed over time. According to Wikipedia, “Since 1998 the taxable power is calculated from the sum of a CO2 emission figure (over 45), and the maximum power output of the engine in kilowatts (over 40) to the power of 1.6.” The power of 1.6? I guess they still love a little pointless complexity in France.

Link: 

Here Is Today’s French Fiscal Horsepower History Lesson

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