Friday, August 21, 2009

What to do About the Yucky Muck!

First thing is, watch the above video! There is a part two on my YouTube channel

Next thing I would do is start a new tray and if the material in your existing tray appears to be fully composted I would go ahead and move them out of that/those trays into the fresh tray.

If you have a healthy population of worms in the existing trays, I would go ahead and use that material. If it is exceedingly wet I would work the material daily with my hands to incorporate air into the material until it is of a workable texture.

The sludge in the bottom collection tray...what you do with that depends on the condition of the material. Again, if it is full of worms I would scoop out the worms and add them to the fresh tray. The sludge can then be used. I would simply dig a trench in the garden along the root zone of your tomatoes (they love worm castings), pour/place the sludge in the trench and cover with earth or compost.

If however, there are NO worms and the material stinks, I would dispose of it.

Unless you have a microscope and know what you are looking for, there is no way to know if the material you have accumulated anywhere in your worm compost bin is healthy, except by the population of worms, how happy they are, and the smell of the material. The beneficial life in your compost is microscopic and can not be determined by the naked eye.

Happy worming :)

Christy
VermiCulture Northwest