Time to Kick it in the Worm Bin

Spring is on the way, at least in my part of the world.  With Spring comes a whole list of activities that need to happen after a winter long season here in the North.

Every worm bin should be on some kind of schedule to make sure you are keeping finished material removed and fresh bedding added.  The gardening schedule is a perfect schedule to tune into for this as the finished material is the perfect addition to your gardening activities.

The material that comes out of your worm bin will be removed from the bottom of the bin.  The natural movement of the worms will leave the bottom material most concentrated with the castings and the top material will have mostly fresh bedding and food stock.

Since the worms are top feeders any new bedding and food stock should always remain in the upper portions of the bin.  Even when you mix the bedding to incorporate air into the bin you should try to keep these layers separated.  Turning the bin periodically is necessary, especially for the bottom layers as the weight of the bedding on top compresses the material and pushes the air out.  Portions of the bin that go without air will become anaerobic and this is bad.  Bad things grow in anaerobic environments that are not friendly to worms or garden.

So, the first thing you want to be doing as the gardening season approaches is to be harvesting a portion of the material from the bottom of the bin.

I use tubs to pull the top material off and set this aside.  Then I pull the bottom layer out.  I use kiddie pools to store my product while it dries.  The material on the bottom will be too wet to work with.  It should not be sloppy wet, but if it won't go through an 1/8th inch screen without clogging it up the material is too wet.

I then place the removed bedding from the top back into the bin, turn it well and add fresh bedding on top to start the building process again.

The harvested material should be stored out of the sun and wind so the drying process can be controlled.  I use a compost fork to turn the material twice a day until the material is dry enough to work with.  At this point you decide how you want to use the material.

If you are going to use the material in the garden for amending soil and transplanting then you don't have to work the material any further than to have it be workable for these tasks.  However, I use the separated castings to add to my seed starting mix.  This is a perfect application for screened castings.  The finished material is rich with life and nutrients and has a fine texture for seed germination.

If you want to use the material like this then the product from the bin will have to be dried further than that used in the garden.  As mentioned earlier, it will need to go through an 1/8th inch screen.  It is well worth the effort to produce this awesome product.

Happy worming,

Christy
Handle your organic waste the way Nature intended.
http://www.vermiculturenorthwest.com
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Worms and the Soil

This picture illustrates one example of what the worm does in our soil, burrowing tunnels that allow water and air deep into the sub-soil levels where the roots of our plants penetrate for water and nutrients.

But the worm does so much more by helping to complete the decomposing process of our organic waste, eating bacteria and fungi and mass producing these microscopic life forms in their gut and pooping it out in the form of castings.

Castings, often called gardeners gold because of its value has a unique shape of its own.  Torpedo shaped and covered in a substance that slowly breaks down like a time release fertilizer, the casting helps build the soil both in physical structure and chemical make-up.

Two books I recommend for soil education are:

The Earth Moved: On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms

and

Teaming with Microbes: The Organic Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web, Revised Edition

Worms, the soil, gardening...these can not be separated.  If you do one you must do all three.

Chemical fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides all kill the naturally occurring life in the soil.

Mother nature really does know best and if assistance from man comes is the form that mimics mother nature then you feed the cycle instead of breaking it.

Feed your garden and it will feed you.  Let the worms help!

Christy
Organic Minded
Organic Conspiracies

 

Getting My Product to Market

Spring and Summer Are My Time For Harvest

The worm bins have come through winter thriving and now are providing me with many pounds of beautiful, black, rich castings and compost - and the real work begins.

Tending the bins:

• Feeding





• Watering





• Turning





• Adding fresh bedding
  

All of this is a piece of cake compared to the process of harvesting the finished material out of the bins. Since the worms are top feeders, and all the new material and feed is constantly being added to the top of the bin...all of the finished material is located at the bottom of the bin. This means that in order to get to it all the unfinished material on top must be moved for the finished material, which is full of the castings, to be accessed.

In my bigger 4X8' bins the process is made easier by providing a space at one end of the bin just for finished material. Approximately 1/4 of the bin is sectioned off for this purpose. This allows for the casting material to finish further composting and begin the drying process.

Once the product is removed from the bins it is moved into holding bins that allow me to continue to turn the casting material to dry further. My aim is to get the casting material dry enough to go through an 1/8 inch screen without leaving the holes clogged with moist casting material. Keep in mind however, that the castings need to contain a certain amount of moisture to maintain the life in the castings.

Once the castings are separated from the compost I use a portion of it to blend my custom organic fertilizer. I specifically call it Tomato Food because that is the crop's need I targeted when I researched and developed the recipe. But you could concievably use this food on pretty much any crop and obtain great results.

The base of the recipe is castings. If you are growing tomatoes and not using castings you are missing out on some of the best tomato growing experience you'll ever have.

I sell my product at my local Farmer's Market.

If you're ever in the area, look us up. We are a great Farmer's Market experience!

Christy,

MotherEarthsFarm.com

VermiCultureNorthwest.com