start a worm compost

We started our worm compost in Sept 08 and it has been flourishing ever since. We bought a vericomposting kit that came with a 4 trays and a bottom tray. It has taken about a 1 month for each of the trays to fill. The bins are stacked on top of each other and we’ve not harvested the compost yet. In fact, I’m not sure when to take the old trays out. Our thought was just to keep adding to the stack and eventually we’ll have all the trays stacked up. All the trays have holes on the bottom so, as it gets stacked higher and higher the worms know to go to where the food is… food is only added to the top tray.
Each tray, we were told, should hold 1 lb of worms, theoretically we have 3 lbs of worms now.
We have drained of about half a gallon of worm tea…. and keeping it in bottles for use on plants

I moved the castings from the bin I retired a few months ago into a 5 gallon bucket. I needed the extra space in the 3 bins I have. 3 bins! 2 people! My worms can’t keep up.

I’ll consider this done in another 2 months when I really harvest that first bucket of castings.

I read up on vermicomposting and I think it would fit my lifestyle pretty well. I have to wait until I move, then it’ll be worms ahoy!

I’m at the point where I have two current bins and one bin retired and I’m waiting to see how the worms finish off their food. The two current bins are healthy and active, the populations have expanded and are munching away at all the food.

Today I decided to turn that first bin that has just been sitting in the back of the shed. I hadn’t even peeked inside since I set it out to pasture(ize). I was amazed, the mass had shrunk to maybe 2/3 or 1/2 of the original size, almost all the recognizable food mass is gone, the worm population is huge, and the smell was perrfectly fresh earth.

I’ve never been squeamish about my worm bins, but I have always used gardening tools to turn them. Today it quickly became obvious that it would be more efficient to just use my hands and so for the first time I sunk my own fingers into the worm castings. It wasn’t gross, it was scary, it just felt like working with earth. Gooey, juicy, rich, worm filled earth. It was a great experience, and I cant wait to actually use my castings to make things grow.

I decided to retire one of my bins. I got a third empty and put lots of bedding, some new food, and a few scoops from the old bins in. I then turned the first bin and aerated well and set it in the back of the shed. I’ll turn it once a month for the next 5 or 6 months but no new food. The two new bins are going to have to handle everything.

It’s a little scary. The first bin was always the healthiest of the two and it always had the highest worm population. I hope these new ones will do well enough that I don’t have to go back to the original for worms. The second one had problems…but them seem to have worked themselves out and the worm population is pretty good. It’s also almost full itself…I have a lot of organic waster in my life. The new one is barely getting started and it feels like the worms disappear. I don’t know if they die off or if there’s just so much space that they spread out and seem like less. I guess I’ll find out soon.

On the 22nd the worms arrived.

At first, we thought they were dead or we only had about three worms but after they had settled into their new home and their food (organic veggies) had been given to them all mushed up (as worms don’t have teeth) the next morning they were having a grand ol’ breakfast when peeked in upon. They looked up at us with utter distain and made a run for it. I totally get their need for privacy. (But they are so cute!)

Because of the timing of their arrival, they are named after Christmas associations. We have the Three Wise Worms – Myrrh, Frankincense and Gold, The Twelve worms of Christmas – Partridge, Turtle & Dove, French & Hen, Bird (yes, odd name for a worm, but she’s sexy!), Ring (Unfortunate name however Gold is taken…) and he has cousins Tape and Hook, Geese & A-laying, Swan & Swimmy, Maid & Milk, Lady & Dancing (not to get confused with her twin Dancer) Lord Worm (Lord of the Farm, official speaker on behalf of farm), Leap, Piper and Drummer. And if you think that’s hard to remember, don’t forget: Prancer, Dancer, Donner, Blitzen, Dasher, Vixen, Commet, Cupid and, Rudolph. St. Nick, Mary, Joe, Jesus, Angel, Star, Tree, Lights, Shortbread, Turkey (such a silly worm!), Stocking, Yule, Jingle, Belle, Bauble, Tinsel, Noel, Advent, Candle, Carol, Pudding, Brandi, Rapper, Bon & Bonn (twins), Holly, Miss Elle Tow…. oh how I could go on about their names, so many names, so many worms…

Thing is, we have their farm up and running and it’s brilliant, odorless, fun, easy, environmentally friendly, organic, and helps combat global warming. Our mission now is to keep them happy healthy worms and to get lots of worm casings to use as fertilizer for the garden! This is something EVERY family can do.

Did I mention it’s fun? :)

We got Worms We got Worms We got Worms!!!

Finally!

Getting the worms has been the hardest search in the history of worm searching. Since it’s the silly season I’m going to be silly and name each of them (there’s only approx.1000 worms) after the seasons theme. I think Prancer the Worm works well? Don’t you?

Now, to get them settled into the farm, and keep them alive. I think this is going to be even more challenging. I can kill a cactus at 20 paces, but I can keep cats, dogs and other fluffs alive. Worms on the other hand… I really don’t know.

Wish the worms well, they are going to need it!

And both bins seem to be ok. I’d slowed down on adding to them, just due to a temporary shift in our eating habits, and they seem like they are as happy as ever. The flies have gone down, I’m adding more paper to see if I can get rid of them completely, and there’s no smell at all. Go worms!

I’m not sure what changed in the second bin, but it seems to be working again. Right before I took off for a week, I turned everything one last time and added a bunch of dry bedding and moved a few handfuls of worms from the healthy bin to the struggling one, and left them alone for a week. When I got back I turned them both, they needed more dry bedding, but they are both looking very good and the struggling bin seems to have recovered.

I did have a bit of a fruit fly problem, but no odor so I’m not too worried. The first bin is almost full, I’ll keep adding for a bit but then let it finish off. I’m very excited about the whole thing.

Well, minor trouble. My second worm bin is giving off a bit of a smell. I’m still using the orginal one as my primary dump site, but I added a few days worth to the new bin. The odor isn’t too strong, and I keep turning the compost to make sure plenty of oxygen is getting in. Maybe I just needed to give the worms more time to breed and fill in the space. The life cycle is something like 3 weeks? So by next week I should have the new generation reaching maturity? I hope that’s true.

I started bringing home the coffee grounds from work. I always take food in a plastic container, so now those compostable grounds come home with me. I’m making apple sauce today so the worms will get an infusion of apple cores. What lucky worms.