The older farmers in my area sure gave me some funny looks when I started asking them If they had an Old Fanning Mill hanging around their farms. “What in the world would I want a thing like that for”? . They had not used them since the 1950’s. I heard the story from each, about cranking those old things all day, just to clean that grain so they could plant that years crop. Those machines were hard work, what are you going to do with something like that.
I told them, I was going to try and harvest worm castings with one. I had not even seen one before, but had only heard of them. After harvesting all my worm casting by this point by hand, with a little 1/8″ screen all night to get ready for a garden show the following day, I was ready to try anything.
The Orange one on the left came from the farmer next to me, It was made between 1913-1915, by the Young Brothers of Almonte Ontario,Yes that makes this machine about 95 years old. This unit is the first one I got, it is still operated with the hand crank on the side of the machine.
The red one on the right is one I got at a farm sale, the farmer had sold his farm. When I went and looked at it I was very happy to see what I saw. Someone had put an electic motor on it.
Even though the orange one had a crank on it,and made harvesting the castings much easier. If my hands could be free to handle all the used up bedding I was putting through this machine, I could make alot more finished worm castings in a shorter time. After a few adjustments it works great.
I have made a video of the red one in action! Harvesting Worm Castings
Written by Jeff on November 4th, 2009 with no comments.
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Liz Lessard, CEPIT
Project Manager
Environmental Division
Trow Associates Inc
In Mid Winter Liz and I talked regarding this office (Trow on Regent) getting set up with vermicomposting. there are about 50 employees, about ¾ of whom are office staff, working year round.
They have been composting there for a while now (Liz has been bringing it home!), and Liz would like to get setup properly there, Her bin is getting full at home!
They produce about a Large ice cream pail per week, possibly more if we get going on the rest of the staff who are not currently composting.
Most of their organic waste is coffee grinds and filters, with a bit of fruit,
The worm bin in the pics is the second bin we setup, The first bin was on the small side, with the amount of organic waste that was being put into the bin for the worms to compost.
The first bin was started with 2 pounds of Red Wigglers, and was about 60 litres in size. good size for a family. but we soon found out it was way too small for the waste Liz was adding to the bin, so we steped up to a 120+ litre bin, this bin has been going for a couple of months now, this bin has been working just fine.
Liz is doing a Great job with her worm bin, KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK…. Liz.
Written by Jeff on August 3rd, 2009 with 1 comment.
Read more articles on Composting with composting worms and News and Worm Stories and larger scale vermicomposting and worm bins.
Worm castings
(aka ‘vermicompost’) are one of the most incredible natural fertilizers around. Aside from the incredible growth promoting abilities of this material, the beauty of it is that a very small amount goes a LONG way, as shown in multiple university research trials (Ohio State University). Also makes an excellent compost tea.
Worm Castings only ship to Canada! there will be a postage fee, for shipping.
Worm Casting, are made by the worms for Nature! In this case, I have alot of worms in worm beds making these castings for the purpose of selling them to you, to make your plants grow like NEVER BEFORE!
This is a video of my Fanning Mill making the worm castingsHarvesting Worm Castings
This bag of Worm Castings is 1 Litre and sells for $3.00 with tea bag. Remember a little goes a long way!
1 litre bag with tea bag $3.00 plus shipping
10 litre bag with tea bag $20.00 plus shipping
Please send along your postal code so I can get you a total price with shipping. So you can get your Plants growing like never before.
Written by Jeff on May 19th, 2009 with 1 comment.
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Welcome to The Friendly Worm Guy USA Composting Worm ordering page. I have made it very easy to ORDER worms on my Website. Just a click of the BUY NOW button. That is the Total price. The worms will be delivered to your door anywhere in the USA.(except Hawaii)SORRY No shipments to Hawaii.
Friendly Worm Guy only deals with the best worm breeders in North America, So yes! you are getting the best worms on the Market. I have been dealing with these breeders for 5 years now.SHIPPING INFO AT BOTTOM OF THE PAGE
Red Wigglers for USA buyers only..
 |
Red Worms (Eisenia fetida), also known as Red Wigglers, are probably the most common worm used for home worm composting. They are very easy to raise, have great appetites, and breed readily in captivity. They are thought to be more effective at processing wastes than European Nightcrawlers. |
1 lb Red Wigglers. ($25.00 worms + $8.00 shipping) Total $33.00 USD
2 lbs Red Wigglers. ($44.00 worms + $8.00 shipping) Total $52.00 USD
3 lbs Red Wigglers. ($62.00 worms + $8.00 shipping) Total $70.00 USD
4 lbs Red Wigglers ($76.00 worms + $10.00 shipping) Total $86.00 USD
5 lbs Red Wigglers ($92.00 worms + $10.00 shipping) Total $102.00 USD
European Nightcrawlers for USA buyers only
 |
European Nightcrawlers (Eisenia hortensis – formerly Dendrobaena veneta), also known as Belgian Nightcrawlers, are quite a bit larger than Red Worms. They are an excellent bait worm, but will readily process organic wastes as well. These worms are well known for their durability on the hook, even in icy and/or brackish waters. They are also quite tolerant of adverse conditions in a worm bin |
1 lb European Nightcrawlers ($32.00 worms + $8.00 shipping) Total $40.00 USD
2 lbs European Nightcrawlers ($64.00 worms + $8.00 shipping) Total $72.00 USD
3 lbs European Nightcrawlers ($94.00 worms + $8.00 shipping) Total $102.00 USD
4 lbs European Nightcrawlers ($112.00 worms + $12.00 shipping) Total $124.00 USD
5 lbs European Nightcrawlers ($135.00 worms + $12.00 shipping) Total $147.00 USD
Our worms are harvested on Mondays and shipped every Tuesday each week (this is a common standard within the industry – helps to avoid worms sitting in postal depots on the weekend) – on very rare occasions they are harvested Tuesday and shipped Wednesday. To ensure that your order is included with a weekly batch,
place order by Saturday at the latest for following week delivery
Since it takes time to plan and properly coordinate the weekly harvesting/shipping. Also, If you know you will be away thurs-Friday please let us know.. so we can put (hold at post office for pickup!!) We don’t want worms sitting in the hot sun for too long..any questions? email me.
Jeff@FriendlyWormGuy.com
NEW PRODUCT…. THE WORM INN
I’ve got Red, Green, Camo, Brown, Purple available
The Worm Inn facilitates “Continuous flow” vermicomposting
The Worm Inn is designed to be suspended by a shelving unit, a sturdy cross-bar, or a laundry hamper stand,
After designating a place for the Worm Inn, such as a basement, a utility closet, a storage area, a garage, or a classroom, the bag is ready to be filled.
The only things required for set-up are: The Worm Inn
Bedding
This includes cardboard items such as egg carton containers, paper towel inserts and newspapers – avoid glossy inserts
Food scraps
It’s best to let the food scraps sit for a few days so the microbial waste can develop, as this is what the worms actually feed on
Amount – 1-2 lbs of food waste per week is a good amount to sustain a pound of worms
Worms
1-3 pounds of Red Wigglers
To fill the Worm Inn:
some bedding is placed in the bottom to absorb moisture
then a layer of food scraps
followed by the worms
then the rest of the food scraps
finally, a thick layer of more bedding
the whole system is sprayed down with water as the contents need to remain cool and damp
As the system settles, the worms move upwards, digesting the microbial waste of the food, which results in the castings, a rich fertilizer. These castings (or vermicast) are left below as the worms constantly move upward toward more food.
$69.99 plus $10 Shipping, This is a USA product, that ships to Canada and The USA
I’ve got Red, Green, Camo, Brown, Purple available
On check out.. make sure you tell me what colour you would like.Thanks Jeff
Written by Jeff on January 5th, 2009 with 1 comment.
Read more articles on About Earthworms and Composting with composting worms and Friendly Worm Guy Store and News and Worm Stories.
For the 10 days that the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto Ontario is on. The Northern Ontario Agri-Food Education and Marketing Inc. will be selling our worm castings. In the Northern Ontario Agriculture Pavilion. So if you are going to be at the Fair be sure to pick up a bag of Worm Casting and watch your plants grow like never before.
Written by Jeff on November 6th, 2008 with 1 comment.
Read more articles on About Earthworms and Composting with composting worms and Friendly Worm Guy Store and News.
This is the final post about my Giant Sunflower, It is NO LONGER standing..
Well, The Sunflower made it to an outstanding height of 11 feet!! I think that is GREAT for having a 120 day growing season in northern Ontario. I am sure the Worm Castings helped out alot in that area to get the sunflower to that height.
The head of the Sunflower did not fully develop,
I did manage to dry the head of the Sunflower and get some seeds for next year. At that point maybe we can do this again, (it has been fun)
update #1
update #2
update #3
Written by Jeff on September 28th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on About Earthworms and News and Worm Stories and playing around.
For awhile now I have been making Worm Bins, and making sure they work!! and guess what! they work great. The 2 bins I am going to talk about are both plastic worm composting bins, A small apartment size and a 58 L bin great for a small family. And YES they are both FOR SALE here at Friendly Worm Guy.
First we will talk about my nice little Apartment Size bin.
This nice bin is great for the starters and kids out there.this nice little bin is made with a vent in the lid,comes with enough bedding to start the bin,how to take care of the bin paper and a Worms at Work sticker. this bin should be started with 1/2 lb of worms.
This bin sells for $29.99 (without worms) and $45.00 with 1/2 pound of composting worms. (Shipping is extra)
Second we will talk about my 58 Litre bin, Great for a small family.
These bigger bins always have problems with a lack of air making it to the bottom and middle of the bin causing smells in the bin. I have made this bin to correct this problem. I have made this bin with an AIR VENT TUBE through the middle of the bin. No More lack of air making it to the middle of the bin, and great composting at all times….
I have a little vent on each end of the bin, connected to the air vent that passes from one end of the bin to the other.
Here is a picture of the Air vent Tube that runs from one end of the bin to the other, and YES this air tube is VERY Strong, it would be very hard to break the air tube, I think the bin would break first.
This bin sells for $39.99 (without worms) and $79.99 with 1 lb of composting worms
(Shipping is extra)
Yes each bin comes with Bedding to start bin and how to take care of the bin, paper.
Written by Jeff on September 8th, 2008 with 2 comments.
Read more articles on About Earthworms and Composting with composting worms and Friendly Worm Guy Store and News and Pet Food and Worm Stories and worm bins.
Taking Care of Your Friendly Worm Guy Worm Bin
Taking care of a Friendly Worm Guy worm bin is not as difficult as you may think. There are just a few things that you should know about them and what I feel we should avoid. First I will tell you what kind of foods that do well in a bin. Then I will give you a list of foods I feel we should stay away from.
NOTE: The food must first start to rot and turn into bacteria before the worms can ingest it.
So cutting the food into smaller pieces will speed up the decomposing process.
That will help the worms to eat the food up faster.
Be careful if you try using the blender to cut up food (called a slurry), this can make your bin wet. Small amounts are fine, each week. You would have to experiment with small amounts at a time. However large amounts will make the bin too wet. I do not advise experimenting with this until you are used to feeding worms for a good while. First you should get the feel of what works well and the moisture level they seem to like best. European Nightcrawlers like more moisture then Red Wigglers. If worried just stay away from using slurries, as they are the trickiest to feed with. Researching about this type of feeding is advisable before attempting this method.
Foods that work well in Worm bins
-Coffee grounds and coffee filters
(I believe you can actually use all the coffee/tea grounds that you get, they love it!)
-Finely shredded paper/newspaper (no shiney, waxy paper)
-Dried leaves (in fall)
-Fruit- bananas and their peels or any other fruit and their peels,apples and their cores,celery,pears,peaches,etc.
-Vegitables – Potato peelings,carrot peelings, left over peas, green beans, lettuce,cucumber,etc.
-Bins do well with left over watermellon, cantelope and honey dew mellons (caution- these types of fruit have lots of water and will add more moisture to your bin. So don’t add too much that your bin can handle it) even the seeds can start growing in it, this is good in the bin as well.
-Plain Maccaronni,(I won’t put anything spicy)(remember no hamburger or meat)
-Dried Bread ,crumbled in moderation
-Egg shells are most important as they neutralize the PH of your worm bin and add grit for the worms to digest the food in their gizzard (keep all egg shells and crush up fine for the bin after they are completely dried out). You can put dried egg shells in a used bread or sandwich bag and roll with a rolling pin to crush it fine enough for the worms. When it is finely ground add it to the bin.
Smaller amounts and different kinds of food waste is the best type of feeding. It makes more variety of nutrients and a very healthy environment within an inside home bin. The breakdown of foods will be at different time intervals when variety is given. Also, alot more nutrients are availiable to the worms. This also will be good for your castings(worm poop)-100% Natural fertilizer(with no chemicals added). Keep the bin decomposing the foods but try not to fill it faster than the worms can possibly eat it. Over feeding could cause problems in the bin. Thus making the bin too wet and could make it stinky. Remember, if the bin is in good working order the bin will not stink as long as you always bury all the food that you are putting in your bin. Then the smell of decomposition will not escape. My tip, START SLOW, don’t feed excessively and take your time. Experiment on what they enjoy to eat and how slow or fast they are at eating certain foods. Experimenting with smaller amounts of new foods is safe, watching carefully and taking your time. You will then understand how and what you want to feed them. Healthy FRIENDLY WORM GUY WORMS are very hardy and are good keepers. Just take good care of your bin weekly. Let them have enough time to do their work. In time, you will have a good idea how much food scraps to put in and the correct moisture level. You will know by the appearance of your worms and soil in your bin. When the bin is getting to dry you can moisten it with a fine water mist from a water sprayer. I have balanced the moisture level in the bin at times with adding dry shreaded paper/cardboard when I find it too wet. I like to move all the bedding around once every few weeks or so to aerate the environment. I also add a bunch of moist shreaded paper/cardboard on top to stop any odours from arising in/out of the bin.
Foods to KEEP OUT of your worm bin
-No Bones
-No Onions/Garlic
-No Oranges,tomatoes,lemons (no acidic fruit)(more experienced bin owners can or will get away with small amounts of these added)
-No Meat or poultry
-No Milk or milk products,don’t forget about yogurt and cheese products being a milk product
You may see warning signs as a problem in your bin, for eg. if the worms seem to be trying to get out. Most often worms are just exploring in a new bin or just exploring their space and all is fine. They also will crawl around on the inside lid and around the sides just before it rains. I would not worry just watch how the bin is acting and you will get a good idea what is happening. Allow worms in a new worm bin to get used to it’s new environment. It may take them a little adjustment at first. If you like, you may take the lid off and have the bin under a house light to get them down into their new space at first. KEEP OUT OF SUNLIGHT, they are too fragile to be in the sun. Worms need it dark and moist. Later you can put the lid back on. Make sure your bin has enough air vents to breath or buy one of our FRIENDLY WORM BINS already to go.
Other reasons that may make the worms crawl about their bin. Think about the latest things you fed them, is there lots of noise around them or vibrations, is barometric pressure dropping? Some foods may not be as favourable to the worms and you may recheck you list of what not to feed. If there are vibrations / the barometric pressure is dropping and the worms think it is going to rain they are going to head out of the bedding. That’s their natural instinct. The worms like the bedding just damp to very moist(not wet). (Again, European Nightcrawlers like the moisture more then the Reds.) Remember, it is good if you can squeeze the bedding and get only about one or two drops out of it, this is the safe zone!
Having a worm bin can be great fun!! Experimenting can be the best part and the majority of kids love it too!! They can get dirty in the dirt, even in the winter, and hold the worms. They also learn about worms and their habitat!
Note : Grandparents also will find this hobby fun with the grandchildren! We have two children of our own and we see it is fun for all. When we show them, they really like to check out the worms. Our oldest likes to help feed them too! He asks lots of questions and he likes childrens books made about them. We bought our own children books on worms but your local library could do just fine too!
The bins can make you your own castings which is the best ever fertilizer that nature intended!! Also, when you want to go fishing, the worms are always around. It’s easy to get worms out and take with you, fresh and wiggly, even during the very early morning hours!! If taking care of worms properly, you can have plump juicey worms and never have to buy worms again. Not to mention another bin can be started on your own or you can even add a percentage of worms each year into your garden. The worms can aerate the soil and make the castings in your garden as your own personal garden workers. You could add an outside compost bin and slowly start to put worms in it as your worms reproduce more worms in your indoor bin. I also believe an outdoor composter can also be a necessity as the excess food scapes that you can’t use indoors may be put in the outdoor composter. In the long run, very little waste of food scrapes come out of your home. Food gets recycled, we can use the worms for our gardens and fishing. The worm fertilizer is used to improve our plant growth and soil and it is a neat and inexpensive hobby once established.
The bin must be harvested about every 4-6 months or so, the worms can’t survive in their own waste once it is overtaking the bin. The castings(worm poop) is no longer food for the worms to consume. The waste is no longer good to the worms but for us it is odour free and the complete nutrients needed for our plants to grow to their potential. Castings make the ideal thing to use in starting garden seeds. Scientists have tested this in the past with great results. It has proven itself to be the best out of many different ways for starting seedlings.
We have had several customers who commented on how the castings worked so well on their plants and that it works better than any fertilizer method they have ever used. I am also worry free about the health of my vegitables I eat from my garden because I know it is healthy. Summer is a healthier eating for us all, at our home. Worm castings are a nice reward for our efforts!! The indoor bin can be fun for many people. If it is not fun, those people may benifit by having an outdoor compost bin and just buying their worms and castings from a local worm and vermicultural business. This keeps us in business too!!
The biggest complaint about an indoor bin could be if you get fruit flies in your bin. With a CAREFUL,WATCHFUL EYE this will NOT HAPPEN. Excessive amounts of food or food not carefully burried may cause this. Neglecting the bin could also cause this to happen. If it does happen a homemade trap can be made to rid them or a sticky fly box can be bought at a local hardware store to trap them. Then note what went wrong and avoid the problem from re-occuring. Also burying your food under the bedding or shedded paper bedding should stop flies from arriving and hatching and keep down the smell of decomposition. Note: I have had a bin in my kitchen for food scapes for a long time. With a watchful eye, the bin did not give off odours. I burry all food and when they finally get eating then I add more to the bin. We also have an outdoor compost bin we use in the summer (so far without worms in it), with the outdoor bin there is no need to be as watchful.With an outdoor composter you must just be careful not to put foods that will attract animals to your home. I have enjoyed our bin, still learning(always learning), only tried using a slurry once. I just cut up my food in small pieces by hand with a knife. I am confident that if I can do a worm bin then anyone can. Just take your time and experiment slowly.
HAVE FUN WITH YOUR FRIENDLY WORM GUY WORM BIN!! THANKS FOR RECYCLING!!
Advice by -The Friendly Worm Guy and his Wife (the one who feeds the worms in the indoor worm bins)
Written by Jeff on September 7th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on About Earthworms and Composting with composting worms and Friendly Worm Guy Store and News and Worm Stories and worm bins.
Here is some great questions from Gwen. here is the questions!
“I too am interested in worm farming. I live in Central Oregon which is a great place to raise worms. I have started 3 bins, 2 plastice bins that are each 5 levels and one 30 gallon tub with lid. I am wondering how do you know when it is time to harvest worms and start a new bin? Seems simple, I get how to separate them , feed them and all but how do you know when to harvest? Should the bins be overflowing with worms??? Should it be when the composting is complete?? I feel silly not knowing but in all the books and websites I have visited this is not clearly addressed….. HELP!!”
Gwen
I am postings pics of the bedding in the bin, and finished,or mostly composted bedding that is in need of harvesting the worm casting.
The first question is 1) “I am wondering how do you know when it is time to harvest worms and start a new bin? Seems simple,Should the bins be overflowing with worms???”
here is the answer: It is time to start a new bin when the worm numbers are very high, so “yes” when it seems that your bin is overflowing with worms, it is time to start a new bin. because as the bin continues to be processed by the worms, the bin starts to fill up with worm castings in turn making less space for food, For the worms to consume, so in my opion, the worms are in their greatest numbers when the bin is full of food sourses. So this would be 2-3 months after starting the bin, as long as the worms have had a good food supply up till now. If you wait till the composting is complete, the number of worms will have dropped in big numbers.
so Gwen! I hope this answer helps
Jeff
Now I would like to post some pics of, worm bin bedding, composted bedding, pre-composted bedding etc.
Here is a pic of pre-composted food waste that I pickup from the Old Vault rest. please check out the post on the Old Vault Food waste.
Next we have a pic of shredded cardboard, this stuff is great for adding to a worm bin, If your bin gets too moist, cardboard will take care of the excess moisture very quickly.
Another bedding material I like to use is shredded paper, YES you will hear my worm buddies say that shredded paper has chemicals in it, in numbers to high to use this material for worm bedding, I have had only one problem when using paper, It will pack down in the bin if used in thick layers, so if you mix the paper and cardboard together, the combo works great.
Now on to the worm bed, this is a pic of the worm bed completely composted ready to be harvested.
This a pic after the composted bedding is screened and turned into Worm Castings(worm poop)
I hope these pictures of the different processing steps in the worm bedding helps alot of you people out.
Lets hear what you have to say!! was this post helpful??
Thanks Jeff
Written by Jeff on August 26th, 2008 with 5 comments.
Read more articles on About Earthworms and Composting with composting worms and Friendly Worm Guy Store and News and Reader Questions and Worm Stories.
Well , its a little more then a week since my last post on the Giant Sunflowers Growth. But it was worth the wait. This week the flower is coming on the plant, and it is now 10 feet and 10 inchs TALL.
I am sure the plant is not going to get any taller, but lets see if the plant will be able to remain standing with the weight of the very big Sunflower head that is going to grow on this plant in the next couple of weeks. now from guessing how tall this plant will get, now we can guess the weight of the finished sunflower head.
Till next time!!
Giant Sunflower #1
Giant Sunflower Update #2
Jeff
Written by Jeff on August 26th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Composting with composting worms and Friendly Worm Guy Store and News and Worm Stories and playing around.
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