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.
The last couple of days, I have got some emails with some really good questions about taking care of the worm bins, some of the questions included.1) How do I tell if the bin is wet enough? 2) when should we harvest the worms? 3) What does the bedding look like when its time to harvest the Worm Castings?
In this post I will try to answer all these great questions and provide some pics of the bedding in the worm bins through to the finished (completely composted bedding)
Here are some questions from a customer of mine, here is what Ed asked!
I read that it should be “like a damp sponge”. I also wonder if I actually have enough worms…In time , I’m sure I will. Would it be possible for you to take a few pics of one of your bins so I may guage conditions? Maybe lift some cover to show conditions inside the pile? Should I rotate the bottom to the top or occasionally break up to aerate?
1) How wet should your worm bin be? well the wet sponge idea is the safe zone, not much will go wrong if you follow this tip. In my opinion your bin has to be a little more wet then the wet sponge idea, So that your moisture is almost wet! if you are using a plastic bin, you should see moisture on the sides of the bin, European Nightcrawlers like the bin with more moisture then the Red Wigglers do.You need the moisture for the bin to operate properly, in quoting my wife (Lorie) she tells our customers that in time after buying worms and or a complete bin from us, That taking care of the worms just starts to come natural to you, you soon start to learn how much to feed the worms, what food waste the worms just love, and what food takes a while to break down so the worms can consume that food.
2) Should I rotate the bedding in my bin bottom to top?
Don’t be afraid to get down and dirty in your worm bin, moving the bedding around in the bin doesn’t hurt, it gets the air moving in your bin, but you don’t have to do this, the worms will work all the bedding in the bin like little plows, the worms soon turn all the bedding into Castings(worm poop)
I hope Ed that these pics of my worm bin gives you an idea of what the bedding the bin should look like.
In my next post! I will answer these great questions from Gwen.
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
check back soon!
Jeff
Written by Jeff on August 18th, 2008 with 25 comments.
Read more articles on About Earthworms and Composting with composting worms and News and Reader Questions and Worm Stories.
I am a new worm farmer and you have answered my questions before when no one else did, thank you.
My self, my wife,Tonsie and our friends Mike brown and his wife, Mary, formed a partnership and we are now worm farmers. We have a newly build worm bin that is 3 feet by 6 feet and we have 3 lbs. of European night crawlers. The bin is made out of plywood above ground and is 24 inches deep.
I did’nt say we were big worm farmers at this time but we will be.
I have a couple of questions for you, I hope you have time to answer.
1. How can I seperate the castings from the vermicompost to get pure worm castings? (I saw your machine, us geting one like that would be difficult at best.)
2. We plan on selling both bait worms and castings. How many lbs. of worms will we need before we can start marketing the worms?
3. How many bins 3? by 6? will we need to start producing enough castings to start selling?
4. I guess I am asking you how many lbs of worms do we keed before we really are “Worm farmers”?
5. I plan on ordering more worms in September, if I order from you how am I assured that I am getting pure European Night Crawlers and not a mixture of Reds and Euros? (They will be shipped to Washington State.)
thanks
Rod
Hi Rod
Rod has asked some Great questions, That I and alot of other worm farmers thought of before they started in the worm business.(I am sure) I will try and answer these questions as well as I can, He has asked five questions, I will asnwer them in order that he asked them in order from 1-5
1) Seperating worm castings is a job in its self, I seperated my worm castings by hand for a year or so before I got my Fanning Mill, even with the fanning mill the vermicompost needs to be on the dry side before the fanning mill can do the Great job that it does. So it really depends on how much investment you would like to, or can put into the business, you can also buy a rotating worm harvester, that is fairly costly. the final worm castings needs to be screened through a 1/8″ screen.
2) This is a hard one to answer, I would try to keep a stock of 100 lbs of worms, just for worm casting production alone, If you are planning on being a player in the castings business.
As far as how many worms to sell worms, It would be nice to have a stock of 100 lbs or more, if you get very busy, this # is not very much.
3)Your worm bins 3 by 6 by 2 feet deep are a great size for worm beds, not too big, not too small, A very nice size to work with.
When stocking a worm bed like this,the rule is 1 lb of composting worms to 1 sq ft of surface area in your bin, so the surface area of your 3? by 6? worm bed is 18 sq feet.
So you should be stocking this bed with 18 lbs of worms, If you would like to start slow, I still recommend starting with at least 10 lbs.
4) When are we worm farmers?? haha..
When do you think you are a worm farmer? I think if you have worm beds 3? by 6? you are already a worm farmer,I am sure I have alot of customers with a few pounds of worms calling them selves worm farmers, this is a matter of opinion depending on each individual.
5) I have purchased my original stock from reputable worm farmers, They have been in the business for a long time. I do mix my worms (reds and euros) for casting production only, To keep the worms seperated as to each breed, the 2 breeds need to be a far distance away from each other, along with well made beds to keep the 2 breeds apart. Also another thing to keep in mind is, when making outdoor beds and your plans are to maintain the pure breed of worm, you need to have something between the native worms and the soil that you have just made the bed in, remember your native worms will enjoy eating the bedding you added to your nice pure breed of worms you are going to add to that bed, thus mixing the worms up.
I hope this answers some questions, I would really like to hear back on this one, There are alot of great ideas and methods of worm farming out there, So lets hear your comments
Jeff (The Friendly Worm Guy)
Written by Jeff on August 3rd, 2008 with 3 comments.
Read more articles on About Earthworms and Composting with composting worms and News and Reader Questions and Worm Stories.
