OK, you might ask just how can I leave my worm bin and expect to come back to live worms?  After all I haven’t              trained my neighbors in their care– yet and I will be away for 2, 4 or 6 weeks! Will they all be dead when I get home  again?

I do get this question if I am speaking at a garden club, a school or a state fair. It seems like once a person  is emotionally invested in their worms they do worry about leaving them with out adequate care.  With my 90 bins  here I had been concerned the first few times I left, too.  Here is how I prepared them for my departure.  I planned to  give over all my time to the worms for the two weeks before I had to leave.  During that time I made sure that I systematically went through each bin, 1 through 90.  I made sure they has plenty or organic waste residuals to eat.  Then I placed at least 2 to 3 times the amount of shredded and pre-soaked paper bedding on top of their food.  Next a handful of inexpensive bird seed was scattered over the contents of the bin.  This would ensure that once the roots of the seeds had taken hold that the methane the worms can make and foul their bin with would escape during the exchange of the methane for oxygen.

I also made very sure that when I returned back home, I had blocked out as much time in the next 2 weeks, to re-check the bins in reverse order and make sure of a number of items.  Some bins had done very well.  The seeds had sprouted and the paper was just about all consumed.  Others had done exceedingly well.  In fact a population explosion had taken place and in order to keep the bin’s worms happy, I would either have to start a new bin or fill the orders for worms which had piled up while I was away.  Just a few of the bins appeared to remain stagnant, meaning that they has not consumed their food, the seeds had not sprouted and the population was about the same as when I left.  This was a poser to me.  How had the other bins done so well when a few had not?

I had the answer when I cleaned out the fridge and found small potatoes which had sprouted while I was away.  I looked at them and thought I could either plant them for a fall crop or I could experiment in the non preforming bins with them.  I did the latter.  To my relief I found the answer to my holiday woes of leaving the worms.  I simply buried half way into the top layer of the bin(s) the sprouting potatoes.  Massive, or so it appeared to me, roots ans sprouts from them were evident  in about 4 to 5 days.  This solved the problem for me, of the methane and oxygen exchange, providing that I had fed and papered the bins well before I left.

I do think this will work as well with just about anything you or I have in the fridge which has sprouted and  can’t use in cooking.  Into the worm bin it goes and stand back and watch it take off.  I have yet to even think I will eat any of the potatoes which are sprouting in the bins.  But, they do look pretty good.  I will include a photo or two here for you to see how it worked for me.

To Recap:

> Yes, you can safely  leave your worms for extended time periods

> You can also try other methods close to these listed here and see what works best for your worms

> As you know: worms are the most forgiving of all pets.  They will astonish you with their sturdiness time after time.

Until I am back again and I look forward to your questions here, as they are not only a challenge to keep up with, but keep me learning, too!

Enjoy your worms!

~Shel

I bet you thought I would never get to them, right?  There are so many, they may fill up this entire post.  There are first, second and third degree decomposers in your worm bin.  In fact,  it is almost a mirror image of your compost bin.  Did you know that?  No matter what size they are, they all have an ongoing and productive role to play in helping your worms digest their organic wastes you are feeding them.

There are many tiny microscopic  organisms living with each worm that we can’t see.  They are bacteria, actinomycetes, enzymes and protozoa and they aid in the worm’s digestion of it’s food.  They thrive by the hundreds of thousands within a single worm.  These organisms assist in preparing the nutrients to be absorbed and utilized by the worm.   These are the first degree decomposers of the worm bin.

The second degree decomposers are ones that we can just about see and others are very apparent.  The smallest ones are the spring-tails, beetle mites, mold mites, feather-wing beetle and molds.  Spring tails are readily seen in bins that are often too damp or moist.  They are small, white and will tend to mass together,  if there is standing water.  A quick cure for them, if they appear to be taking over the bin to the detriment of the worms, is to add more dry  and shredded paper or leave the bin top off during the bright sunlight.  Rarely have I ever had a spring tail issue here that didn’t resolve itself within two to three days.  Mites are another group that are fascinating.  They are either red or white in color.  I usually see them here when I have inadvertently put too much of a damp organic waste into a bin.  They thrive on dampness.  The sure cure for this is the same as the spring tail cure.  The red mites can and have tried to take over the bin and did pose a threat to the worms.  One trick I have learned over the years is to place old, stale bread into the bin and cover.  The next day the bread will be totally covered on both sides with the red mites.  You have two choices now with this mite encrusted bread: you can place it into a plastic bag and put it into the trash or, if you want to be risky, you can put the bread, buried deep, into your regular compost bin.  I do recommend wearing those Bluette gloves I have mentioned in the past, when you are working in the bin and attempting to fix an issue like mites.  White mites, at least for me, are part of the cycle of decomposition and I have not had a problem with them.  Of all the above my favorites are the molds as they seem arrive overnight and are those bright flashes of color all around the sides, top (or lid) of the bin.  Here they are yellow, green, red, white and purple.  So far I have not seen black.

There are many creatures you will see easily in your bin. They include these: ground beetles, rove beetles, centipedes, millipedes, sow bugs or rolly pollies (aka) sow bugs, snails and slugs.  All of these are normal inhabitants of your worm bin. I also have many types or kinds of spiders. My thinking on them is that if they don’t bother me,

I will leave them alone, too. The slugs here are simply astonishing.  They are up to three inches long and larger in circumference than my thumb!  They don’t ever bother the worms.  The snails are large, too.   I have a photo of their eggs I will include. That way you can identify them them when you see them in your bins.

All of these creatures are working in concert to make your organic wastes fit into that microscopic worm’s mouth. They all have a role to play. They will also teach you more about your bin and how it operates.

To Recap:

> many of the critters you have in the bin you can’t see, but they are there

> the critters you can see are just as helpful as the invisible ones

> the helpers in the bin are many and highly visible to you.

I hope this helps you understand the workings of your bins.

Until I am back again: I hope you are learning from your worms and enjoying them.

~Shel

This topic is another from my second and still unpublished book.  If your life is half as busy as mine it is hard to find the time to do the research, sit down and type.

Q: What should the correct amount of moisture be in the worm bin?

A:  The bedding, which is the shredded and soaked paper, should be 55 to 75% moist.  This means that after you have soaked the paper for 24 hours or more, once you have wrung it out, fluffed and pulled it apart, it should not be dripping at all.  Since worms breathe through their entire outer body they must have sufficient moisture to be able to breathe, slide by each other to mate and find their food.  Imagine this: if your lungs were on the outside of your body and you were in the sunlight, it would not take long before you were unable to breathe at all as the sun’s rays would remove all the moisture from you.  The same principle applies to the worm’s need for a damp, moist environment.  If you are at all concerned about not knowing if your bin is moist enough for the worms, you can always buy a moisture reading stick at your local gardening center.  This will give you an accurate reading of the bin’s moisture content.

Q:  How often do I add water to my worm bin?

A.  During dry, hot weather it may be necessary to add a few ounces of water to your bin every other day.  Checking to be sure the worms have enough moisture in the bin is essential in this type of weather.  An old, clean spray bottle of water can be kept handy by the bin so you can spray the top layer of the bedding if it has dried out. You may find it useful to label this worm bin water, so everyone in your household will know what it is for.

You may recall that all the organic waste residuals from the kitchen contain moisture, for the most part. All items like apple cores, lettuce leaves, coffee grounds, banana peels, etc, will all have a water content within them. When you are considering if the bin is damp enough, do take this added water content into consideration.  It is always a good idea to look at the overall health of the  bin when you are feeding the worms with the moisture of the bin in mind.

Q:  Would freezing food scraps for the worm bin be OK?

A:  Yes, it is a good idea for more than one reason.  When you freeze the  organic waste residuals they take up moisture from the act of freezing, just like water expands in the ice cube trays, so it does within those banana peels, etc.  When this happens the first real breakdown of the tough fibers in the organic waste residuals is loosened and when they are placed into the worm bin, are already on their way to be consumed at a more rapid rate.

If you plan on going away on a holiday for 2 weeks or a month freezing your   organic waste residuals is a exceptionally good  idea.  Over the time period you are away from your worm bin the frozen organic waste residuals will breakdown slowly and add essential moisture to your bin. Make sure that you have covered the organic waste residuals with plenty of soaked bedding, well wrung out, as this will also be consumed while you are away, along with the food waste. You can now leave your worms safely knowing that they are going to be on holiday from you, too.

Q:  I live in the desert and it is very dry year round.  How can I make sure the worm’s bin doesn’t dry out too much?

A :  Do check the bin frequently for moisture content, add water as you need to maintain the correct amount of dampness for the worms to function well.  There are several ways to make sure the worms will survive extremes in temperatures during a heat wave.  One is to place the bin in your garage.  The floor of the garage seldom will be too hot for the worm’s needs.  Another plan is to bury ice cubes into the bedding.  As they dissolve they will add the necessary wetness to the bin.

Q:  I have seen many worms around the garden after it rains on sides walks, the pool area and they are dead.  Why does this happen?

A:  The worms you are seeing are most likely the burrowing worms which are bothered by the rain filling their burrows.  They leave the burrows for higher ground to avoid drowning.  Once they are on flat ground and the sunlight comes into contact with their bodies, it sucks the moisture from them, they suffocate and die.

Q.  What about gray water?  I have a gray water system for my washing machine and I would like to use that water for the worms.  Can they tolerate it?

A. Yes, the worms can and will do well with gray water.  I have been using gray water from the washing machine exclusively for the worms I raise, since 1994 without any adverse effects to the worms at all.  The soaps I use in the washer are all for cold water and I have changed brands as new eco-friendly ones have become available.  The worms are very hardy and have tolerated all the types of soaps I have used without  causing them harm.  You will recall that the water the worms here:  do receive is via the soaked, fluffed and wrung bedding out paper.  The only other direct watering they will ever receive is from a spray bottle, should the weather conditions dry out.

To Recap:

> worms can tolerate fluctuations in the moisture in the bin.

>  it is best to be ahead of the curve of your temperature region weather wise and make sure the worm’s are moist enough to work well for you.

> a moisture reading stick is a good investment if you are concerned about your abilities to gauge the moisture content of the bin.

My next post will be about how to go away on vacation for more that two weeks and safely leave your worms for up to six weeks!

Until then, I hope you are enjoying your worms and will still be learning from them.

~Shel

OK, I know when to say I was wrong.  After visiting many sites and speaking to people that I know, who are aware about worm tea vs. leachate I have to say: I was wrong about using it.  That is not to let you think that I have not used it, without any ill effects to my garden plants or to me.  From now on, I will not use it except to pour it into my hot compost bin. The overwhelming evidence does show that it is toxic to plants and people, as it has within it inherent attributes which we should all not use.

To back track just a bit here I will go back to the basics of composting with worms. The various stages that are inherent in the process are below.

Composting with worms is a more controlled method of basic composting as well as it does speed up the process. Your bin is, I hope, maintained at a constant temperature, which enables the most active bacteria, Mesophilic to take over. The worms move through the organic matter helping to aerate the decaying matter, as well as making the smaller particles of the decaying matter smaller, this leaves more surface area for beneficial microbes to work on.

If the bin moisture content gets too high, (usually above 80%), the decaying matter becomes compacted, the same way the landfill does. This is when the worm bin can begin to change over, to those icky and nasty anaerobic organisms, which can be harmful to your worms and even begin killing them off.

Once the moisture content begins to rise even more, the decaying matter releases a liquid called leachate. You will read on many websites that refer to this as worm tea, which it is not.

You make worm tea by brewing worm castings, which are chock-full of aerobic microorganisms. This process is accomplished by aerating the worm castings, water and molasses, which has no sulfur in it,  for approximately 48 hours in order to explode the aerobic microbe population.

Leachate is usually the opposite, full of anaerobic organisms.

If you are getting a little leachate from your worm farm or worm bin, try adding several inches of dry shredded newspaper on top and place the lid on it. This will absorb a little of the moisture. If you are getting a lot of leachate, it might be time to remake the bedding for your worms. I also do leave the bin top off during the day light hours for perhaps three days in a row. Please be sure to cover them if you do this at night. All the predators in your neighborhood will be feasting on your worms otherwise.

Below is what I received from a fellow worm bin enthusiast:

By the way, do not believe it when you see people saying that the brown liquid that seeps out of worm bins and tray stacking systems etc is “great fertilizer” or “worm tea”. It is not great fertilizer, it is anaerobic, and should not go anywhere near growing plants or living soil – it should not even exist, all it means is that you have let your bin get too wet. Food wastes are about 90% water, and worm feed (including bedding or whatever) should not be more than about 75%
moist. Well-managed worm bins do not seep. You can add the brown liquid to an ordinary compost pile, or flush it down the toilet. Real worm tea really is a great fertilizer – put a couple of handfuls of worm casts in a bucket of water (preferably rainwater), plus a spoonful or two of molasses if you have it, stir, and leave overnight, preferably longer. Stir it often, or, better, use a fish tank aerator with an air-stone to oxygenate it, and stir it often as well. Use it quickly
or it will go rotten.

This information above is what I do and have written about before here. I like simple. The sock tied off in a pail and a stick to stir it works for me. I am sure it will work just as well for you when you make your first batch of worm tea. Do shake it up and use it within 24 to 48 hours. Shake before each use and uncap it, if you have capped it in a bottle, this will get those microbes moving and doing what they do best: help our gardens to flourish..

Now that you understand the process, you can probably understand why worm tea, or at least in some circles has received a bad reputation. Do not be persuaded to forgo using worm tea, as it is terrific in the garden and on your houseplants. I urge you to do the process the simple way, for your best results.

To recap:

• There is a right and a wrong way to make worm tea.
• Fix bin problems as soon as you notice them.
• Use the correct method of making and using your worm tea in a timely fashion.
• Enjoy your worms. They have much to teach you.
• ~Shel

This is from my yet unpublished second book.  This new one will cover all the questions I have been asked over the years.  Not all of these will relate directly to worms, but they will have a worm theme to them all.  My hope is that you will learn from them, ask more questions about them and they will illuminate the worms role in your gardens.

Q. I have a hard red clay lawn. What will happen to it if I add red worms to the lawn, will they improve the soil?
A. Unless you have a very good food source for the worms and well watered mulch to cover them the worms will perish. This is due to a variety of factors.  Predation by every bird, mole, vole, opossum and raccoon in your area will dine on your newly purchased worms.  If, on the other hand, you do have a source for mulch, which is finely ground to a particle size of 1/4″ to ½” and it can be well watered, you can safely add the worms you have at dusk.  Then be sure to rake more of that same mulch, with the same amount of moisture over them all.If you chose to do this with your worms, a food source will be a challenge, as red worms will require a constant food source from you to do their best work.
The above process is one that I used to rid myself of the lawns we had over 18 years ago.  It took many applications of mulch to finally be turf free, but it was well worth the results.

Q. Where do I get mulch from and what does it cost?
A. Almost all cities have crews out on a daily basis to cut the trees back from the power lines, branches overhanging onto our streets and lanes. Almost every one of these trucks I see has a chipper-shredder hitched as a trailer.  Most or many cities now use most all of the mulch they make this way. But, when they do run out of places to put the mulch, they like the rest of us with too much green waste, have to take it to the landfill site.  If you are fortunate enough to live in a city which has a composting site close to the landfill you can generally go and get a pick up load of mulch, either for free or a minimal charge.
The city where I live have so much tree pruning to do they have to resort to hiring out to private firms to get all the trimming and pruning done. When I see one of these private concerns with a six block radius of my home, I usually stop, say hello, introduce myself and ask the crew what they are going to do with the mulch when they are done for the day? More often than not it is headed for the landfill, will be their answer. It is then I have a pre-printed card with my name address and a map on how to locate my home on it. I ask if they would drop the mulch off at my home, as I have a clearly marked place for it and that is on the card, too. Almost every time they will bring the mulch to me for free. It serves them, too.  If they had to take the mulch to the landfill site, they will have to pay the tip fee for leaving it there, plus the gasoline and their own time to get it there.  It is a win-win for the crew and my garden.
Mulch is wonderful for any garden as it helps to keeps the weeds in check, the native plants will need or require even less water than ever and your paths will have a very neatly lined edge to them.

Q. What if I use just shredder newspaper as mulch in my vegetable garden as a soil amendment?
A. This is a  good idea. Recent studies have shown the soy content within the inks actually do add needed nutrients to the soil and improve it by using it as a top dress type mulch.

I hope this helps you expand your horizons in your garden and with your worms.  I look forward to your questions about all the posts I put here.

Enjoy your worms!

~Shel

Disclaimer: Not everyone in the worm industry will agree with my views on this post!

Almost all foods that you eat and enjoy the worms will, too.  I hope you are buying and eating organically now.  The food scrapes you will be feeding to your worms in their bin are best suited to the worm’s good health and performance if they are all organic. This is not to say the worms will not tolerate the occasional lapse of part of bags of very salty chips. They do like salt (saline) in small amounts.  The entire bag, which has become outdated in your cupboard, is not the best worm food all at one go.

If you can, it is best to have a balance of foods, for the worms.  Just as you prefer to have a wide variety of foods in your diet, the worms will, too.  All fruits and vegetables are wonderful worm food.  As I have mentioned before the longer those scraps can be placed in the sun, the soupier they will become and the faster the worms can ingest them.

Over the years, I have read and heard said that there are foods a worm bin should not have placed into it. These have included meats, cheeses, fats, oils and butter.  You get the idea.  Let me share with you what does happen in the worm bin to these foods.

The Meats: they will breakdown fast. This occurs because there will be flies attracted to them and in turn, those flies will lay eggs. The eggs turn into maggots.  OK, I do know what you are thinking, which is: I don’t want maggots anywhere near me or my worm bin! I am sure you will recall the goal in any worm bin is to get a large particulate piece of matter down to the size it will fit into a microscopic worm’s mouth. All the helpers in the bin are busy doing this.  Maggots are no different.  Once their role is finished, they simply fly away and will not harm you or the worms.  I do know that other worm breeders will or may tell you something else entirely, but I have found in the past 21 years, the maggots have harmed neither the worms nor me.

The Cheeses:  This is an interesting one for me as I have had varied experiences with different cheeses.  Cheese, which is pasteurized and organic, is fine for the worms.  One reason is that it is loaded with the calcium, which they require to replicate themselves.  Another reason is they like it and it will breakdown well in their bin.  Cheese that has been made into singles or a in processed block of it, which you can use, as much as you need at a time, is not good worm food.  I had a block of this, which was leftover from a party.  It outdated in the refrigerator and I put it into the worm bin, a large bin.  That block of cheese remained in the same pristine state through 20 harvests of that bin.  It was never broken down.  After that 20^th harvest, I left it out of the bin for a day or two.  I noticed several things about it: flies never landed on it, the sun did not melt it and ants did not go near it.  I concluded that this type of cheese was not real food!  This is not a good food choice for people or the worms.  Unfortunately, it never broke down in the hot compost pile either and I finally had to send it to the landfill.  I will never buy this type of cheese ever.

Oils and Fats: Yes, I do know there are good ones and ones that are not good for us to consume.  I stir clear of the bad oils and bad fats in my diet as you will for your worms.  All natural oils are OK in your bin, as are the fats, not a whole bottle at once though.  No matter how tempting it might be to dump a bottle of oil, which has ‘gone off’, and is old and stale do not do this. Hold off and pour it instead, into the worm’s food pail and let it mix with the other organic(s) for them.

Bones:  These are also full of calcium for your worms.  For me, here at Vermicoast, I do put them into the bins.  The long hollow bones will breakdown well over time, as they are softer than ribs are.  Time being a relative issue for me, as I do not care how long it takes them to breakdown. Ten harvests or twenty, it does not matter to me at all.  I simply harvest, add the bones, which have not broken down back into the bin when I restart it. Another way I have used the bones is to allow them to dry out in the oven as it cools down. This makes them very brittle. Once that happens, I place them into a brown paper bag and when I am frustrated about something I get the bag out and whack it with a flat shovel.   Then I have an instant supply of pulverized bones, which are a rich source of calcium for the worms.  I add this to every bin as long as the supply lasts, about 1/2 an ounce per bin per week.

To Recap:

> Meats:  It is up to you if you want to add them or not. You can be adventurous, do it, and see how you can handle the fall out as mentioned above.

> Cheeses:  Once again, the choice is yours in what you will buy and feed to your family and yourself.  If there is any left over do let the worms have the organic cheeses.  Perhaps some day the processed cheeses will be outlawed.

> Fats and Oils:  Pick the ones you know will be tasty for your household. Anything left over is fine for your worms.

I’ll be back in a few days and will have some questions and answers I have gathered over the years from those who have emailed me or have spoken up with a question or two at speaking engagements I have presented.

I hope you are enjoying your worms and will continue to learn from them.

~Shel

You’ve set up your worm bin, the worms are in, for the next few months all you have to do is feed them the right things in the proper amounts until it is time to harvest the casts.  Is the right or wrong?  I have found this to be true for the most part.  What is missing here is what do the worms like and in what amounts.  They like and love organic foods, just like all the of the things people eat, only with even greater variety.  Organic includes everything that is alive or ever was alive.  Just like humans, Eisenia fetida appreciate plenty of fiber and a varied diet.  They don’t have to be told to eat their vegetables, in fact, those are some of their favorite foods.  Keep in mind you are not only feeding the worms, but also the thousands of microscopic organisms which are breaking down the food for the worms.  These organisms can only work on the food surfaces they can reach, so the finer you chop your kitchen waste, the faster it will be consumed and the easier it is for the decomposers in the bin to do their jobs.  But if you don’t, eventually they will break it down but it will take longer to be consumed by the worms.  You may recall, that in a previous blog I mentioned placing the wastes in a covered pail, in the sun and letting them all become soupy.  The worms love this as they can consume it faster.   This does have the ick factor to it, as it might have an unsavory aroma to it, but I do know that the worms here love to have their food delivered in the way.

Killing Worms With Kindness:

One of your most difficult tasks will be to restrain yourself from overfeeding your worms in their bin.  Temptation abounds and it is hard to resist as your organics pile up in your kitchen compost container.  It’s summer and the family got together with the neighbors for a picnic and watermelon fest.  What do you do with all those rinds, the leftover potatoe salad, the hotdogs and hamburgers the kids didn’t finish?  Or, you just finished peeling and pitting a lug full of peaches to can them for winter desserts, here you are with a huge bowl of trimmings.   Now, it’s Thanksgiving and it was your turn to cook, wouldn’t the worms just love these extra treats?   Well, maybe they would, but not all at once.  You have several alternatives:

1. freeze the excess to gradullay feed the worms at a later time.

2. place it in your active compost pile.

3. dig a hole and dump it in, cover it back up and worms in the soil will find it.

4. if you live in an apartment and haven’t any other choice, put it in the trash or turn on the disposal.

This last item is my least favorite choice, as you are wasting that organic resource, wasting the water and electricity. I happily said goodbye to my disposal more than 15 years ago. What freedom I have now!

Probably more worms in their bins at homes are lost to overfeeding than almost any other factor.  Worms in the wild don’t have this problem because they are free to roam.  If there is a big body decomposing in the woods, they can wait until it is their turn at the food chain and come and go at will.  In the worm bin, if excess food is anaerobically decomposing, there is nowhere for the worms to escape to.  They are trapped.

If you find  consistently you have more food than the worms can handle, get a larger bin or start a second one.  There isn’t any rule that says you are limited to only one bin.  I highly recommend to all my clients, that they have a worm annex on hand, just in case a worm bin emergency happens.  This can be anything you have on hand in your home or garage.  An old sweater box, a Rubbermaid container or anything which has been drilled out beforehand, so you are ready for all contingencies and have a safe place to transfer the worms in a hurry, if you have to.

To Recap:

> your worms in your bin will love all organic foods, just like you do.

> overfeeding will kill your worms, always have a plan in place should you need one for excess worm food.

> killing your worms with kindness is NOT your goal.

I will cover the foods which can safely be placed into your bin and which  could pose a problem for you or the worms  next time.

Until then, please:

Enjoy your worms as they have much to teach you about their likes and dislikes!

~Shel

I have had more than one request from those of you, who are new-ish to keeping worm bins, to write about the harvesting of your bin for the very first time.   It is or can be a little unnerving, sort of like that first date 20 or more years ago. Like that, date it will go well and turn out better than you ever thought it would.

OK, it has been four to six months since you began the bin.  The entire surface is lovely brownish black casts up to almost the top of the bin.  Very little of the paper bedding is left.  The worms have consumed it all.  The worms are starting to congregate at the sides and top of the bin’s lid.  All signs that you need to take action are apparent.  Your first action will be to decide which type of method of harvesting you will do for your bin. Here are the ways to accomplish this:

1. Dump and Sort: this pretty much says it all. To do this you take a tarp or an old plastic tablecloth, spread it out wherever you have a flat surface on your driveway.  Take the worm bin to it and overturn the bin contents onto the tarp.  Start and make about 6 to 8 piles of the casts and worms.  Shape these into cones.  Since the worms do not like light, they will dive into the layers, which they are safe from the sun.  While they are doing this for 15 or 20 minutes you are cleaning out the bin, making sure you have enough soaked and shredded paper bedding for the new cycle of the bin. Line the bottom, over the drainage holes with cardboard, to keep the worms in the bin and allow the leachate to drain out freely. Take a pail and a flat-sided stick and lope off the top 2 to 4” of the casts into your pail, reshape the cone again and pull a few weeds, leaving the worms to dive down again. Continue to find garden tasks until, when you have finally removed all the casts, as described above, you have left at the bottom of each cone a mass of writhing worms, which are ready to get back into their bin ASAP.Just in case of the likely event that your worms have doubled their numbers, I hope you have a worm annex or second bin ready to start for the additional pound they have become now.
2. Passive Migration: I like this method and use it all the time.  Since I have 90 + bins it allows me to do the job, assess the bin, feed add bedding, remove the casts with a minimum amount of time, and wasted energy.  I move all the bin’s contents to one end of the bin, pushing all the worms, their small amount of bedding and left over food to one end of the bin.  Then I add fresh soaked, shredded paper to the empty end.  I place a food which the worms like and can eat by sucking in the new bedding end.  This will hasten the worm’s movement out of the casts and into their fresh bedding, if they have a food source, such as a melon rind, they can suck on directly and is an incentive for them to migrate.  This method takes about 1 to 2 weeks to have all the worms move into their new bedding.  Once this has happened, you simply lift out the casts and start to cure them for use in your garden.
3. What is curing of the casts and why do it?, you ask?  This is a process which was not discussed very much when I first began to keep worms.  While you can use the casts right away, as soon as you harvest them, often you do not have an immediate use for them.  Curing is a way to complete your worm composting efforts, giving you an even more finished product.  There are always bits of unfinished matter in the casting at harvest.  During the curing, the few worms, hatchlings and cocoons in the pail will continue to eat and finish off the food.  It is a simple process and I think you will be pleased with the results.
4. How do you cure the casts? After harvesting fill a pail or other container with them slowly add water that has been set out for 24 hours until the castings are moist to the touch, this may take one quart or less, if you are using a pail, which will hold 25lbs of casts.  Cover with a lid and put in a shady place for 2 weeks or a month.  Check for the moist-to-the-touch test after 2 weeks, adding water if dry.   Remember to leave the water out for 24 hours to allow the chlorine and other gases to escape into the air before adding it to the curing container.
5. Curing the casts makes them easier to work with when you are making your potting mixtures.  When you open the pail, the castings will have a nice even consistency and you should have more worms!  These worms will come to the top of your pail because you have left a melon end on the top of the pail’s contents and the worms will work their way up to feed on it.  I always check at 2 weeks, after I have placed the casts into their curing pail because I put a melon end at the top and at that time, I will scoop out the worms that are feeding on it and place them back into a bin. I would recommend that you do the same procedure to allow the worms to migrate to the top at the end of the first 2 week period and then at the end of the month.
6. How you can use the worm’s casts. There are many uses for casts in your gardens and gardening. The castings will have a nice even consistency and you will have more in the next round of your worm bin’s cycle.  Depending on the worm’s diet, castings can contain up to eleven times the amount of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous available in soil unworked by worms. Castings have a favorable pH, ranging from 5.5 to 7.1 making them a safe, non-burning starter food for seedlings.
7. To Recap:
8. > harvesting your bin is simple. You now have two different ways to guide you through the process.
9. > curing has been explained to you and is simple to do.
10. > using your casts will be an adventure, one that you will enjoy and your gardens will benefit from the soils being enriched with your very own casts.
11. Good job, well done!
12. Enjoy your worms.
13. I will be back in a few days, with Feeding you worms-Do’s and Don’ts
14. ~Shel

The red wigglers I have here have over the years become accustomed to how much I fed them and how often.  I have found ways to be away on holiday for up to a month and still have the worms doing well when I have returned.  For all 90+ bins this is not always easy, but it can be done.  It is helpful to recall if you began with either one or two lbs of worms, as that will dictate the amount of wastes you can give them.  If you challenge them with too much your worms and bin are in for some nasty surprises and so are you. Dead worms are not happy ones.

As I mentioned in other blog posts your should always error on the side of feeding your worms too little rather than overwhelm them with too much food. That can and does lead to the food wastes heating up and since the worms have no where else to go they perish.

I recommend you feed them in the beginning of your learning about them about  one cup of food waste from your kitchen every three days.  If you rotate the feeding sites in the manner of looking at a clock face.  Using 12:00 at the top and on the right side you can feed there the first time, in spot to the side or under that first one  of 1:00 in three days, in spot 2:00 in another three days, until you are at the spot of 6:00.   Once you have reached the 6:00 area pull back the bedding at 12:00 into which you have buried the food well down into it.  If all the food wastes have been consumed you can safely continue with this feeding schedule.  You may even find that the worms are doing better than you thought and are consuming the wastes at a faster rate.  At this time you can safely step up the feeding to more than  a cup at a time to two cups.

Over time I have found one way to speed up the consumption by the worms.  This will require you getting over the initial ‘ick’ factor of the process I use.  I place all the wastes into a large covered pail.  I make sure the pail has a rock on it to keep the vermin out.  I place it in the sun for at least one week.  At the end of the week the wastes have all become a type of soupy mass.  It is not easy to determine if the  apple core is really that or if the banana peel is a peel, it is that well degraded.  Do recall this: the goal of your worms eating and preforming well in your bin is to have a balanced diet for them and on which they can readily eat.  Because the worm’s mouth is microscopic in size, the smaller the particle size is the faster the worms can eat it and make castings for you.

How to feed the worms this soupy mixture?  Good question.  I use long gloves, which are called Bluettes.  They are durable and will last you for at least five or more years.   I use a long handled scoop to ladle the mixture into the bedding, cover it well, add more bedding only  if the level has dropped below how much I need to have cover the food wastes well.   Do recall this: the bedding is an insulator for the worms, as well as a place for them to mate, rest and eat.  Without adequate bedding they will not do well for you.  I add more food to the soupy pail contents as I have it or the worms need more food, leaving it in the sun as before.

How much bedding is needed in the start of your bin or the first 2two months?  That is dependent on how quickly the worms are consuming it along with the food wastes you are giving them.  For the first two months I suggest that you keep the bedding to within one inch of the top of the bin. This gives the worms that added cushion of both insulation and an organic food source, should they need or require it.  Do recall also that the bedding is always shredded and soaked paper.  I found in one bin that I had unfortunately left unfed, except for cardboard, which had been shredded that the worms survived on just that and no food for over a month. Of course the casts were all of a yellowish tinge. The worms were all smaller than normal.  These two things told me that the worms have to have a balanced diet of both bedding and food wastes. I also told me they would make it on bedding alone, not well, but they did survive.  I remedied the situation as quickly as I could and the worms became large and happy once more.

To recap:

>  How much, how often your feed your worms is vital to their well-being.

> Getting over the ‘ick factor’ in a soupy mixture  of the food wastes is a good idea.

>  Limiting the worms diet to just one food source is not the best idea.

>  Making sure the worms have enough bedding is key to their well being and moderating the temperature in their environment.

Until next time when I write about the do’s and don’t's of what you can feed you worms, I hope you are learning from your worms, as they can teach you a great deal.

Enjoy your worm bin!

~Shel

Which type of worms will work for my bin?

That is a good question. There are many different types of worms on the market today for vermicomposting. Red worms, or red wigglers have always been the ones, I have used with great success over the years, as well as my clients. Now Alabama Jumpers are on the market and fellow breeders tell me they also do a fine job.  I am staying with the breed I do know a great deal about.  You can choose, after reading up on the various species, which ones will work for you and your situation.

What is the right size of container is right for my worms?

Take a week or so, look at or weigh your organic waste recyclables from the kitchen. Compare the volume of your waste with this rule of thumb: for a one to two person household a twelve to sixteen quart bin will work. To meet the needs of a two to four member household, a twenty-two quart will do the job.

The container doesn’t have to be very deep, remember E. Fetida are top feeders, anything deeper than one foot is wasted. The more surface area you give the worms the better.

Measure the length and width of the container in inches.  Multiply the length by the width to calculate the surface area of the container in square inches.  One square foot equals 144 square inches.

The ideal beginning volume of worms will vary depending on the size of the bin you choose.  Once the bin has been set up the worms will begin to multiply.  In about four to six  months the worms will have doubled the number you began your bin with.  When the volume reaches three quarter pounds per square foot, the worms will become over crowded and will try to begin to migrate.  Worms on the sides and top of the bin trying to escape are good indications that it is time to harvest the castings and divide the herd, as it is sometimes called by breeders.

How much and how often should I feed my worms?

In ideal conditions in the wild, a worm will eat its own weight daily.  In the confined space of the worm bin you can expect a worm to eat up to one half its weight per day. Worms burn up less energy in a worm bin.  They do not have to range very far to locate food and they cannot travel far in a confined space.

A family of four with a 22 quart bin, starting with 2 pounds of worms, can expect them to consume one pound of waste per day.  Estimate processing 3 to 7 pounds of food waste per week.  Feeding the worms twice a week should work out well.  Having written that I do need to tell you that the most common cause of worm bin failure on the part of the new bin owner is over feeding of the worms.  In their  haste to have the worms consume as much as possible and see the results in the vermicompost, or castings they will give you, many people over feed the worms.  What happens in the bin is catastrophic for the worms.  Too much waste in the bin will cause the wastes to heat up or hot compost.  This means it will cause the bin to over heat. This over heating of the bin will, in turn cause the worms to panic, as they have no where to escape to since they are in a confined space.  The only way the worms can tell you there is something wrong in the bin and it needs to be remedied ASAP is this: t hey will all congregate at the top and sides of the bin, as they are trying to get away from the intense heat. I always caution the first time worm owner to error on the side of too little food wastes to begin with and see how the worms handle this in their new home.

The rotation method of feeding your worms:

In the show and tell bins I use for demonstrations I have the top of the bin labeled with a marking pen into a grid of numbers 1 through 8.  I mention that the worms are new to their bin and should be fed on the third day after they have been transferred into the bin.  The amount they should be fed can be 1 to 2 cups only and that should be placed in the spot labeled #1.  At three day increments of time the worms are fed again, this time in spot #2 and so on. Once the spot #5 has been reached pull back the bedding in #1 and see if the food wastes have been consumed, if they have you can carry on with this feeding schedule until the worms are used to it and have adapted.  All the food wastes are buried deeply as you can into the bedding.  Since the bedding is shredded, soaked household paper wastes you will need to always have on hand both wet and dry bedding, as the worms will consume this organic waste, too.

I also ask that everyone, who is a client of mine to have a worm annex on hand. Any old sweater box, a dish washing tub will do.  Have it drilled out along the bottom with your 1/4 inch drill bit, 9 holes evenly spaced, lined with cardboard and ready.  If the worms have a problem you already are prepared for it.  You have a new and safe bin to transfer them into, while you fix their real worm bin. You have an adequate supply of wet and dry bedding. You are prepared for any eventuality!

To Recap:

> Determine the ratio of food wastes your home produces in a week, to tell you the number of pounds of worm you will need and size of the bin you  will need.

> Mark the top of the bin for feeding spots or stations.  Perhaps marking your calendar will help,  so you will know when and how much you have feed them.

> Always have your worm annex bin ready. You never know when the worms  and you will have need of it.

Good job. Well done!

I will be back in a few days with some helpful hints about a recipe for a worm bin, the instructions for it and how often you should add more bedding to the bin.

Until then: please enjoy your worms!

~Shel