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  • From: "mhagood1" <mhagood1@cox.net>
  • To: "permaculture" <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] question re: worm castings
  • Date: Fri, 3 Jun 2005 06:58:15 -0400

The best way for me has been to concentrate feeding in one area starting a few weeks before the harvest, then dump the whole contents on a large sheet of white plastic and make a number of small piles. First I return the obviously uncomposted stuff to the bin, and then I gather the more finished material from the top and sides of the smaller piles and put it in a bucket. The worms dive to the bottom of the pile as you work and can be more or less scooped up in a few handsful and returned to the bin. As I use the compost, the worms I missed again move to the bottom of the bucket and I return them to the bin when I'm done.

This works for me because I have several bins and plenty of worms, so don't mind losing a few squigglers and many of the eggs. I am also not going for a particularly pure product (all casts)---mine is more accurately called worm compost, and some of it is not very finished. The way I use it is to make the worm compost the bottom layer in a mulched bed. Exposed to the air, it can form a crust, which may bother you. ((Sometimes I use it that way on purpose.) I am supposing that some of the worms will survive and keep working for a while in the mulch but I haven't seen a lot of evidence of that. Experts may tell you that isn't the best way to make use of the product and that is probably true. I use a good bit of sawdust in my bins, some of which remains only partially decomposed when I use it---that's the reason I started mulching with it rather than putting it in the planting hole. I persist with the sawdust because I like the texture and the way it keeps the bin aerated. The worms seem to move around in it easily and it quickly snuffs any bad smells when I add spoiled food.

I have had lots of good rich amendment and have expanded from a one-pound purchase to five busy bins and three colonies at friends' gardens in a little over a year. If I were raising either the worms or the casts for sale, I would probably use another harvesting system, as my way wastes too many worms and eggs and produces a relatively unrefined product. But once I got over the novelty of the worms and their process, I wanted to do the job quickly, incorporating it into an all-weekend planting and/or bed-building or side-dressing project. I learned right away to cover the whole exposed operation with a sheet of reemay or else it becomes a smorgasbord for the grackles when my back is turned.

Best,
Martha Hagood
Norfolk, Va.

----- Original Message ----- From: "lblissett" <blissett@optonline.net>
To: "permaculture" <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Thursday, June 02, 2005 10:29 PM
Subject: [permaculture] question re: worm castings



Hi all,

What's the best way to extract worm castings from a bin?

- David Travis
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