permaculture

["mhagood1" <mhagood1@cox.net>]

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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