In its simplest form, vermiculture is a type of composting that utilizes worms, most commonly referred to as “red wigglers”, to help efficiently decompose some of our most common, everyday, household wastes.  Not only does the process produce nutrient-rich “food” for gardens and plants, but it also saves energy and water, reduces waste in landfills, and helps rebuild soil.  All of these benefits come from simply feeding the worms leftover food waste from our kitchen, paper and cardboard from our purchases, and even our lawn clippings and weeds from the garden.

There is a great misconception that surrounds the idea of permaculture in our modern-day society.   Many folks associate the idea of permaculture as being a process most often implemented by homesteaders or hobby farmers who live off-grid in a solar-powered cabin somewhere way out in the middle of the wilderness.  But the reality is that permaculture is nothing more than the practical application of sustainable living skills.  It can be practiced by anyone, living anywhere, leading any type of lifestyle.  Whether you are single, raising a family, living in the country or in a high-rise building right in the middle of the city, identifying ways to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle is always a worthy endeavor.  But it can be overwhelming and difficult to know where to begin.  Worm composting is a great and simple way to shift your thinking and to get a true taste of what a more sustainable lifestyle looks like and feels like on a very small scale.

Because worm bins can be compact enough that they don’t require a lot of space, they can easily be housed in a garage, in the backyard or even on the balcony of an apartment making this form of composting quite popular among farmers, suburbanites and city dwellers alike.  Creating a composting worm bin (or “worm farm” as my kids like to call it) is an inexpensive, relatively simple and educational experience.  In fact, more and more teachers across the nation are incorporating vermiculture into their science lessons and even building worm composting bins for their classrooms.

Lots of people ask why vermiculture?  After all, what’s the point of incorporating vermiculture into your daily routine if you don’t even have a garden to feed?

First, building a worm bin is just good old-fashioned fun for people of all ages.  The process of watching the worms grow, multiply, breakdown the waste and produce healthy, nutrient-rich compost is fascinating for adults and children alike.  Yes, the compost is best used as a means of feeding a garden or even your houseplants.  However, it can also just be dumped out in the backyard or in your landscaping or any other natural, outdoor space.  Anyone who grows flowers, plants or food is well aware of what an asset good, rich, high-quality compost can be for their produce and blooms.  If you are not a gardener, I highly suggest donating your compost to a local community garden or offer it to a friend or neighbor who enjoys gardening.  I can almost guarantee he/she will eagerly come to your home and pick up the compost directly, saving you the hassle of making a delivery yourself.

“Reduce, reuse and recycle, go green, sustainably sourced, earth-friendly” are all phrases we see and hear so often these days that we have become almost indifferent to what these words actually mean.  But the fact that these phrases and words are abundantly overused in our modern-day society does not make them any less important or relevant.  Our planet needs our compassion.  Every plant, every animal, and every drop of water in the sea is connected.  Making one small effort to change the amount of waste we produce during our lifetime might seem pointless.  But the truth is, we are all responsible for the well-being of our earth. One of the greatest things about composting is that it truly does help us gauge exactly how much we consume and exactly how much waste we produce every single day of our lives.

You might be surprised to learn that those of us who live in wealthy countries produce more than 3 pounds of waste per day, per person.  Imagine if each of us built our own worm composter.  Now imagine what an impact that simple contribution would have on our local landfills and the future wellness of our planet.  It’s a worthy contemplation and in the end, the process of composting often impacts the ways we function as a consumer in our society.  As a matter of fact, it was not until I built my first worm composter several years ago that I truly came to know exactly how much waste our family of 5 produced on a daily basis.  It’s an eye-opening revelation when we discover just how easily we can utilize a portion of our household waste to create something useful, something good and purposeful. Building a worm composting system is simply a smart and eco-friendly thing to do.

Here is a list of what you will need to acquire in order to build your worm composting system.

RED WORMS:  The first question I get asked about vermiculture is why one cannot just go out into his/her backyard and dig up a couple hundred earthworms for their indoor composting system.  The answer is simple.  The worms found in your backyard are not the correct type of worms for homemade composting bins.  Worm composting bins require a specific type of worm known most commonly as the “red wiggler”.  Although red wigglers are considered to be a type of earthworm, they are known as “epigeic” worms.  They tend to live near the surface of the soil instead of digging deep into the earth.  They differ from the worms you will find in your backyard in that they can handle a rapidly changing environment that oftentimes includes extremely rich organic matter, like the waste found in most compost bins.  Red wigglers thrive in high densities and when they’re placed in a cozy habitat, they are known to breed extremely quickly and consume waste incredibly fast in comparison to the worms found in your garden.  The average, everyday backyard earthworm is known, as either “endogeic” or “anecic” and they just can’t thrive in a compost bin..

Red Wigglers can be delivered directly to your home via the United States Postal Service.  Typically 1,000 to 2,000 worms can be purchased at one time and they almost always arrive within a few short days.   When they show up on your doorstep, they will arrive in a small box with the words “Live Animals” written across the front, which I know from experience can leave your mailperson quite perplexed at times.  The worms are housed in fresh compost and packaged neatly inside a soft, drawstring bag. They typically come with a brief informational sheet or “how to” instructions.  Once you open the bag, the worms can immediately be dumped directly into your preassembled composting bins with ease.  They will be ready to get to work immediately, as they are hungry and in need of moisture.

In order to find a local red worm breeder near you, simply do a quick online search.  If you do not have access to a local breeder, I have used Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm and RedWormComposting.com to order my worms.  Each of the companies below are affordable, efficient and the worms have always been well packaged and thriving upon arrival.

STORAGE TOTES:  You will need two 8-10 gallon storage totes.  Many individuals believe the Rubbermaid brand is the best containers to use for composting.  I have made several bins, and I’ve only used the Rubbermaid brand containers once.  I’ve opted for the cheaper off-brand containers in recent years and they have proven to be perfectly adequate.

POWER DRILL:  Handheld battery operated drill with any size drill bit.  Most typically ½ inch drill bit is used, but this is not an exact science.  I will note that the larger the drill bit, the more likely a few worms will slip through.  I typically opt for a smaller drill bit and more holes as opposed to a larger drill bit with fewer holes.

BRICKS:   You will need two regular sized bricks or medium pavers to place inside the bottom container.  If you do not have access to bricks, two medium rocks – close in size to one another – can be substituted.

NEWSPAPER, CARDBOARD, PAPER, ASH:  Shredded cardboard from old boxes, newspapers, paper grocery bags, egg crates, toilet paper, and paper towel rolls are perfect to create the base of your compost layering system.  If you have a wood-burning stove, the leftover ashes are a wonderful add-in for your first layer.

KITCHEN SCRAPS / YARD WASTE:  Vegetable or fruit scraps, coffee grounds, egg shells, weeds, leaves or even dirt and mulch are excellent for layering on top of your shredded paper.

FRESH WATER:  You will need a spray bottle or pitcher of water to moisten your dry, paper materials.

Once you have acquired all of your materials, the assembly begins.

Step 1:  Place the two bricks inside the bottom of storage bin #1.  Leave space between the two bricks.

Step  2:  Turn over storage bin #2.  Drill 6-8 holes randomly all over the bottom.

Step  3:  Turn storage bin #2 over onto one side and drill 3-4 holes directly beneath the lip of the bin.  Repeat this on the opposite side of bin.

Step  4:  Place storage bin #2 down inside storage bin #1.  Make sure that the bin is nestled evenly inside the other bin.  It should sit directly atop the two bricks below.

Step  5:  Begin filling your bin with shredded paper materials as a base for your layering system.  Fill the bin at least halfway full of the shredded materials.  If the paper products mostly consist of newsprint or other thin sheets as opposed to heavy cardboard or construction type paper, you will likely need to fill the bin up well over halfway.  SPRAY YOUR PAPER WITH WATER.  Move the paper around and soak it well with a significant amount of water. It doesn’t need to be dripping wet, but definitely make sure that it is damp throughout.  Some people soak their paper layer in a bucket of water before they add it to the worm bin.  I’ve never done this and don’t believe that it is necessary, but it is an option nonetheless.

Step 6:  Add your kitchen scraps (no dairy, oils or meat; only vegetables, fruits, egg shells, coffee grounds, etc.) and/or your yard waste (mulch, weeds, grass clippings, leaves, etc) and spread out across top of paper.

Step 7:  Once you have finished adding your paper and kitchen waste gently dump your red wigglers on top of your compost materials and place the lid back on top of the bin.

Step 8:  Drill 6-8 holes on the lid.  Spread them out to allow for even airflow.

Step 9:  Place your new worm composting system somewhere easily accessible.  We keep ours in the garage right next to the entrance to our kitchen door.  We collect our kitchen scraps all day and add them to the compost system each evening.

Congratulations! You’re the proud new owner of your very own worm farm!  If you feed your worms scraps daily and keep them in a space that is protected from harsh weather, your worms will begin multiplying very quickly and they will live for years to come.  Surprisingly, you might even find that you will eventually need to build a separate worm bin so that you can divide your wigglers up and allow for more space.  If your worms do begin to thrive and reproduce in abundance, it’s typically easy to find friends or family members who want to jump on the composting train.  It’s a great project to do with friends and the benefits are clearly worthwhile.

After the first 6-8 months or so, you should be able to consistently harvest some of your compost every few weeks.  You will actually have beautiful, rich, usable compost to add to your garden or landscaping.

There are several different ways to access your compost.  Vermicompost, aka: worm poop is located at the bottom of the bin.  You can easily dig down and find the rich castings, scoop them out and add them to your garden.  Feel free to pick out the red wigglers one-by-one or simply drop them directly into the soil along with the compost.  You can also research ways to build a worm compost tumbler or screen, which allows you to easily separate the worms from your compost.  Everyone who enjoys vermiculture has an opinion on the best way to access the compost.  The online “how to” articles, blog posts and video tutorials are endless.

One other incredible byproduct of the worm farm is “compost tea” which can be found in bin #1 (the bin with the bricks) and although it’s not always abundant, I consider it the equivalent to liquid gold.  Essentially, it is the drippings from the compost above.  I’ve used compost tea to water my plants, feed my newly planted trees and fruit-bearing bushes and we’ve even shared it with struggling crops in the heat of summer.  The compost tea is certainly a delicious and nutritious treat for Mother Earth.

Whether you want to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle or even if you’re simply looking for a weekend project to tackle with the family, worm composting is a lot of fun and a great asset for the planet and your garden alike.

Happy composting!

The post Composting with Worms: They Wiggle While They Work appeared first on Homestead.org.

You may have read guides that make composting seem complicated but there is no reason to feel intimidated.  If you follow a few simple guidelines, you will be planting seeds in nutrient-rich soil you made yourself!

Compost is a mixture of decomposed organic material that is used as a potting medium or fertilizer.  Making compost is easy, it saves money otherwise spent on fertilizers and potting soil, and it makes good use of kitchen and yard scraps.  It may seem like there is nothing you, as an individual, can do for the environment but composting is something that truly makes a difference.  Twenty-eight percent of residential trash headed for a landfill is made up of food scraps and yard waste.  When you compost these materials properly at home, they will break down into usable compost within weeks.  When these items are taken to a closed-off landfill, those same materials can take decades to decompose, all the while releasing methane into the air.

The first, and most important, thing to know before you begin your compost pile is exactly what you can and cannot add to the bin.  These are often divided into categories called wet (or green) and dry (or brown) materials.  Green materials provide nitrogen to the mix and include things like fruit and vegetable scraps, green leaves, grass clippings, coffee and tea grounds, and filters.  Brown materials add carbon and include dry, dead leaves, wood shavings or sawdust, shredded paper, twigs, and dryer lint.

Never add meat, bones, animal fat, or dairy to your compost.  Eggshells can be added, but they need to be rinsed out before composting.

The second most important thing to provide your compost is oxygen.  As organic materials decompose, they oxidize carbon for energy, using oxygen and producing carbon dioxide.  Sufficient oxygen prevents this process from becoming anaerobic and producing the rotten-egg smell many people worry about when beginning a compost pile.

If you can compost outdoors, there are two basic options, which you can customize as you see fit.  These options are the open bin and the closed bin, which are exactly what they sound like.

The open bin is exposed to air and is usually a three-bin system.  There is an active pile, a decomposing pile, and a finished pile.  The active pile is where you regularly add food and yard scraps you want to compost.  As the material begins to break down, transfer it to the decomposing pile.  Once the material is completely broken down, transfer it to the finished pile.

The material in the middle of the active and decomposing pile is exposed to more heat and breaks down more quickly than the material on the edges of the pile.  In order to allow all material to decompose, the piles should be turned once a week.  Simply flip it with a pitchfork or rake.

The closed bin is most often a tumbler because a closed system needs to be aerated daily.  As you turn the drum of the tumbler, the materials move around and open up air pockets, which provide needed oxygen.  Once the waste material reaches 4 inches from the top of the tumbler, stop adding waste materials.  For a household with less material, a single-chamber tumbler will be sufficient.  If you want to constantly add waste material, opt for a double-chamber tumbler.

Apartment homesteaders are in a somewhat different situation when it comes to composting.  Even homeowners who live within homeowner association restrictions will need to find an alternative to backyard compost piles.  Luckily, indoor composting is a viable option. By introducing one addition to your bin, composting is quick and odor-free.

What magic ingredient makes indoor composting possible?  Earthworms.  Red wigglers, to be exact.  This is called vermicomposting and the worms—able to consume half their body weight in food scraps every day—make quick work of kitchen scraps.  Material passes through the worm’s body and becomes vermicompost, an incredibly nutrient-rich soil amendment. There are bins you can purchase that fit under your cabinet, sit on your countertop, or stand on the floor, but you can easily make your own vermicomposting bin with a few simple materials.

A vermicomposting bin needs to start with at least one pound of red wigglers.  Consider the amount of scraps you produce from your kitchen before opting for more worms.  One pound of worms requires a 14-gallon plastic bin with a lid. Purchase a second lid or a lipped baking sheet.  You will also need an electric drill.

Drill holes around the top of the bin, one of the lids for oxygen, and around the base of the bin. In the worm bin, there will be liquid runoff. The drain holes around the base let the liquid drain out.

Fill the bin two-thirds full with shredded newspaper.  Moisten it with a spray bottle and fluff.  Place your bin on top of the second lid or baking sheet.  Add your red wigglers and food scraps.  Feed them food scraps daily and cover with newspaper.

In three months, your scraps and paper strips will be compost.  Move the finished compost to one side of the bin and add fresh newspaper strips to the other side.  Add food scraps to the fresh paper side for one month, enticing the worms to move from the finished compost.  After one month, remove the finished compost from the bin.

Worms can be added to outdoor bins to accelerate the breakdown of organic materials, and you can opt to keep your worm bin on your patio if you live in an apartment.  Worms cannot be exposed to direct sunlight, so be sure there is always a layer of newspaper strips on top of the waste material.  Worms are also susceptible to freezing, so cover your bin as you would your most tender plants.

Whether you are looking for a responsible way to decrease plant disease, increase crop yields, or are just beginning your homestead journey, it’s important to understand everything comes from dirt.  The healthier your soil, the better your homestead.  Compost is the easiest, most environmentally-friendly way to build soil.  Composting is also a project you can start small and grow.  One more unexpected bonus—compost is a huge hit at local farmers’ markets and plant sales.  Your kitchen scraps can be turned into cash!

The post Quick and Easy Compost Guide appeared first on Homestead.org.

The benefits of composting are wide-reaching even past the production of nutrient-dense soil that helps your plants grow more quickly and fruitfully. In addition to this, composting reduces personal waste that goes into your trash can each week, and saves that waste from needing to be transported to a landfill where it will rot and produce high levels of methane. Making your own compost also allows you to cut back on water usage in your garden as compost soil is much more efficient at retaining moisture and requires less watering. Finally, by making and utilizing your own compost, you eliminate the need to use fertilizers which can have harmful side effects on the ecosystem of your garden.

The first step in the basics of composting is obtaining a compost bin, which you can either buy or fashion yourself at home. Within the compost bin marketplace, you’ll be able to choose a size and material that works best for your yard or home. Along the homemade route, lots of tutorials exist online for building your own out of wood pallets or heavy-duty mesh wire. If you choose to set up an indoor compost bin, you’ll want to avoid sealing it completely to prevent foul odors indoors, and rather cover it with a piece of fabric or breathable top of some kind. Many indoor composts also come as packages that include worms to aid in the decomposition of soil.

Whether you’re setting up your compost bin inside or outside you’ll want to find a dry, shady spot to allow for the perfect level of moisture within your bin. It’s also a good idea, with an outdoor bin, to start composting in the summer for the speediest composting process.

There are four basic elements to creating a successful compost bin: water, nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon. The two main categories of material you want to include in your compost bins are called “browns” and “greens.” Browns refers to yard debris including dead leaves, branches, twigs, and wood chips as well as paper or compostable napkins, plates, and newspapers. Greens refers to fruit and vegetable scraps, grass clippings, coffee grounds and filters, eggshells, and manure. The browns category provides the necessary carbon, while the greens pile supplies nitrogen to the organisms causing decomposition in the compost. When adding your browns and greens, you’ll want to prep them by chopping them into smaller chunks or breaking up sticks into smaller pieces for example. Waste to never use in your compost pile includes meat products, dairy products, pet waste, or manure.

The appropriate ratio of browns (carbon) to greens (nitrogen) is 3 to 1, in order to achieve the best compost. You’ll want to start your pile with a solid base of browns five or more inches thick and feed a layer of greens no more than four inches thick on top of that, ideally in the center, not reaching the corners of the bin like the browns. You’ll then want to completely cover the greens with another layer of browns, and simply repeat the process up to the top of the bin.

The other two elements to involve in a compost bin are water and oxygen. You’ll want to periodically water your compost bin to allow the microorganisms within the compost to properly absorb and breakdown all the organic matter. A good rule is to water immediately after adding new materials to your compost bin. After adding water your compost should have the consistency of a wrung-out sponge. To test this simply grab a handful of compost and give it a squeeze. At the ideal moisture, it should only release a few drops of water but feel damp to the touch.

In addition, you’ll need to occasionally use a pitchfork or shovel to turn or mix your compost, once it has begun decomposing. This will allow for your compost pile to breathe a bit and more evenly break down. By turning your compost pile regularly and reoxygenating it, you’ll be able to speed up the overall decomposition process to two to five months rather than a year if left unturned.

It is common for compost piles to heat up quite a bit at the peak of decomposition, reaching temperatures as high as 130 degrees Fahrenheit. If you notice your compost bin is quite hot and steaming even, take it as a sign that you’re composting correctly and decomposition is occurring rapidly within your bin.

If your compost pile develops a foul odor, it’s an indication that it’s not receiving enough nitrogen or enough air. This can be remedied by adding more browns to the pile and giving the pile a turn. If your pile won’t heat up it’s an indication that it’s lacking in nitrogen as well and you’ll want to mix in more greens.

Anywhere from two months to a year later, your compost will be ready to use and should be a crumbly texture and dark brown or black in color. At this stage, it should not heat up at all, even when being turned. You’ll want to add your fresh compost soil to your garden several weeks before you plan to plant to allow the compost soil to acclimate with the existing soil. When adding in compost soil, add two to four inches to around six to eight inches of existing soil and mix them together. In a few weeks’ time, you’ll be ready to plant and nurture your most fruitful garden yet!

The post The Basics of Composting appeared first on Homestead.org.

You see, I don’t count profitability in strictly cash terms when it comes to homestead projects.  I consider a project profitable if it, 1. Saves me from laying out hard-earned dollars on goods or services or, 2. Recycles waste products from other projects while giving me something valuable in return.  Earthworms certainly accomplish both of those goals, as you will see.

Earthworms are the most accommodating livestock.  They do not need daily tending; they will thrive with minimal supervision, providing their modest needs are met.  These needs are a sufficient supply of organic matter for food and to be kept moist.  Unless you want to keep your worms indoors, they do not require much by way of equipment, bins or boxes.

Earthworms will benefit your homestead in several ways.  Worm manure or “castings” are richer in available plant foods than other manures or compost.  While manure and compost are great for your garden, digested by worms, they are terrific! Worms will convert such items such as coffee grounds & filters, shredded wood, and paper, sawdust, weeds, etc. into a rich fertilizer for your garden.  At the same time, the worms themselves are very high in protein, about 60% for dried worms and are a great supplementary feed for your chickens and pigs.

There are hundreds of different species of earthworms around the world, from the Arctic to the jungle.  Eisenia fetida is the one most easily acquired in the United States and is recommended for composting use.  In other countries, other species might be preferable.  I suggest you check with your government agricultural service or local garden club.

Eisenia fetida goes by many common names; manure worms, fishing worms, brandlings, red wrigglers.  Check the advertisements in the back of almost any gardening magazine and you’ll find ads for them under one or more of these names.  These worms do not normally live in the soil so much as in manure heaps.  They are not the same as nightcrawlers.  Nightcrawlers tend to be solitary worms with “territories” and they do not do so well under the growing conditions described here.

A pound of “bed run” worms will normally cost less than $30, postage-paid.  Bed run means just as they come from the growing beds and will include all sizes from eggs and newly hatched worms to large breeders.  Unless you have an enormous amount of manure or compost to process quickly, one or two pounds of bed run worms will be a sufficient start.  Some companies also sell graded worms, usually by the thousand.  Being larger, these will be more expensive than bed run and are not necessarily a better deal.

When first starting out, you will probably want to contain your worms to a small area.  That way they are easier to check up on, keep damp and feed.  An easy way to do this is to find a large plastic tub with a lid and cut the bottom out.  Find a shady spot and remove some soil (about 6 inches deep is fine) from an area the size of the bottom of the tub.  Set the tub in place and pile the soil you removed around it, firming it down well.  This setup will accomplish two things.  It will keep the worms moister and keep their food in one place.  Earthworms are smart.  As long as there is food and moisture they are going to stay put.  Unlike other critters, they are not going to wander off in search of greener pastures! The other thing is that the tub will help protect them from animals that will eat them like skunks and mice.  If you put your kitchen scraps in the tub it will also keep out stray dogs, cats, and javelinas (the wild pigs or peccaries of the desert).

Before your worms arrive, wet the ground in your box and add some type of organic matter, 2-3 inches thick.  Fallen leaves are a good start, or a little compost.  Grass clippings, old hay, rotted manure are all good.  So is shredded paper.  I shred all my junk mail as well as old financial records, and it all goes to the worm box since there is no recycling program where I live.  You just want to be careful that what you put in will not heat up.  When your worms arrive, just dump them in, put on the lid and let them adjust to their new home.  In a couple of days, when you lift the lid, you will probably find worms right on top of the organic matter.  They will dive back down into their little burrows as soon as the light hits them.  They much prefer the dark.  In a box with a lot of worms, you can actually hear them going back down if it is quiet and you listen carefully.  It sounds like little popping noises.

If you are using your worms to compost your kitchen scraps, just dump the scraps on top.  The worms will go up into the scraps and begin feeding on their own.  Don’t mix the scraps into the bedding, however, in case they should begin to heat up.  By leaving them on top, the worms can go down away from them if they heat up.  While you can feed the worms just kitchen scraps, you will have a better-finished compost with a better range of nutrients if you give them some other foods occasionally.  As mentioned, I shred all my junk mail and feed it to the worms, just dump it on top.  Once in a while, I sprinkle in some manure, usually 1-2 inches at a time.  About once a month I add a small amount of earth and a sprinkle of wood ashes.  If your soil is acid, you will want to add a dusting of wood ashes or lime to your worm box every 1-2 months.  Earthworms like a pH range of 6.8 to 7.2 (just like most garden plants).

If pest animals are not a problem or you just want to add worms to your compost piles, things are even easier.  Scrape out 3-6 inches of soil from the area where you will build your heap.  If you have built a pile on this site before, just leave a couple of inches of compost over the area instead.  Wet it down well and add your worms.  Build your compost pile as usual (there are so many articles everywhere telling you how to build compost piles, I won’t go into the details here).  Yes, the pile should heat up, especially if you use a lot of manure or green stuff.  That’s fine.  The worms will stay down in the soil under the heap while this happens.  Just as soon as the temperature goes below about 85-90 degrees Fahrenheit the worms will begin to work their way up into the pile.  The only thing you have to do at this point is to keep the pile moist.  If you live in an arid area, throw a tarp over it to help keep the moisture in.  You can also cover the heap with soil or straw.

After a couple of months (usually, cool weather will take longer) you will notice that the texture of the pile has changed.  It will also shrink a fair amount.  The texture change will be more noticeable if you have covered the heap with something that keeps out light, as the worms will work all the way to the surface of the pile.  If you covered it with straw, just rake back the straw and look under it.  Your compost should begin to look more like damp coffee grounds than the original ingredients.  At this point, it is ready to use.  You can just spread it around your garden as usual, or you can harvest the worms it contains separately.  I’ll tell you how in just a minute.

First I want to discuss another way of raising worms.  I first got started raising earthworms in the manure under my rabbit cages.  This is a great way to keep down flies, as they do not seem to breed in manure that contains a lot of earthworms.  To raise worms this way, wet the ground under one cage.  If the ground there is even with or above your walkway, then scrape the soil out before wetting it.  You just need a little depression, 3-6 inches deep to help contain the manure.  As long as that is the only area that you keep damp, the worms will stay there.  They won’t go into dry soil if there is a moist area.  Now add your worms and when they have gone down into the soil, rake up all the manure from under your other rabbit cages onto the worm area.  Keep it damp.  In dry climates, during the summer this can mean a daily sprinkle.  In a few weeks, you will notice that the only whole manure you see is the freshest.  The worms will have digested the rest.  At this point, you can expand the area of the worm bed simply by wetting down an adjacent area and raking up the manure onto it.

I raised worms like this when I lived in eastern Texas.  Our soil there was very sandy and very acid, so I added lime and wood ashes about once a month.  Spilled feed, fur, and straw from the nest boxes were just tossed on top of the worm beds.  In a few days, there would be little left of them.

You would think that all that damp manure would be a terrific breeding place for flies, but there were hardly ever any maggots to be found.  The only place I would see them in this system was when a rabbit, usually a young buck, continuously urinated in one spot.  This would make that area very wet with ammonia.  To remedy this, use your garden fork to loosen up that spot and add something to absorb and neutralize the ammonia.  You can use sawdust, peat moss or even the old-fashioned clay kitty litter.  Also, sprinkle on a little extra lime or wood ash.  Add more absorbent material whenever you notice the area getting soggy again.

Worms are not very active when the temperature drops below 50 or above 85 degrees Fahrenheit.  If your worm box is in the sun, the inside will be too hot and the worms will stay down in the soil to stay cool.  If the weather is very cold, they will go down to stay warmer.  If it gets really cold they will hibernate.  If it is too hot and they cannot escape, they will die.  In the hottest part of summer and the coldest part of winter, you may notice that the worms are not in the upper part of your box feeding.  In summer you may notice some fly breeding in your kitchen scraps.  In winter the scraps may simply get very moldy or even just sit there sort of frozen, instead of breaking down.  Some help in summer is to cover the scraps with a little soil.  In winter you can insulate the worm box by piling leaves or straw around it to help keep the worms warmer.  You can also add fairly thick layers of manure occasionally.  The manure will heat a bit and keep the upper layers in the box warmer.

If you just raise worms in your compost pile, I have noticed that as soon as the heat drops below about 85 the worms will be up in the pile.  In the winter, they will mostly be in the bottom center of the pile where it is the warmest.  Then in spring as the weather warms they will work their way up.

Worms are covered with a slimy mucus.  If this slime coating dries out the worms will die.  They must be kept damp at all times.  I once had a break in the toilet drainpipe.  When we dug it up, the entire area around the break was very wet and was filled with worms.  At the same time, if they are completely immersed in water, they will, after a time, drown.

Separating the Worms From The Compost

Earthworms do not like bright light.  An easy way to separate them from their castings or compost is to use this trait to your advantage.  Set up a table, or put a piece of plywood over your wheelbarrow or garden cart next to your compost pile or worm box.  The plywood should not completely cover the cart or barrow.  Leave a gap that you can push the compost into.  Use a garden fork to toss two or three forkfuls of compost onto the platform (if you use a shovel you will cut a lot of worms into pieces).  Break up any big lumps and shape the material into a cone.  Now go away for a little bit.  On bright sunny days, 10 minutes will be long enough.  On cloudy days and when the temperature is cooler, it may take 20 minutes for the worms to go down from the surface of the cone.  Now gently begin scraping the castings off the top of the cone.  As soon as you get to the worms stop and wait another 10 or 15 minutes, for them to go down some more.  Now scrape away some more compost.  Again, stop as soon as you get to the worms.  Repeat this procedure until you have mostly a pile of worms left.  This is easiest to do on bright sunny days when you are outside working in the garden anyway.  Just go check on the worms every 10-15 minutes.  In extremely hot weather, you will want to make sure that the platform itself does not heat up in the sun and cook the worms.  Also, don’t forget about them on a hot sunny day, or you will find them dried up and dead the next day.  If something comes up and you can’t finish, just dump them all back on the heap.

Using Your Worms and Castings

There are many uses for the worms you have harvested.  You could set up a business and sell worms yourself.  You can feed them to poultry, pigs, and pets like fish, frogs, lizards, and turtles.  They are first-class high protein feed and these animals will relish them.  I used to feed a three-pound coffee can full of worms to my six chickens about twice a week.  This enabled me to feed less expensive scratch feed instead of laying pellets while still getting just as many eggs.

When using castings in your garden, there are a couple of things to keep in mind.  With the first method described, the food scraps do not heat up, therefore, seeds are not injured and will sprout with abandon, sometimes right in the worm box.  This is alright, but realize that any weed, tomato, melon or other seeds tossed in the box will probably sprout right up once you spread the castings on the garden.  With the second method, your compost pile will hopefully have heated up well before the worms went to work on it, thus destroying most of the weed seeds.  In the third method, there will be few if any seeds at all, since the castings will be almost entirely made up of rabbit manure.

If you follow the first or second methods there will probably be pieces of things that are not fully broken down.  You can use the compost straight as it comes or with the worms separated out, in the soil or as mulch, even if it is a bit lumpy.  The third method will produce a very finely granulated product with few lumpy bits.  If you used woodchips or other high carbon, slow to decompose materials in your compost, and you want a finer material, then separate the worms out and screen the compost through ½ inch wire mesh.

The last year I gardened in east Texas, I grew two-pound carrots.  Yes, that’s right.  Carrots that weighed in at two pounds each.  Of course, I had the advantage of an acid sandy soil.  No rocks, not even pea gravel, on the place.  I had been following the bio-dynamic/French intensive method of gardening for several years.  My four-foot wide beds had all been double dug at least once and large amounts of compost added to them.  This compost was made up of woodchips and from cleaning out the barn where we kept goats and chickens.  It had heated up wonderfully and by the time it was spread on the garden, the worms had also been working on it.

In February with the carrot bed forked up, and as much encroaching Bermuda grass removed as possible, wood ashes were sprinkled on, to help raise the pH and as a source of potash, which is very important for the formation of root crops.  Then about two inches of worm castings from under the rabbit cages was spread on top.  Imperator carrot seed was sprinkled over the bed and more castings sprinkled over the top.  Some spoiled hay was shaken out over the bed, though not in a solid sheet, just as very light mulch.  There was still a lot of soil visible.  The carrots sprouted within two weeks and were off and running.  The tops were huge.  Now conventional garden writers will tell you that you shouldn’t put manure on your carrot bed.  It will cause the roots to fork.  That manure is too high in nitrogen and you’ll get great big tops and no bottoms.  Well, those great big tops grew some great big bottoms! True, it did take them a while to size up.  About 6 weeks after the seeds sprouted, I weeded and thinned the bed.  After that, the tops were beginning to shade out the weeds and all I had to watch for was Bermuda grass.  When they were about three months old they were beginning to get big enough to eat, so I began pulling everything big enough to bother washing and cooking, gradually thinning them farther and farther apart.  In the first part of July, I pulled the last carrots from that 100-square-foot bed, so I could plant some beans.  I was utterly astounded.  The tops were two-and-a-half feet tall.  The tops of the roots were almost three inches across.  I weighed them.  They averaged two pounds each.  I sure wish I had taken some pictures of those carrots.  Nobody believes me.  And of course the next year I moved to Arizona where I had to start a new garden.

My current method of using worm castings and worm-processed compost is as follows.  I double dig the beds the first year I make them, picking out as many rocks as possible (I now garden on hard-packed caliche, which is full of rocks).  I don’t grow root crops on new beds for a couple of years.  To make room for the addition of a lot of compost, without raising the beds too high above the paths, I remove a five-gallon bucket of soil from the bottom of each trench as I double-dig.  Then I double-dig just once more; the first time I grow carrots, potatoes or parsnips, this time screening the top 12 inches of soil through half-inch hardware cloth, to get rid of the rest of the rocks.

After the bed is raked into shape, I add fish meal, for nitrogen, kelp for trace minerals and SulPoMag (sulfate of potash magnesia for potash).  I just sprinkle these on top of the soil.  I top that with about three to four inches of compost.  I water and let the bed settle for a few days then plant seeds or transplants.  The compost contains a lot of small worms and eggs.  As long as there is compost on top of the bed, the worms will continue to live.  They also work on mixing the compost and fertilizers into the soil.  This method has produced a tremendous improvement in my soil and my garden.  I’m well on my way to growing two-pound carrots again!

I am currently experimenting with using worm compost as the major ingredient in the mix for making soil blocks.  I also use it as top-dressing and mulch around trees, perennials, and long season vegetables like tomatoes and squash.

Now I don’t promise that you will grow two-pound carrots, but it could happen.  I can promise you that raising earthworms will provide you with many opportunities for recycling, for producing a high protein feed for other animals, and will greatly improve your garden.

SOURCES & FURTHER READING

Composting with Worms: They Wiggle While They Work

Worms Eat My Garbage: How to Set Up & Maintain a Worm Composting System by Mary Appelhof 

Raising Earthworms for Profit by Earl B. Shields 

The ABC’s of the Earthworm Business by Ruth Myers

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