June 2009
You are currently browsing the articles from Red Worm Composting written in the month of June 2009.
David Lozowsky’s tub harvester
Quite some time ago I made a video and wrote about my ‘Garbage Bag Harvesting Method‘ for separating worms from mature vermicompost. The idea behind this method was that it was a simple, inexpensive, and passive means of transferring worms to a new bin. Anyone who has gone down on all fours with a tarp and the contents of a mature worm bin to do the “light harvesting method” will know all too well that this is not the most enjoyable way to spend your time (speaking of which – I currently use a modified version of the light harvesting method that I will be writing about soon).
I received an email recently from good vermi-friend (and long-time reader of RWC) David Lozowsky, who shared with me his method for separating worms from vermicompost. His method is based on the same principles as the garbage bag method, but in my opinion is a much better approach. Rather than using a thin film of plastic, David simply uses an empty bin (of the exact same dimensions as his worm bins) with 1/4″ holes drilled in the bottom.
Interestingly enough, David uses the exact same bins as me – Rubbermaid Roughneck totes with the following dimensions: 24″x16″x8.75″ (LxWxH). This is as close to a ‘perfect’ DIY tub for vermicomposting as you can get (in my humble opinion) – it’s cheap, durable, holds a lot of worms/compost, and has a great surface-area-to-depth ratio.
Getting back to the topic of discussion…
Essentially, what David does is let a given worm bin mature over the period of time (hopefully he’ll chime in and let us know approx how long it takes before he harvests). As you can see in the pic below, the bin is full of vermicompost with very little (if anything) in the way of recognizable ‘food’. If you saw a close-up of the original photo, you’d see that it was also full of Red Worms.
Once mature, a new system is prepared so that the worms have a tempting new habitat to migrate into (the photo below shows what the new system might look like). The tub harvester is then placed on top of the new system (sans lid, of course) and the contents of the mature bin are added. Next, two desk lamps are positioned over top of the harvesting tub to help encourage the worms to migrate downwards. After 12 hours or so, the material is mixed up to help the compost to dry out a little more and encourage any of the remaining stragglers to make the journey to the new bin.
According to David, this method has worked extremely well – I seem to recall him mentioning that only 5 or so adults were left after his last harvesting session.
Of course, people are going to naturally wonder about cocoons and hatchling worms – always the main issue when it comes to harvesting vermicompost. Like any other method, this approach will almost certainly result in plenty of cocoons and young worms being left behind. If this is a major concern I suggest letting the material sit for at least a few weeks in a new bin with some tempting food material (aged manure, water melon etc) sitting on top. Any worms left over should congregate in this area, and there should be some hatching of the cocoons as well. You won’t likely get every last one, but at least you’ll be able save a lot of little wigglers this way.
I personally don’t worry too much about this sort of thing. I have such an extensive system of trenches and compost ecosystem zones out in my yard that I feel secure in the knowledge that any left over worms will be able to find a safe haven without too much difficulty.
Anyway – that’s basically it. As you can see, this is a nice easy (and inexpensive) way to move your worms to a new bin, and end up with some fantastic compost in the process!
Thanks again David for allowing me to share this on the blog.
All images courtesy of David Lozowsky, Brampton Ontario
Written by Bentley on June 18th, 2009 with 8 comments.
Read more articles on Home Vermicomposting.
As a child I was a very avid birdwatcher – imagine the passion I now have for vermicomposting, but focused on birds instead. I was sure I was going to become an ornithologist when I grew up.
It’s funny remembering back to those days, because this year I have officially declared war against the birds – ok, maybe not ALL the birds. Just the ones that threaten the well-being of my outdoor worm population. The American Robin is leading the way in that department.
As I wrote yesterday, I’ve expanded my vermicomposting trench systems. Needless to say, when I first started seeing Robins out in my trenches gobbling worms like crazy I was NOT impressed!
Apparently these birds are supposed to be territorial, with only one bird dominating a given area. Well, I guess the worm buffet bonanza my trenches offer these retched avian marauders has led to a new set of rules being established – I’ve seen multiple Robins in my trenches at once, with no signs of aggression towards one another whatsoever.
Along with the new set of Robin rules has come a new set of rules for yours truly!
{insert evil grin}
I’ve been starting to feel like Elmer Fudd fending off ‘wascally wobbins’ in my yard, but thankfully I haven’t resorted to any form of violence…yet. Well, ok – I have been throwing tennis balls at them, but never really at them – just in close proximity to them.
There’s been one bird in particular that’s got an unbelievable amount of nerve – or stupidity, depending on your perspective. Judging by his lack-luster coloration, I’d say he is a yearling (born last spring) – this would also help to explain why he seems to have a death wish.
I’ve literally run after this bird yelling with fists-a-shakin, only to have him fly a few feet off and continue on his merry worm-picking way. If my property wasn’t so exposed (I’m sure my neighbors already think I’m a complete nut)…well, you can let your imagination go wild on that one.
Ok, I’m mostly kidding – these birds have been driving me bonkers, but I’ve actually been having some good success keeping them away. The ‘tennis ball method’ has worked quite well, but thankfully I seem to have hit upon some passive methods that are even more effective!
I noticed my neighbor had laid down shiny silver and red tape over rows of new seedlings. Doing a bit of research online, I discovered that this is a strategy for keeping birds out of your garden (apparently the red flashing reminds the birds of fire, which they are instinctively afraid of). After learning the cost of said tape (I’ll keep my arm and leg, thanks very much), I decided to make my own version.
I made some scarecrows using shiny aluminum pie trays hanging from upright supports. It is quite breezy around here, so my hope was that the flashing and banging of the trays to help to scare the birds away. This method seemed to work quite well – my tennis balls were starting to feel neglected.
It certainly hasn’t been fool-proof though. Once birds get used to these sorts of deterrents, they’ll often simply start ignoring them. On calm days when the trays aren’t banging around as much the birds also seem to feel more at ease and back to their usual worm-eating ways.
The real turning point came after I noticed that the robins weren’t picking at my sandbox trench once straw was added over top – the same was true for one of my other straw-covered trenches.
Hmmm…
I recently added straw to my main trench as well and I’m happy to report that the results have been fantastic! I think it has something to do with the birds feeling uncertain about their footing while walking on the straw. Interestingly enough, when I had a thick layer of grass clippings on the windrow, Robins were on it like white on rice. Where do Robins normally hang out and feel safe?
The lawn, of course!
Anyway, now that my trenches seem to be completely devoid of Robins I almost feel like something is missing. haha!
I guess I kinda enjoyed the challenge of trying to outsmart them. Oh well, on the plus side, it is certainly nice not having to worry about my worm population being gobbled every time I leave the garden unattended!
Written by Bentley on June 16th, 2009 with 7 comments.
Read more articles on Gardening and Large-Scale Vermicomposting.
My main vermicomposting trench – expanded into a mini windrow
Last year I discovered the power of the ‘vermicomposting trench‘. As most of my loyal readers will know, it all started with somewhat naive attempt on my part to compost all of the usable food waste from a very popular local restaurant (see ‘Restaurant Food Waste Vermicomposting‘). In a desperate attempt to dispose of (in a neighbor-friendly manner) large quantities of rotting, stinking organic waste, I decided that burial was probably my best bet. The rest, of course, is history.
I’ve never been a particularly skilled gardener (although I’m working to change that this year), but it didn’t seem to matter much last year since Red Worms and a bunch of ‘waste’ came together to create the ultimate all-natural fertilizer factory. By the end of the summer I was basically begging friends and family to take produce home with them when they came to visit. The results were astounding – far better than expected, and far better than previous years when regular off-the-shelf fertilizers were used.
It certainly was a LOT of work dealing with all that waste and creating my trench (and pit) systems, but there was never a doubt in my mind that I would be using this approach again this year. The big difference of course, is that I’m no longer receiving hundreds of pounds of food waste each week. Not only did this excite me from a labor-reduction standpoint, but this also meant that I’d be back in the same boat as most of the people reading these articles. I knew it would take a bit of extra effort to ensure that I ended up with enough ‘food’ to sustain the worms and plants, but at least the project is going to be a lot more relevant for the average backyard composter/gardener.
Despite the fact that my waste supply has been greatly reduced, I decided that I wanted to expand my systems – widening my main trench so as to basically convert it into a mini windrow, and digging new trenches in other locations. A major motivator was simply the fact that by increasing the vermicomposting area, I’d be greatly boosting my Red Worm population as well – never a bad thing when you are in the ‘worm biz’!
My main foodstock of choice this year is aged livestock manure. I live in a rich farming region so there is plenty of this material available, and as I’ve written before, it is pretty well the ‘ultimate’ food for composting worms. Add to this the fact that it also has fantastic fertilizer value and it’s a no-brainer.
Apart from manure, I am still adding some food waste as well. We produce quite a bit ourselves, so I have been burying it in various locations along the length of my trench/windrow system as it accumulates.
Not too long ago I wrote about vermicomposting with grass clippings. Well, I’m happy to report that I have been adding a lot of mulched grass clippings to the windrows as well. Apart from the potential food value this will offer, the material serves as an excellent mulch (keeping moisture in) as well.
The ‘sandbox self-fertilizing garden‘ (links to article on Compost Guy website) is back in action with its own manure trench as well. As you may recall, I added a lot of manure and leaves to this bed to help prepare it for winter. After expanding my main (fence-line) trench, much of this material – along with loads of worms – was transferred over to help flatten out and clean up the sandbox bed for the growing season.
This year, instead of giant pumpkins and potatoes I will be growing corn and pole beans. I’ll write more about the sandbox system in future blog posts, but I will say this – so far so good!!
There is plenty more to write about in general, but I would rather break everything up into a series of posts rather than creating a monster article now – this will help me to get this stuff to you in a more timely manner.
Below you will see a few photos showing how my main trench was expanded, then mounded up with manure/compost, along with my most recent shot of the fence-line trench.
After adding some straw in the spring
Trench expansion – additional width with little extra depth/volume
The trench after mounding manure and compost
Latest view of my main trench – more manure + straw over top
Written by Bentley on June 15th, 2009 with 7 comments.
Read more articles on Gardening and Large-Scale Vermicomposting.
Good question from Paul:
I have several damaged wheat straw bales that I would like
to try vermicomposting with. they are 3′ x 3′ x 8′ weighing about 500
lbs each. I am wondering if I run them through a tub grinder and make
a long row on the ground if the worms would thrive in this row or
would I need to add something else for them to survive? What might
happen with this arrangement in the winter time? Here in South Dakota
it gets very cold in the winter but I think if the row of straw were
big enough there would be enough heat generated from the wet straw?
Thanks
Paul
Hi Paul,
To a rabid vermicomposter like myself, that sounds like the ultimate cool opportunity to grow some worms. I’m definitely jealous – worms LOVE rotten straw! The fact that you have access to a tub grinder is definitely an added bonus. By increasing the surface area of this material you will definitely improve its food value
I’m not sure I’d class it as an ‘ideal’ worm food on its own however, since straw has a fairly high C-to-N ratio. I’m sure you could grow a population of red worms in it if it stayed wet and warm, but they might be on the small side, and the population might not grow as quickly as it would if you had some aged manure mixed in with it (run that through the tub grinder too – assuming it is solid like horse manure – smaller particle size can have a HUGE impact on worm growth). Food waste would work well too, but I get the feeling you might be able to track down some manure fairly easily.
The size of the windrow and the protective layers you add will have a major impact on its potential for winter activity. You may want to dig a trench and also add a really thick layer of dry straw over top. If above ground simple pile it up nice and high to help stimulate natural heating – adding manure and/or other good N-sources will be important in this case. If you contain everything within walls of good straw bales this could also really help keep the warmth in (large size will still be important though). This is what I did with a large outdoor bed last winter and it performed very well.
Do be careful with piling it up too much during warmer months though – the last thing you’ll want to do is have it overheat on you and kill off your worms. Maybe just start with the rotting straw in shallow trenches and gradually start to add manure, a little at a time until the cool weather really starts to arrive.
Anyway – hope this helps!
Good luck
Written by Bentley on June 11th, 2009 with 2 comments.
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Hi Everyone – just thought I would provide a VERY quick update given the fact that it’s been a couple of weeks now since starting the 50 Cocoon Challenge. I know that some of you are eager to learn if anything new and exciting has happened in the bin (i.e. worms have hatched).
When I opened up the bin I was greeted by what looked like a scene straight out of a science fiction movie – like some sort of alien planet landscape.
The fungi have continued to thrive, as has the rest of the ecosystem sans worms. Well, ok – I don’t know for sure that there are no worms. As expected, I am having a very hard time trying to locate babies (assuming there are any yet). I saw lots of white worms, but not baby red worms yet. I will most likely have to wait until they are larger before being able to spot them.
As such, we won’t likely have anything more than a rough guess of how long it took them to hatch, and unless I start finding them at a very young age, our juvenile-to-adult maturation time might not be all that accurate either. Nevertheless, I am still very interested to see how long it takes for the worms to go from cocoon to adult in this system. I hope to replicate the experiment with the ‘ultimate’ food/habitat – horse manure with bedding. This should provide an interesting comparison in terms of how different foods can affect maturation time.
One other thing to mention – the contents of the bin were looking a little drier than what I consider to be ‘ideal’ so I added some water.
Ok – that’s all for now. Hope to provide another update in a couple weeks or so.
Written by Bentley on June 10th, 2009 with 4 comments.
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