Simple Vermicompost Harvesting Method
This weekend I decided to fire up the ol’ digital camera to create a video about separating worms from vermicompost. It is quite possibly the worst piece of cinematography in the history of mankind, but hopefully the commentary at least proves semi-interesting.
It certainly didn’t help that the camera battery died on me before I was even finished!
Those of you who are on my email list will know that I am in the process of putting together a worm bin journal, which basically involves me starting a new worm bin and documenting everything along the way. As I’ve said multiple times before, when it comes to working with worm bins these days I just kinda do it without thinking about it. Obviously, some of those subtle details that I’m not paying attention to could be important tidbits of info for someone just starting out. I am hopeful that by forcing myself to document the process I will be able to add a little more depth to my instructions for setting up a worm bin. I also wanted to provide more info re: the maintenance of a worm bin. In my worm bin set-up videos, while I think I do provide some good info for getting started, I kinda leave everyone hanging a little when it comes to actually taking care of the bin I helped them set up!
Anyway, the video above shows how I am transferring worms from an older system into the new system (which has been aging for a little over a week). A lot of people seem to wonder about separating worms from compost, so I figured I would kill two birds with one stone while I was at it. I’ve written about my garbage bag separation method before (see ‘Setting Up a New Worm Bin‘), but I figured an actual demonstration - as poor quality as it is - would prove more beneficial!
One thing to keep in mind - the material I am separating the worms from in the video is not really good quality vermicompost. I noticed quite a bit of undigested materials and it just didn’t have the rich, dark appearance of good worm castings (vermicompost should be as close to pure worm castings as possible). If I dug it into the garden I’m sure it would be a great slow release fertilizer, but I don’t think I’ll be using it for potted plants any time soon. I actually tried using a similar material last summer during my ‘Terracycle Challenge’ and it performed very poorly. I just want to point that out so that people don’t assume that’s what high quality vermicompost looks like!
By the way, the ‘worm bin journal’ I mentioned above is a special project for all those who are on my email list, so if you think that might be helpful (or are just curious to see how quickly I’ll kill my worms - haha) then feel free to sign up. I am still in documentation stage, but I’m hoping to start sharing my ‘journal’ with members fairly soon.
Technorati Tags: worm castings, vermicompost, worm bin, worm bins, worm composter, worm composting, vermicomposting, red worms, red wigglers, compost
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Written by Bentley on April 7th, 2008 with
2 comments.
Read more articles on Home Vermicomposting and Videos.
Bentley
#1. April 7th, 2008, at 5:40 PM.
A: I’ve tried this worm harvesting method but evidently did it way too fast. I did it outside, using sunlight & ended up having to ‘herd’ the worms to the holes. It never occurred to me to just let them do it on their own.
B: I’ve NEVER had that many worms in my ‘finished’ bin. Don’t know what that means.
C: You use a trowel. I ALWAYS use my hands. hmmmm
D: What did you do with what wasn’t quite done?
Keep on keeping on… Love your site.
gary