A little while ago I asked my good friend Jeff “The Friendly Worm Guy” Sonnenburg to make a video of his worm/castings harvesting machine in action, and here it is!
What makes Jeff’s harvesting method really interesting is the fact that he uses an antique winnowing machine (also known as a ‘fanning mill’) to do the job – not a regular worm harvester. He was able to get the machine for a great price, and judging by what I saw in the video I’d say it works very well for harvesting worms. For those of you unfamiliar, a ‘winnowing machine’ is a device used to separate grain from the ‘chaff’ and other debris.
Just a little reminder of the fact that it never hurts to think outside the box (or the bin – haha) every now and again!
Thanks for sharing, Jeff!
8)
[tags]harvesting, harvester, castings, worms, vermicomposting, worm composting, vermiculture, winnowing machine, fanning mill[/tags]
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this appears to be an old grain seperator as my grandfather used
I have thought for years about using one and have also one
what size of screens do you use?? or can I buy screens from you that would fit my old Eaton grain seperator
Hey Mark – I’m not sure what size of screen Jeff uses. I’ll fire him an email to let him know about the comment.
Bentley
Hi Mark
Yes this is an old Grain cleaner!! It is a “NEW Chatham Mill” HAHA!!
Made in Chatham Ontario. Maybe NEW 80-90 years ago!! I was lucky enough to get the original screens with the Mill. The final screen on the bottom is 1/8″ screen.
The only thing with using something like this to harvest your worms is to let your beds dry out a little first, if you don’t let it dry a little you get a far bit of the vermicompost clumping,and the vermicompost doesn’t go through the screens very well.
You also need to slow the air flow down a lot, or else the fan blows your vermicompost out the front of the machine, Believe me!! it took a few days to get the mill setup, to make the castings as good as it does!!
Hope this helps a little..
Thanks Jeff ( The Friendly Worm Guy)
Hi Jeff I loved your video with the winnowing machine. I just started my little worm family today. I am keeping them in my kitchen I have them in rubbermaid roughneck 10 gal container with a container underneath to catch the water. I have been watching videos on how to set them up. I will continue to watch your web site for pointers. Thanks again for posting your video.
im from malaysia..where can i get all those things..im so interested since i am in the vermiculture industries. current we are still using convensional methods which consume a lot of time.
Hey Jeff,
You certainly have some very large worms! I just started my own worm farm about five months ago and I love it. It is very small, about 5,000 worms and growing. I was wondering if I could get some advice from you on your worms and business; from one worm farmer to the next :). Who and how did you start selling to in the begging? Did you have to become a certified producer or organic producer to sell your castings? What is your best advice to a new-be worm farmer such as myself.
Thank you for taking time out to chat and answer my questions. I hope your farm keeps growing and talk to you soon.
Sincerely,
Jessica
What would be your estimate on how many pounds of worms is in your bin and what is the medium you are vermicomposting with. Thanks!