Comments on: Winter Worm Windrow–03-08-10

By: Lee in Iowa

Lee in Iowa — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 22:06:29 +0000

If you’re just a regular gardener, or don’t have the muscle-power to haul in the manure et al for an outdoor winter worm operation, try this: Dump all your leaves and all the leaves you can beg from your neighbors into a long “windrow” in a sheltered place (so it doesn’t just blow away). My neighbors are happy to donate, as our city charges lots for leaf removal. I put my long mound of leaves on the edge of a concrete parking area, overlapping the dirt. And while my red worms are happily composting my kitchen scraps indoors, my leaves get full of super-fat nightcrawlers, who just seem to find and inhabit my leaf pile. I use the indoor VC for my seedlings and the partially broken-down, nightcrawler filled leaves for mulch (which is long gone by early July). Works well and not as hard on your back as hauling manure.

By: Bentley

Bentley — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:31:55 +0000

Good question, Mike
Hopefully I won’t have to deal with sorting through too much straw etc. The central core of the heap DOES contain a lot of material that is a bit more uniform, and I plan to also start adding a lot more aged manure in an effort to concentrate the worms somewhat. All the extra straw/hay will be an excellent material to keep on top of my vermicomposting trenches this year, so it certainly won’t go to waste.
8)

By: mike

mike — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 01:58:10 +0000

How do you plan to harvest worms come spring time with so much material mounded up? What are you going to do with all the unused material (which looks 2-3ft deep)? What do you think about adding green manure to heat up your winter windrow? I think you have a great site! Keep up the good work!