Harvesting Worm Castings
Worm composting is not only a great way to reduce waste, but it also provides a valuable byproduct: worm castings. Worm casting make a terrific soil amendment, improving soil structure by providing tons of beneficial micro-organisms. The castings also increase water holding capacity of the soil, attract earthworms already present in the soil, and work to ward off pests and disease from nearby plants. Now that we now that this is REALLY great stuff, the question is how can I harvest the castings easily?
There are several ways to harvest casting (i.e. separate the worm poop from the worms and non-composted materials). A few suggestions include: sorting the worms and non-composted material by hand, the pile and light method, using a tray system or flow through reactor, a worm tumbler, or any number of variations. I will cover each method in a little more detail below. Choosing which method works best for you depends on the amount of time, effort, money, and size of worm bed you have.
Hand Sorting
For those of us with a small quantity of worms either hand sorting maybe the best bet as it is the cheapest (FREE). This method involves dumping out your worm bin into a pile, then sifting through the pile for worms and non-composted material. After emptying the contents of the bin I would recommend starting with some fresh bedding and then adding back worms and non-composted material as you sift through your pile.
Another similar approach is dumping out the contents of your bin and using a light to encourage the worms to burrow down into the pile. After you have given the worms a couple minutes to burrow down you can scoop off the top layer of material (which by that time should be clear of worms). Keep scooping until you reach the worms. Give them a couple minutes to borrow down away from the light again and repeat the process.
Both of those methods require a little patience to sort the worms from the compost, but the end result is worth it. Also, if you don’t do a perfect job separating the worms from the castings that’s OK (worms mixed in with the castings can goto work in the garden).
Now for a couple easier approaches: a multi-tray worm bin or flow through reactor.
Worm Bins
The idea behind the multi-tray worm bins is that the worms and the food waste start in the bottom tray, as the worms start to turn the bottom tray into compost more food can be added to the tray above it. Once the worms are done with the food on the bottom tray, they will migrate up through holes in the tray above. The worms will always follow the food. That will leave the bottom tray full of worm castings. This method makes it very easy to harvest the bounty. Having a few trays allows you to have room for more worms and doesn’t require you to harvest the system as often.
Flow Through Systems
A flow through reactor applies a similar methodology to harvesting casting. The idea goes like this: you start with a container and add food waste and worms, as the worms turn the waste into castings you add more food on top. Eventually the container fills up with worm castings and food waste and worms, with the bottom being all castings and the food waste and worms near the top. The castings are then harvested through a hole in the bottom of the container and everything in the container slides down a bit opening more room on top to continue the process of adding more food.
Tumblers
The last method that I will describe today is a worm tumbler. This is a common method used by large worm farmers. The tumbler is a large cylindrical apparatus made of a metal mesh like material. The worms and the compost are dumped into the cylinder which is constantly spinning. The castings drop through the holes in the mesh cylinder, while the worms travel the length of the cylinder and are collected on the other side. Don’t worry, while the worms may be a little dizzy they come out unharmed.
Those are a few of the most common ways to harvest your worms and worm castings. If you have a better way to do it I would love to hear about it and I’m sure all the other readers would too.
Tags: compost, havesting, vermicompost, Worm Castings
Worm Castings | admin March 2, 2010
1 Comment
Other Links to this Post
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI