Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Worm bin update... and it's getting full! No surprise, because I've had this going since November 2nd, 2006! Upon first glance, all we see is the coir bedding...


....dig around a little, I see worms! Plus some little round thingys... ....indicated by the arrows. I'm guessing they are either worm eggs or maybe seeds/pits from something. I'm not going to disturb things too much to find out, because the moisture is fine and there are plenty of worms...so what the hey. I'll feed this group again, but soon it will be time to add a second bin on top and get the wormies to "migrate north" into it. Then I can use the awesome castings left behind to amend soil and feed plants.
So chow down and "recycle" for me, buddies!

(This took place in January, more updates to follow...)

10 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow, that looks like a wonderful bunch of castings! How do you keep it from freezing in the winter? Do you keep it inside? How do you keep your cats out of it? I've thought about trying a worm bin too, but I just can't seem to figure out all of this stuff.

KC MO Garden Guy said...

Ihave been wanting to do this for a couple of years now. There is always something else to do so I put it off. Looks like yours is working very well. How big is your container and how many worms did you start with?
Thanks for sharing!!

Aunt Debbi/kurts mom said...

Your set up looks great. My worms moved out of the worm bin because I let it get to dry. The next time the other compost pile is turned I will have to retrieve some of them and return them to the worm farm. Durn.

lisa said...

Cinj-I keep the bin in the house, and the cats like to sit on top of the lid, but otherwise stay out of it.

KC-The bin is a 14 gal. tote, and the post about the build is here. I don't put scraps in it all that often, which is why it took 2 years to fill. A larger household would absolutely accelerate the process. I started with "1 pound" of red wigglers...not sure exactly how many worms but it looked like a LOT! I bought them from Acme Worm Farm...I know, sounds very "Wile E. Coyote", eh? ;-)

Deb-Heh, I've experienced the "mass exodus" before as well...only on the kitchen floor! Seems to me that once you get the moisture stabalized, it all falls into place. So far that's been easy with this bin design. (Plus I made it myself! :)

Connie said...

Those "little round thingys" are most likely worm cocoons....care for them well, for they are the next generation! I have been composting with worms for many years...can never have enough of the rich castings for the garden.

lisa said...

Thanks Connie! I remember reading up on all that stuff when I started the bin, but my information retention has suffered lately! (Obviously! ;-)

Unknown said...

Oooh... thanks for the reminder! I need to get my worm bin project started for this fall/winter...

lisa said...

I think you'll really enjoy them, I hope you post about it!

Anonymous said...

Same here. I NEED to get a bin started, but just haven't yet.
What am I waiting on? Jeesh.
Everytime I buy a bag of worm castings I think how I could be getting home-made ones.

lisa said...

Get to it, missy! :) They really are easy, and you can certainly speed the process a tad by feeding them more often.