Worm ranching / vermiculture

[Anonymous Poster]

I just ran into a couple of threads about lazy gardening
and automated composting, so it occurred to me that
vermiculture might be of some interest to some.

A few months ago I got a "worm bin", essentially
a 3' diameter by 3' high cylinder, the top portion
of which is full of worms, food for their worms, and
worm castings (worm turds). The bottom
portion of the cylinder is used to collect worm
castings. I also got 20 pounds of worms of the
common "red wiggler" variety.

Vermiculture, particularly "continuous feed" systems,
are very efficient, easy to maintain, and produce
excellent compost. Normal compost piles suffer from
nutrient runoff, and you have to turn them. Worm
castings are so rich you can use them much like a
fertilizer. Worms effect composting much faster than
microorganisms alone, I don't remember the ratio but
it is _very_ quick -- for instance if I throw in a
melon rind in the morning it will be a teaming mass
of worms in the afternoon.

The bin is very easy to use. You add a layer of
nitrogen-rich (green) material, followed by a layer
of carbon-based (brown) material of twice as thick.
To make room for more layers, you turn a crank on the
side of the bin which essentially slides some agitators
along the top of the grate. This grate separates the
worm area at the top of the cylinder from the casting
collection area at the bottom of the cylinder.

During my first month of using the system, I collected
maybe two 30-gallon trash cans full of castings, which
by the way are nearly odorless -- much like soil
really. I should produce much more than that as
my worm population increases.

I run my castings through a 1/4" filter to get out
corn cobs, avocado pits, and other large pieces,
which I simply put back into the top of the bin for
another pass.

The bin is nearly trouble-free. The hardest part is
keeping the "bedding", or carbon materials handy. I
shredded all my leaves this fall so that's provided
a lot of bedding. I also shred all my non-glossy
waste paper, so it cuts down on my garbage quite a bit.
You may have to worry about the temperature
around your bin (I don't, as mine is in my garage).
The worm bin should not be too hot or too cold. I
don't remember the range, but it's fairly common-
sensical. The worms produce their own heat too,
which mitigates cold weather problems.

The worm bin is odorless. Under optimum conditions
your worms will eat material as soon as micro-
organisms soften it up. Also, the layer of bedding
on top of the nitrogen layer filters out odors. I
haven't had any sort of fly, vermin, or odor problems.
My bin is in my garage, which is handy because I can
dump leftovers from dinner without going out of my way.

You can feed meat and dairy waste into the bin if you
know what you are doing. I don't do this. On the other
hand it is good for herbivorous animal manure, which
was the original reason I got it.

So, I am very happy with by bin. I've tried composting
before but never stuck with it. The worm bin is so
easy that I can see myself using it happily for a long
time. My only real problem is that I'm producing more
castings than I really know what to do with. I'll have
to start giving it away to friends or sprinkling it
on the lawn soon.

Please feel free to ask if you have any questions.

-Don

 

[hoghead]

Don
I too have been thinking of worms. I have done some research on the subject, and have come up with some interesting info. I too first considered red worms, but being from the midwest, was thinking of a worm that would be good fish bait. I think that the red wiggler is probably the easiest to raise but I don't know if it is the best bait. Is the bin you bought called a "worm wigwam"? That is what I was thinking about purchasing.I will do some more research on it and hopefully get a business started soon.

 

[GrantMO]

Don,
Neat idea! Can you use horse manure and wood shavings for the worms? Does is have to be at a certain temperature? Where did you get the bin? Thanks.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I use red wigglers. I don't know if they make good
fish bait or not.

It is indeed the worm wigwam.

I think the owner of that company does some fishing.
Maybe that's how he got involved in worms. Some
folks go into business selling the worms themselves.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Horse manure is just fine. Wood shavings make
especially good bedding, according to the literature
that came with my bin. They mat less than paper.
However, I find that paper and cardboard that I pass
through my chipper works great, much better than paper
from an electric shredder.

The temperature range is fairly wide, with the worms
working most efficiently at the middle range. The
inside of the bin should not get over 90 degrees,
which can easily happen if you overfeed and get
anaerobic activity, or maybe in a hot climate too.
I don't remember the low end of the temp range.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I forgot: the worm bin is from www.wormwigwam.com. I
got the standard cylindrical model, but they carry
sizes for all applications.

I didn't mention the vendor because I didn't want to
sound like I was shilling for them, but from my
research the wigwam seems like only really usable
product on the market, at least for me. The other
models require that you use a system of small bins,
and depend on the worms migrating to follow the food
in order to separate them from the castings. This
sounds like a pain to me.

 

[MossRoad]

Red wigglers are the cadillac of worms(from WKRP) and are great bait for panfish.

 

[MarkV]

Very interesting. I am always amazed at the ideas that come up here on TBN.

The web site did not list a price, if you don't mind, about how much did it cost? Also, how much does a worm cost?/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Thanks for the information Don.

MarkV

 

[Anonymous Poster]

The wigwam is around $450 if I remember right. Worms
are sold by the pound, and there are 10,000 worms per
pound. I started with 20 or 25 pounds of worms, and
they cost me about $150. I don't know how much the
smaller, box shaped worm bin from that same company
costs. It is also a continuous feed unit, though, so
it should work just fine.

I would also get the compost thermometer, which is
like an enormous meat thermometer, and it's useful
for determining whether your worms are overfed or not.
Very useful when you are getting started, though after
you get a feel for it this is not so important. This
item is $16 from the wigwam compnany.

The guy who sells the wigwam told me that almost
everybody overfeeds them at first, and I did exactly
that anyway. No harm though, I've got more worms than
ever now.

come to think of it, be forwarned that the wigwam is
HEAVY once it is full, so think carefully where you
want to place it, and put a sheet of plastic down under
it if you put in on concrete. I overwatered mine a
couple of times and made stains in my garage. I can
slide my wigwam with my truck winch, but not too
gracefully.

 

[MarkV]

Thanks Don, very interesting system. You may have solved a problem I have. My father-in-law loves his garden and is a hard guy to find a gift for.

MarkV