A little help with my worm bin

I’ve had it for 3 months or so now. I’ve been feeding a mix of dry nutes. Kelp,alfalfa etc. And some Veggies scraps. I’ve been adding cardboard ,shredded paper etc. Old root balls chopped up stems. I was going to grab a few hand fulls from the bottom. See pic. To add to my plants. When I got the farm it had a bunch of dry leaves so it was a little more fluffy.
So question. Should I turn the whole lot. The worms hang down at the bottom where there’s a lot more castings. I’d like to harvest some of them. So would it be ok to mix the whole tub after I harvest some out?? Perhaps a little more shredded paper or?

thanks.

Here’s a pic closer to the bottom in the corner. Worms like to hang here. This is just one tote. No holes in the bottom

myke said:

I’ve had it for 3 months or so now. I’ve been feeding a mix of dry nutes. Kelp,alfalfa etc. And some Veggies scraps. I’ve been adding cardboard ,shredded paper etc. Old root balls chopped up stems. I was going to grab a few hand fulls from the bottom. See pic. To add to my plants. When I got the farm it had a bunch of dry leaves so it was a little more fluffy.
So question. Should I turn the whole lot. The worms hang down at the bottom where there’s a lot more castings. I’d like to harvest some of them. So would it be ok to mix the whole tub after I harvest some out?? Perhaps a little more shredded paper or?

thanks.

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Yup, you can mix it. Paper, cardboard, and other high carbon stuff needs bacteria to break it down some before the worms can get their "teeth" around it. Mixing will speed up the process, especially with all the potentially excess nitrogen rich amendments you've got in there too.

Northwood said:

Yup, you can mix it. Paper, cardboard, and other high carbon stuff needs bacteria to break it down some before the worms can get their "teeth" around it. Mixing will speed up the process, especially with all the potentially excess nitrogen rich amendments you've got in there too.

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Thx,sorry worms but your home is getting a makeover lol.

myke said:

Thx,sorry worms but your home is getting a makeover lol.

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You could put some food down and it will attract them, scoop them up for transport. I mean, you did want to harvest some EWC right? Also, take it easy on the kelp, it is high in sodium and will cause issues.

There are also worm screens to harvest worms. If you have any on hand, try some bokashi in the bin or at least some oatmeal.

myke said:

Thx,sorry worms but your home is getting a makeover lol.

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If you are having trouble with low temps, you can add stuff to cause thermal compost. I usually look through the cabinet and find expired oatmeal, cornbread, or any other "meal". Cornbread is high in N, so mixing some sugar with corn and oat meal will get things cooking. Just don't make the entire bin a thermal compost, give them somewhere to run to if it gets too hot. I make grokashi with red wheat bran for the added manganese and other things.

Was wondering about adding bokashi to my bin, wasn't sure if that was a smart idea. Do you mix in with food? or just toss on top? I also have some activated LABS that could potentially be mixed in... I like the idea of promoting the breakdown of what your feeding em

Here is my worm bins, they are 18.5'' tall x 4' wide x 12 ft long. The math came to about 550 gallons each.



Greensand, azomite, basalt, oyster shell flour, and barley grain. I used a pale ale 7 row grain because it's supposed to have more enzymes. 2 row grain is cheaper and just as good.


Black soldier flies


Homemade Grokashi made with red wheat bran


This is a plant that I topdressed with Grokashi inside of an Earthbox(sub irrigated planter)

lakesidegrower said:

Was wondering about adding bokashi to my bin, wasn't sure if that was a smart idea. Do you mix in with food? or just toss on top? I also have some activated LABS that could potentially be mixed in... I like the idea of promoting the breakdown of what your feeding em

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If you have anerobic spots in the bottom of your bin, LABS will help. You don't have to mix it with food, but I did it to provide warmth during the snow. I always have a nice population explosion when I add 'kashi. However, the mice was eating my worms in the outdoor bin, that's why I started doing raised beds.

lakesidegrower said:

Was wondering about adding bokashi to my bin, wasn't sure if that was a smart idea. Do you mix in with food? or just toss on top? I also have some activated LABS that could potentially be mixed in... I like the idea of promoting the breakdown of what your feeding em

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I added 'kashi, corn meal, oat meal, and brown sugar(not too much) to help keep the worms warm during the snow. It worked very well and I will do it again in the future. It also helped break down the leaf bedding that I was using. This is mostly oak leaves here that have been ran through a chipper and aged for about 12 months, this was my worm bedding. This was pure leaf and no 'kashi yet, but aged for 12 months.



Here is the 'kashi mix that I made that I listed above. This will make it nice and fuzzy, the worms love it! For reference, the plastic pallets are 3ft x 3ft.


I used LOTS of cardboard for insulation and covered with a tarp.

People think that you cannot run a worm bin in the winter, but I also live in Oklahoma where it's basically a desert climate. However, we did have a nice snow storm this year... Also, I didn't mean to photo bomb someone else's thread. Sorry... I could keep going if you want. I have been doing this for a while and using soil tests to dial in my worm farm.

MustangStudFarm said:

There are also worm screens to harvest worms. If you have any on hand, try some bokashi in the bin or at least some oatmeal.

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What can I use as a worm screen?What size opening is best?

myke said:

What can I use as a worm screen?What size opening is best?

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Google says hardware cloth 1/4" hmm never herd of it.Thinking I could just drill a bunch 1/4 holes in a small bucket.

I would look in to IMO, LABS and FPJ's practices running organics. LABS is a great catalyst to break down organic matter. Cheers!

I have a dead simple Rubbermaid type worm bin setup ... one compartment ... no drainage like yours.

My worms get mostly kitchen scraps, fruit and veg, egg boxes, and an occasional couple of handfuls of horse manure or bunny poop.

Every 6 weeks I upend the entire bin into a big basin, and spend an hour sorting by hand, one hand full at a time.

Before I start with the separation process, I line the bottom of the now empty bin with a layer of egg cartons, or pizza boxes. That's to help soak up any gathering water spots since I don't have drainage.

My separation criteria:

If I can still identify it as the original food source ?
- back into the bin

Easy to spot and separate worms ?
- they go back into the bin as well

What I am left with is:
- 80-90% processed castings goodness
- 10% of the worms ... mostly the smallest

I will layer a top feed of 5cm into each of my organic living soil pots. Worms and all.

I'm aware that the composting isn't 100% done, but the worms and microbiology will keep breaking that stuff down. As they do, they enrich the topsoil, and all that goodness gets carried down every time I water.

A messy and stinky process ... but simple.
And for me ... effective.

myke said:

So would it be ok to mix the whole tub after I harvest some out??

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My whole bin is totally mixed every time I do this.

And I use a little cloth mulch skirt to keep that top layer fresh and moist and alive.