Blog.GoGreen.VC(vermi-culture) Happy Holidays Maui Happy Thanksgiving Fall Color: First Frost Happy Halloween! Ian’s worm boxes Columbus Day S.E.E.D.S Garden Writers Association Basic Bin Management The Worm Factory Douglas Trade Show Worm Factory Simple Set-Up 9/11 - In Memory Western Washington Fair Labor Day Bacteria are essential to life Here's why I use the stacking Worm factory™ Oregon State Fair Evergreen State Fair California State Fair Bountiful Blueberries New Worm Factory Design Worm Sorting Secret factory in my kitchen New Box for Worm Factory Muckleshoot Powwow in Auburn, WA Coast Salish Day in Bellingham, WA Chocolate meringue cookie recipe Key lime pie recipe 4th of July Star spangled banner Father's day cookies Carnivorous Plants My new lawn mower Cucumber plant photo Worm Sorting (8/23/2009) Posted by: Marilyn Rhoads Every month the ‘black gold’ is ready. The Worm Factory™ is a stacking system. Enhancing the worms’ natural behavior to move upward, my work is all fun. Left behind in the process in the bottom tray (tray one, start) is the renewable resource, worm compost. Sometimes you will also hear it called castings. Compost is the process and casting is most likely six months old. I choose one month compost. It is mostly finished. At one month, no e-coli or salmonella, kid friendly for the little helpers. At one month there will likely be plenty of worms, they could stay longer and this is why I will them sort. The casting (six month) is richest of all, but you may also be putting quite a lot of worm eggs out to the garden. Not a worry, unless you are still increasing your worm numbers for the bin workers. Either way, but remember, the casting group hatching outside will not have a food source, unless you are providing it and temperature is optimal. Always some will escape for the adventure. The sorting has already started. I move the bottom tray to the top, having removed the lid and put the tray on top of the whole stack. Now the rotation of the trays is done. If you peek thru you will see some worms. Using available light or in winter, we sometimes use a clamp on light overnight. I go to bed and the worms sort everything out for themselves. Later, as I am ready, I start putting some of the compost in a plastic scoop and put back extra worms into the tray underneath. If you can imagine, I place the tray slightly kitty corner and the worms drop down and move to whatever layer they want to work in. As I am hurrying the process some, I might find globs of paper and worms, no worry, back they go to the bin. Notice eggshells in the compost. I could have crushed the shells more, worms like it for the gizzard. Two no three ways to leave the shells alone: when stacking the shells, later there will be little nests of worms in the shells when peeled away. grinding, shells earlier is another chore the best one is, in my yard I can find where I last worked I use coir, the good neutral lowest salt kind, and there is a tub nearby with the hydrated coir. Not necessary to be wet. I put the finished compost into the coir and stir around. The coir soaks up moisture and holds the nutrients. Ready for the garden, now or later. I am writing this in summer, but in winter, I might let the compost go longer and bag it or leave in the tub with a lid. The compost could dry into hard chunks, not very useful. All in all easy and low maintenance and the worms are happy and I am highly satisfied.