01 The Farm

Comment by bpearcy10 on March 31, 2010 at 4:00pm

Thanks for sharing. Pretty cool.

Comment by Alpi Kdb on April 22, 2010 at 7:42am

Hi,

I liked you bins.

Would you please be able to explain the system inside the bins. What have you installed to get the worm poo from bottom of the bins.

Regards.

Comment by Peter Barnard on April 23, 2010 at 8:11am

Alpi
The wonderful thing about Continuous Flow bins is their absolute simplicity.
There are no clever gadgets inside the bin.
Take a garbage bin, fit some rods (wood or metal as you prefer) and you’re ready to go.
Most of the compost drops down by itself, and the flat trays just help to catch the stuff.
Andrew has very kindly put together a collection of photo’s and info on flow-through’s here.
http://vermicomposters.ning.com/xn/detail/2094123:Comment:44034

Comment by Peter Barnard on April 23, 2010 at 10:22am

Jane:
The trays get cleaned out twice a week, but I hardly, if ever, find any cocoons or babies in the trays.
I can only assume that the bedding is deep enough (18“) for them to hatch before they hit the bottom.
Even if there are still cocoons there, it's still waaay better than sifting through a whole Rubbermaid.
I do a quick scratch through every tray, and sometimes there are a dozen big fat worms it ..??
I just leave an inch of VC there to keep them happy.

The middle bin is also my favourite. It seems to hit a perfect balance between surface area, bedding depth,
and volume. The big green one is still only a month old.

Give it a try . . . you should be pleasantly surprised.
The stool works well . . . none of us are getting any younger :-/

Comment by Mark from Kansas on April 23, 2010 at 7:07pm

Hi everybody,
Here is a link on what I do with my finished VC.
Mark
http://www.redwormcomposting.com/worm-composting/harvesting-red-worms/

Comment by Andrew from California on July 18, 2010 at 11:28am

Peter, what kind of grating are you using for the smallest FT? How large are the gaps between the bars on the larger 2 bins? Is the middle one still your favorite or has the green monster caught up to it? Are you feeding "raw" scraps or pre-rotted? Any idea how many pounds of worms altogether and how many pounds of scraps they're processing each week?

Comment by Peter Barnard on July 19, 2010 at 12:53am

Andrew:
Here’s a pic of the 12 gal bin. These are ¼” aluminium rods held with nylon cable ties (I think you call them ‘zip ties’) The gaps between the rods are 2.5”
The gaps on the two bigger bins are 2.0”, but I would definitely make that 2.5” next time (maybe even 3.0”) You do not want the gaps to be too small!
12 Gal Rough Tote.jpg
The green wheely bin is a real joy now. It must have about 3-4 lbs of worms, and it really pumps out VC! At a guess, I would say there are altogether ± 6 lbs of worms (started out with 100)

Funny thing is, I find just as many worms and cocoons coming through the big 65 gal bin as I do from the two smaller ones. Doesn’t seem like the bedding depth is very critical.

I use around 4-5 gal of food per week (20-25 lbs). I get a sack full of free cabbage leaves every week. I mix these up with a good helping of cow manure and let this pre-rot for three weeks.
Kitchen scraps and dry leaves are added along the way. It’s pretty smelly at first, (lots of gas & bubbles) but after 3 weeks, you start to get back to the ‘forest floor’ smell again.
It’s a hassle, but it gives the least amount of problems. Fresh cabbage is very likely to lead to ‘protein poisoning’.

Wow. . . after reading all this, I think a Windrow would be a good option !!

Comment by Omar Arellano-Aguilar on July 19, 2010 at 9:47am

Wow!!! These are good ideas! I ´ll put in practice!! thanks

Comment by Andrew from California on July 19, 2010 at 1:21pm

Peter, I also made the gaps in my FT 2.5". The gaps look huge, but there's absolutely no problems with VC falling through once the bin is established.

I wonder if your pre-rot routine equalizes the effect of bedding depth in the various bins. Folks who do not pre-rot the food stock probably need the extra depth of the largest bin.

Those are impressive population growth and food consumption rates! I'm sure the manure mix helps. Your mixed worm population of EFs, PEs and EEs probably have something to do with your success. I look forward to your windrow project. The worms are going to take over your yard. ;-)

Comment by Paula Allen on December 27, 2010 at 3:28pm

Hi Petter it looks like Papa Bin Mama,  Bin and Baby Bin.  Im going to make one of these.  I have the 12 gallong system.  No converted.  Just holes drilled in the feeding bin to drip into the bottom bin. I still have not had any liquid draing below in either system.  It is moist. 

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