Vermicomposting, worm bin, composting with worms community and forums
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Andrew
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- Berkeley, CA
- United States
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- Discussions (50)
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Andrew's Groups
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Californian Vermicompo...
19 members
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Outdoor Vermicomposters
65 members
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Vermigardening
35 members
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Stackable Flow Through...
72 members
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BSF - Hermetia illucens
16 members
Andrew's Discussions
My New Flow Through Bin (With Pictures!)
I noticed this discussion & the subsequent formation of the Flow Through group just passed its 6th month anniversary. I wondered if we could get updates from people who started a FT this year. ...
Replied 1 day ago
Effects of marijuana on worms?
Totally irrelevant to worms, but I was wondering... 1. why would a pot head dump all his leaves into a worm bin? feds on his tail? trying to break the habit? 2. would PETA get on your case if they ...
Replied Nov 20
Sorting Worm Castings, Worms, and Undigested Material in an easy and fast method...Any Suggestions or Ideas?
Trommel in action basic trommel I'm curious how the worms fare after going through a trommel or sifter. Do they suffer any injuries (abrasions)? If time is not an issue, I think the method below ...
Tagged: Sorting, Casting, Worm
Replied Nov 19
Spent grain from a local micro- brewery
Janine, the range of vermicomposting goals in this group is very wide. Some of us just want to process a few pounds of food waste each week, while others of us are thinking of applying for grants a...
Replied Nov 15
Andrew's Page
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okay, so i can set one up in one of my 18 gal bins if i wanted to. thanks!!
Welcome to the group, Jeremy. Glad to hear the worms have settled down. In general, it's usually safer to underfeed rather than overfeed. If you have enough bedding (shredded newsprint, cardboard, leaves, etc.), the worms will not starve. Give the...
Nic, the newspaper is the temporary floor of the flow through. If you look at the first 2 photos in my earlier blog post you'll see why the paper is needed. You're right, everything would fall through bars if the paper was not there at the start.
...
Sometimes its nice to have something to read when you're down there checking for compost. Question is, what section should you put down there.
i'm tring to understand the flow-through bin. why do you put newspaper on top of the bars at the bottom??? with the bars at the bottom, won't everything just fall through when you put it in there??? how do you keep the worms out of the bottom???
I forgot to add: I recently added the 2nd section to my modular FT. I also pulled up the "chimneys" before the tops were covered. Of course that exposed a "shaft" that reached nearly to the bottom layer of newspaper. I could clearly see worms down...
I noticed this discussion & the subsequent formation of the Flow Through group just passed its 6th month anniversary. I wondered if we could get updates from people who started a FT this year. Last update here was 2 mos. ago. Any "5 star" tips on ...
Bentley just posted something that you might want to read. He cautions use of fresh manure in enclosed bins. Details are on pg. 14 of his pdf manual for the tongue-in-cheek "Bait-O-Matic":
Bait-O-Matic manual
Minor update: I've been increasing the amount of bread crumbs mixed in each feeding until the temps in the feeding layer is in the mid-60s. The worms seem happy, but I'm going to push it a bit more until temps are in the low-70s. I also added some...
My understanding was a flow through needed 18-24" of vertical depth in order to minimize the number of cocoons & babies in the lowest level of VC. Although it depends on the food stock, 2-3 mos. was the time frame to the first harvest. After that,...
Having the weight of the compost preventing the moving parts from working was a concern. That's why I'm thinking that it might be enough to have some "arms" inside that can swing back and forth to loosen things up. This could be as simple as swing...
Welcome to the group! Is that a sweet potato? Your fellow Ikea-bin owner asked a similar question about wandering worms:
"hanging" worms
Sounds good. If possible, ask the local supplier for some of the bedding/compost the worms were raised in. The local source I bought a pound from gave me a few gallons of compost along with the worms. That made it easier for the worms to transitio...
"...it looks like they are hand winching the whole bin back and forth on sliders."
They're winching the bar, not the bin:
"The breaker bar and its welded-on hooks are stainless steel, and the bar is chamfered, making it easier to pull. The delta ...
Profile Information
- When did you start composting with worms?
- January 1, 1999
- How were you introduced to vermicomposting?
- I forget. It was a long time ago. :-/
- What do your worms like to eat?
- melons, avocado...but really they eat most soft, squishy stuff
- What kinds of worms do you have?
- red worms
- What worm bins do you use?
- DIY flow through, styrofoam cooler, garden trench
- How many pounds of garbage do your worms recycle each week?
- ~5 lbs.
- My Vermicomposters.com Map Entry URL:
- http://vermicomposters.com/wormbin?id=1330
Andrew's Photos
Andrew's Videos
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Cup of worms
Added by Andrew
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Andrew's Blog
Flow Through Bin: week 7 update
Since the volume of compost in my flow through was so slow to increase, I decided to incorporate half the contents of my static (no vent or drain holes) styrofoam bin. This was about 3 gallons of material and worms. I also added more worms from the regular compost bin. I want to increase the population density to 1 lb. per ft2. Since the FT has 2.3 sq. ft of surface area, I need ~ 2.3 lbs. of worms.
Today I did a quick & dirty pile-method worm harvest from half of the FT to a depth of ~4".… Continue
Today I did a quick & dirty pile-method worm harvest from half of the FT to a depth of ~4".… Continue
Posted on November 21, 2009 at 11:49pm — 17 Comments
BSFL bin - 2 week update
It's only been 2 weeks, but so far neither excessive moisture or smell has been a problem. Since I regularly add coffee grounds, the predominant smell is coffee-ish. It doesn't smell like worm compost, but there's nothing close to offensive about the smell...so far. :-)
I'm on the 3rd version of my DIY BSFL bin. I've modified it to a bin-within-a-bin design. The smaller bin houses the feeding area. This 5 gal. bin always has condensation on the walls. The mature grubs easily crawl up the vertic… Continue
I'm on the 3rd version of my DIY BSFL bin. I've modified it to a bin-within-a-bin design. The smaller bin houses the feeding area. This 5 gal. bin always has condensation on the walls. The mature grubs easily crawl up the vertic… Continue
Posted on October 24, 2009 at 4:35pm — 10 Comments
BSFL experiment: The grubs have arrived!
My curiosity about BSFL was too great to wait until next year to seed my own local colony. So I cheated and bought a "BSF multi-stage starter kit" from Jerry at blacksoldierflyblog.com. The kit includes hundreds of juvenile & mature grubs along with a "hatchery" that contains a few clutches of eggs (hopefully another 2,000 juvenile grubs in a few weeks) and the baby grubs born in the 2 days it took to get to CA from GA.
Here's an unpacking video that shows the grubs & my mini-bin. Pleas… Continue
Here's an unpacking video that shows the grubs & my mini-bin. Pleas… Continue
Posted on October 12, 2009 at 11:30pm — 15 Comments
My life as a vermicomposter: a short history
About 10 yrs. ago (maybe longer), I bought a county-subsidized Wriggly Wranch Worm system (WWW) and stocked it with a pound of worms. Despite (I'm ashamed to say) mostly neglect, the worm herd survived through the years. Several months ago the WWW was knocked over by an animal (dog, raccoon or possum). I didn't notice this in time and the herd was no more.
My sister, who is involved with her kids' school food recycling efforts, asked me for my now empty worm bins. I figured she'd be a better st… Continue
My sister, who is involved with her kids' school food recycling efforts, asked me for my now empty worm bins. I figured she'd be a better st… Continue
Posted on October 6, 2009 at 9:00pm — 4 Comments
Comment Wall (25 comments)
- At 10:23am on November 29, 2009,
Beth & Dave said…
- Hi Andrew,
Yes, we have been thinking about putting in a solar lighting system like what you are talking about. That would fit in perfectly with our green business/home concept. We'd like to find something that has a magnet on the back so that we can attach it to the metal racks.
Beth
- At 5:31pm on November 28, 2009,
Nic said…
- i put duct tape on the lid and sides because the blue bin wasnt totally opaque and alot of light still shown through. i dont know if i will get fresh or aged horse manure. i will be calling one of my mom's friends to see if i can have some. i am actually hoping to find and take home some free redworms(:. since this is almost as cold as it gets in florida, to me it is cold!!!!
- At 2:34pm on November 28, 2009,
Beth & Dave said…
- Hi Andrew,
We have solar panels on our roof to produce electricity. Unfortunately the system is set up to send power to the grid and then we in turn receive power from the grid. In other words...if there is a black out, even during the day time, we are without power. This happened during the summer, right after we had been feeding and harvesting. This always causes unrest and the worms tend to wander. We grabbed all of our solar powered landscape lights and stuck them in the bins! It worked! I even wrote a blog post about it.
Beth
- At 11:19am on November 28, 2009,
Beth & Dave said…
- Hi Andrew,
Bit windy today?!?! Brrrr. I forgot to mention two things. 1. Yes we do keep a light on.....fluorescent of course...lol. 2. Bear is VERY cute.
Beth
- At 7:29pm on November 27, 2009,
Beth & Dave said…
- Hi Andrew,
You're lucky you didn't get caught in that rain.....it was cold!
I need to update that page.....the rabbit died......really! Before she died though, she was in a cage on the floor and there was not really much bedding with it. We put the droppings directly into the bins and didn't have a problem. We split it up though so there wasn't that much going into each bin. I think that you would be better off putting it into your other compost system.
We put the food that we collect directly into the bins. We don't do anything to prep it first. We normally feed on one end and then next time put the food into the other end. It seems to work well.
Beth
- At 5:20pm on November 27, 2009,
Beth & Dave said…
- Hi Andrew,
We have no experience at all with the flow through bin, so I can't comment on that or compare. When we first started out, we tried the using the bins similar to the rubbermaid bins and we ran into all sorts of problems. We had fruit flies and gnats. We also found that we could only keep them about halfway full, so we were wasting a lot of space. Since we switched to the bins that we are currently using, we haven't had any of those problems, especially after we put the burlap and dry shredded newspaper on top. These bins provide plenty of airflow and we keep them full....right up to the top. Our worms really like them too because they are pumping out the castings, almost faster than we can keep up with it. It seems that most folks that have problems are using the rubbermaid style bins....that is why we recommend using something else. Also, we feel that cardboard can contribute to the gnat problem because it provides the environment that the gnats like.
I noticed that we are neighbors! Are you staying dry today? I got caught out in the rain while I had the kids and dog out at the park. If you'd like to come by and visit, let me know. We can show you our setup.
What kind of dog is that?
Beth
- At 4:28pm on November 27, 2009,
Nic said…
- the pic- a little like it; they were thinner and sorta light yellow.
i actually had a bin aging about a week before i ended my experiment, so i just put them in there after i weighed them. i'm not sure about the soil. i keep on findins yellow substance, but everytime i found it, i threw it out.
i did find bentley's site about a week and a half ago, and i did order another 2 pounds of worms to be here on wednesday or so.
- At 7:36am on November 27, 2009,
Nic said…
- we bought top soil on base, and i dont know why they werent looking so hot. it was in water where they werent reacting to the light at all, but others were slow to react. the only thing i can think of is that i found 2 bugs that were yellow w/ antennas and alot of legs, but i dont know what the are or if they were the cause of it.
- At 7:30am on November 27, 2009,
Nic said…
- no i was acually following a plan off of a science fair website, it had only soil. i really only used it for the project idea. i used soil because i couldnt think of something else to put them in because paper was one of my variables for food. every 2 to 3 days i was going through the top of the bins to watch food amount, and i noticed one day, especially in the just water bin, that the worms weren't reacting to the light at all, and i knew that wasn't healthly. i was checking on a saterday morning, so i decided to end the experiment and sort them out. which meant sorting 5 18 gallon bins out by hand, and i finished last thursday. now i am going through the bins again to find babies and cocoons. last night i put wet paper on the top, some pumpkin and more paper to see if i can get some more out. all the babies i am finding ARE really reactive to the light, maybe just because they were born in there.
- At 11:25am on November 26, 2009,
Nic said…
- you got me curious about the BSFL thing. sounds cool, but since i'm only in 9th grade, and my mom can barely tolerate the worms, i highly doubt that i am going to have that any time soon!!!!(:
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