It's the time of year when I separate the compost worms from their castings (poop) and put the little critters in new bedding. For the health and longevity of the worms, this process should happen more than once a year, but I don't seem to get around to it.The image above shows some baby worms that must have just hatched. This is the first time I've found so many baby worms; this group is a sample of the many I observed.
The other stuff in the image is castings (dark & moist-looking) and uncomposted kitchen scraps.
This periodic process of separating the worms from their poop is fairly tedious, especially because I believe that all of the worms should get a fair shot at life in a new, (briefly) poop-free home. Thus, I painstakingly fork gently through all of the castings, bunch by bunch, to make sure I don't consign any worms to freezing to death out on the porch where I store their castings until spring. This usually takes me a minimum of ten hours; last week I completed the task in two evenings, part of two Sunday afternoons, and one morning. Dedication is essential!
It should be obvious that it'd be difficult to be squeamish and be a worm composter at the same time . . .
Is this a better option as far as smell?
ReplyDeleteI didn't know they produced such good faertilizer in the castings
http://www.blogdivvy.com/growing-vegetables/compost-worms.htm
Is this a better option as far as smell?
ReplyDeleteI didn't know they produced such good faertilizer in the castings
http://www.blogdivvy.com/growing-vegetables/compost-worms.htm
Hi Brandon - When you write "better option", better than what?
ReplyDeleteGenerally, when I am composting organic stuff (kitchen food, leftovers, yard stuff, lawn clippings, etc) I don't encounter much unpleasant odor. If I do it's because something has gone wrong, either not enough oxygen or too much moisture (they're related!).
Their castings are great - I don't get a huge amount for all the work(annual sorting/remodeling) but since
I like doing it it's worth it for me. In many areas, even in a rural area like where I live, it's possible to purchase worm castings, or one can always get them online. So you don't necessarily need to keep worms yourself, but if you want to, it's kind of fun.
Marianna