Cleaning my worm bin this weekend I learned a few things. Number one, proper worm bins do not smell–a fact I attempted to share with my husband as he walked by and warned, “Don’t track any of that stinky stuff through the house.”
Now see, if he were taking part in this project with me, he would know better. Worm castings done right, don’t stink. Ask my fab friend Angie who turned me on to worm bins (though admittedly, I think she’s a lot better at this stuff than I am). Course, if you want to talk “stinky” try fish emulsion. That stuff smells like low tide on hot dry summer day. Nasty.
As he stood there glaring, waiting for a response I threatened, “If you’re not nice to me, I’m going to blog about you.”
He shrugged. “Big deal. I live that blog.”
A smile tugged at me. True. But now he sounded like the kids. “Why do we have to be the gardeners? It’s your blog!”
“It’s our garden, children. Now run along and grab some more weeds, will you?”
As I return to the business of harvesting worm poop, I gather the bottom most bin and gaze in wonder at the gold–er, make that black–mine of a bounty they’ve produced.
Lovely, isn’t it? Next, I smear the fresh worm castings across the cardboard. By doing so, I’m separating the worms from the poop.
Don’t want to lose any of these beauties! So I painstakingly remove them one by one (or clump, if I’m lucky) to be sure they don’t suffer an arid death.
Next, I lift the baby and return him to the safety and comfort of his bin where I will add fresh food and continue my “layering process.” This is where the lower bins are the oldest, upper bins are the newest. Easier to add food this way, right? 🙂
Now as I’m doing this, I’m thinking to myself there’s got to be an easier way. Granted worm castings don’t stink, but plucking worms from their midst is a tedious task. I’m not about to lose a single one. Not only are these pumpkins valuable to me, I hate the loss of life any life.
It does inspire me to schedule that trip to my local worm farm. I’ve been wanting to go and I’m sure they can guide me in the best methods for salvaging the worm poop from my bin. And come to think of it, it sounds like a great field trip for the kids at school. Plants love worm poop and kids love worms! Is it a wonder why the students love their garden so?
Number two lesson? Make worm pee in the process! Not only does it provide the perfect method for cleaning your “worm removal” tool…
But it also make great plant food and insect repellent! (You’re all a tingle with excitement, aren’t you?) Oh, how I do love a multi-tasker!
Dry your harvested poop until crumbly. Here’s a gander at how they differ. And no, it’s not your imagination. The dried worm poop in this photo still has some “undigested” eggshells. What can I say? I’m an impatient sort and organic gardening is WAY exciting.
Then store in airtight bag for later use. Your plants will thank you.
I’ll bet some of you have some helpful tips for me. Do share!
You’ve got it down!
Thanks ~ it’s a work in progress!