Just Got A Worm Bin Going

I made this from a tote, basically just drilling a whole bunch of holes for drainage and air. I’ve got about 7 inches of paper and shredded cardboard, grass and clover clippings, a good part of aged leaf mold, and dirt from an old potted plant. Worms are wigglers from a local store. I’m looking forward to this project and wondering if anybody else is in the Vermi game.

Looks great man, I love seeing other people getting some bins going. Makes me feel a little less crazy. The few people I've told about them give me the stink eye like I fully lost my shit.

Not too long ago I set up two more new bins, so have three tote bins right now. My oldest bin has been running without a full harvest for probably two years now, super dense and processed. Just turn it every so often in between a feeding or something while grabbing what I need from it. I always say I'm going to get around to harvesting it and putting the worms in some fresh bedding, so maybe soon I'll get around to it and post up some pictures.

Hope it all gets going nice and smooth for you though, I feel like my ewc and lights I have right now make things almost fool proof. A 50/50ish mix of fresh ewc/soil always seemed to make things happier, even if there were no signs of issues in the first place.

Did you make it a two bin system where one is catching leachate and the other is propped up over it? Just checking to make sure you have some bottom drainage too in case of a little too much moisture from time to time.

I’m going to put a tray under the bin to catch anything so it’s just the one bin. I’ve got another tote that I’m going to get started on tomorrow.

Deadhead13 said:

I’m going to put a tray under the bin to catch anything so it’s just the one bin. I’ve got another tote that I’m going to get started on tomorrow.

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Nice man, sounds perfect. Hope you get some nice compost from this endeavor.

Welcome to the vermicompost game! I think you'll find quite a few people on here with their own worm beds. I just started my first worm bed a month or so ago and have a thread on here about it. Right now i'm just bidding my time with on hand bag compost and ewc's until mid october when i'll harvest my first ewc's
Good luck with your worms!

What do you plan on feeding once its up and running?

rkmcdon said:

What do you plan on feeding once its up and running?

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Yup, now is the time to consider planting some Comfrey.

*My* primary worm food is fresh/frozen comfrey leaves and used coffee grounds, but I keep several used coffee jugs with alfalfa, soy meal, kelp meal and chicken laying mash near the bins (7), for light top dressings.

Be very careful about over feeding! Worms don't 'eat' anything (no jaws, no teeth), but rather slurp up the bacterial slime from the decomposing organic material.

AFA frequency, earlier this year I had leg surgery and wasn't able to get to my bins for over 4 months. I expected dead worms! To my surprise there seemd to be no damage to the worm population or worms trying to escape! They got a quick meal of laying mash that was totally gone in 2 days, which is normal since it breaks down very quickly, especially the finest grind, which is mash, or, the next size up and lightly misted. *I* highly reccomend it and most commercial worm wranglers use it as a primary food source, since it is so cheap (chicken feed cheap), and breaks down so fast. In my bins, I've never seen it last longer than 3 days after misting it to start the decomposing.

IDK about the grass clippings uncomposted, but it just doesn't look right to me. It may work though, IDK. You'll find out one way or the other.

Wet

rkmcdon said:

What do you plan on feeding once its up and running?

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I’m putting in some coffee grounds and eggshells today and I’ll be adding fruit and veg scraps, more leaf mold, and putting in a little sand today for grit.

@Wetdog , yea, I’m wishing I hadn’t added the grass clippings now. I’m going to keep an eye that it doesn’t harm anything.

Careful adding too much grass clippings at once. The amount in your pic is fine, but if you use too much it can generate alot of heat very quickly and your worms will try to escape or get cooked.

Also, it is important to not just add kitchen scraps but to also add some soil amendments like @Wetdog suggested. They will get broken down thru a cold-process that preserves more of their beneficial compounds vs. traditional "soil cooking"

waterproof808 said:

Careful adding too much grass clippings at once. The amount in your pic is fine, but if you use too much it can generate alot of heat very quickly and your worms will try to escape or get cooked.

Also, it is important to not just add kitchen scraps but to also add some soil amendments like @Wetdog suggested. They will get broken down thru a cold-process that preserves more of their beneficial compounds vs. traditional "soil cooking"

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I just dug the other grass out and tossed it while adding some homemade compost.

My putting green is my worm bin. Unintended beneficial consequence not using Round UP.

I think the comfrey is a great idea. I've not used layer mash, but sounds like it works well.
I feed my bin rabbit poop that i rinse with water to rinse of any urine and let it sit for a week before using. I'll feed about 50% manure with 50% used amended soil, then sprinkle it with a mix i made of alfalfa meal, crustacean mean, oyster shell, azomite and bio-live. I also give them a good helping of ground malted barley.
I feed once a week. I wasn't sure how much to start with so i took the number of worms added, about 5 pounds, figured half their weight per day x 7 days is 17.5 pounds so i feed roughly that per week and gauge future feedings on how well they consume what i'm giving them. I don't actually know if thats the best way to start, but i have a big bin and wasn't sure how much to feed in the beginning. Seems to have worked so far!
Sounds like you've addressed your grass clippings already. I also feed old plants that ive put through a shredder but i let them sit a few weeks in a bin before I feed it to try to avoid heating up the bin

Wetdog said:

Yup, now is the time to consider planting some Comfrey.

*My* primary worm food is fresh/frozen comfrey leaves and used coffee grounds, but I keep several used coffee jugs with alfalfa, soy meal, kelp meal and chicken laying mash near the bins (7), for light top dressings.

Be very careful about over feeding! Worms don't 'eat' anything (no jaws, no teeth), but rather slurp up the bacterial slime from the decomposing organic material.

AFA frequency, earlier this year I had leg surgery and wasn't able to get to my bins for over 4 months. I expected dead worms! To my surprise there seemd to be no damage to the worm population or worms trying to escape! They got a quick meal of laying mash that was totally gone in 2 days, which is normal since it breaks down very quickly, especially the finest grind, which is mash, or, the next size up and lightly misted. *I* highly reccomend it and most commercial worm wranglers use it as a primary food source, since it is so cheap (chicken feed cheap), and breaks down so fast. In my bins, I've never seen it last longer than 3 days after misting it to start the decomposing.

IDK about the grass clippings uncomposted, but it just doesn't look right to me. It may work though, IDK. You'll find out one way or the other.

Wet

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Mind sharing your thoughts on spring tails and pill or sow bugs (rollie pollie where I come from,I forgotten technical name on them at the moment) in the bins?

Since i switched over to my own compost from the backyard for bedding, all yard litter, I have healthy populations of both now. I'm not bothered by them and welcome their addition to the decomposition process, just curious what your, and others, view on them is.

@Wetdog I hear comfrey is easy to grow. Would you mind sharing how you got your comfrey grow started?

rkmcdon said:

@Wetdog I hear comfrey is easy to grow. Would you mind sharing how you got your comfrey grow started?

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From root cuttings or crowns, and you want Bocking 14 Search local first, with the way the mail is now. I just received a small first class package that was shipped 7-26-20 from Anaheim,Ca to NW SC. I did not receive it until 8-17-20. It's normally a 3 day delivery and sometimes, just 2 days if Ca mails early in the day. But, over 3 weeks!? IDK if the cuttings would survive.... It's next to impossible to kill it, but cuttings are another story. If the seller could wrap it in damp spagnum or similar, no worries. If not, I'd search for other sellers. I'll try and find the name of my source, but it was 11 years ago and they changed their name.

Planting time is March or whenever the ground thaws. Growing in a 2gal container is Ok till early spring. Long term, not so Ok.

Pick a spot that's not super shady and will not be in the way of anything, because they will be there forever, Trust Me on this.

I had planted a rooted cutting that had overwintered in a 1gal sq pot near the comfrey bed, but not in it. A couple months later I saw that the spot was too shady and moved it. Thought I had all of it since the container mix had retained its shape and I was very careful digging it up. Several months later guess what popped up in the filled in hole? It had to have been a tiny piece of root, since it took so long to appear, they usually pop in a matter of days, but for such a small piece of root to have actually sprouted stunned me.

Be VERY SURE of where you plant them and space them 4' apart if you can, but at least 3'. They will get that wide.

If you have any questions, just ask.

Wet

Awesome. Thank you. I haven’t decided if I’m going to grow it yet. You brought up my main concern. Where ever I decide to plant it, the comfrey owns that piece of property for ever. The idea of ewc’s from free comfrey and free rabbit poop without paying for any other inputs is pretty tempting

Any thoughts on how many to plant and how long before I’m getting enough to feed my bin? Also, are you just cutting the leaves off? I don’t actually know what it is you Harvest from comfrey!

rkmcdon said:

Awesome. Thank you. I haven’t decided if I’m going to grow it yet. You brought up my main concern. Where ever I decide to plant it, the comfrey owns that piece of property for ever. The idea of ewc’s from free comfrey and free rabbit poop without paying for any other inputs is pretty tempting

Any thoughts on how many to plant and how long before I’m getting enough to feed my bin? Also, are you just cutting the leaves off? I don’t actually know what it is you Harvest from comfrey!

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First, the place where I got mine is still in business and in stock.
strictlymedicinalseeds.com

They have the Bocking 14 cultivar, which is a sterile variety that does NOT set seeds and does not spread. But they do warn against rototilling, or, disturbing the roots. Do NOT get 'true' comfrey, or, comfrey seed. This grows viable seed and will take over your yard, then start eyeballing the neighborhood.

They also use root crowns rather than just chunks of tap root. The root crown contains a piece of tap root along with the roots that grow above the tap root. Much faster to get established.

6 cuttings is plenty to get started. Planting is done as soon as the ground thaws, or March if it doesn't freeze, or, in the fall once temps go down. So, they will need to go into pots for a few months. Do NOT plant in summer heat! Once established, you can propagate as many as you wish.

What growing zone are you in? Makes a lot of difference in planting.

In a normal season, I will get 5 harvests and sometimes 6 from a dedicated comfrey bed of 8 plants. Good for all season and for winter feeding as well, if my wife lets me have the freezer space. Those 8 plants will supply 5 bins easily.

When I harvest, I 'clear cut' the entire plant just above the ground and trim the stems at the bottom of the leaf. There is no real stem to speak of, except for the flower stalk, but the stalk and leaf stems all get chopped and spread around the comfrey plants. They take wayyy too long for the worm bins. Plus, they are prickly.

Check out that site! They have tons of info/growing tips.

Wet

Thanks for the info. That puts me one step closer to a comfrey patch! I think i will end up doing it. It seems like a no brainer given my desire to use comfrey and the ease of growing it vs the price to buy it. I particularly like that harvest is just clear cutting.
I'm in growing zone 7b btw

rkmcdon said:

Thanks for the info. That puts me one step closer to a comfrey patch! I think i will end up doing it. It seems like a no brainer given my desire to use comfrey and the ease of growing it vs the price to buy it. I particularly like that harvest is just clear cutting.
I'm in growing zone 7b btw

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Cool Beans! I'm in 7A, so you can easily do a fall planting!

I would get in contact with strictly medicinal and check out shipping methods. They were holding off on shipping because of the heat, but are digging comfrey right now. They will resume shipping in Sept.

They have always used USPS, but, ATM, this seems kind of sketchy. I'm sure they are aware of this also and might do a private shipper like UPS or FedX.

But in any event, get your order in....Soonest!

Wet