Only a dedicated gardener could get lured in with a title like that! But I know what it is and why. Lucky you! I've been offered plenty of horse manure but wouldn't know if it was aged enough and be hard to haul it. Worm castings, I don't know where I'd get, wouldn't spend to order those online, can't be helped, collateral damage.

Now you have done it. Maybe I will start a small worm farm. Maybe it takes a big worm farm to get enough. In which case it doesn't sound so tempting.

The worm situation around here seems to be improving though, but I hate to kill them when I dig. A few fat ones, and now I'm starting to see more skinny ones where they weren't before. Is that a good sign?

Why does that lady keep a worm farm? Does she make any money from the worms or what does she do with them?

You know, someone just casting around [no pun intended] for a gardening site to learn from might think we're all crazy. But...wow! I'm jealous, I try to move any earthworms to safety that I find on the sidewalk during a rain storm so they'll help my little plants.

Congrats on your impeding worm poop!

Enjoy your black gold, gardenweed! One friend keeps a worm bin in her basement, and she is kind to share some of her gold with me. We have a CSA in town that sells castings by the 20# and 40# bag. Love it!

Aliska, a worm bin does not have to be big, just google for ideas and dimensions, or check out the compost, soil, mulch forum. My friend made hers for less than $6. It's composting inside. It's a great thing for kids to learn about composting and recycling.

cheers,
Norabelle

Oh gardenweed,congratulations!Worm poop!!! The very best gold there is. Now, I am going to tell you a secret,I have a worm farm in my kitchen,oh yes I do.
I have had mine about 3 years now,no one knows it's even here,i just throw all my food scrapes into the worm bin,and am rewarded with gold,and liquid tea.
You should start one of your own.

Aliska, you can start one in your kitchen,for the cost of about $100.00 dollars,
www.happydranch.com
I have the Worm Factory 4 stacking vertical migration station.
There are others on the market, just google Vermicultur.
If you have children, this is a great learning lesson for them,composting inside.
And it is fun.
cAROL

LOL, I keep reading that as WARM poop, not too enticing.

I would love some worm castings and have been thinking about adding a worm bin in my kitchen like cAROL's. Think I will ask for that for my mother's day gift. Heck, I don't want to wait that long, maybe I'll just go ahead and get one.

I also have a worm bin in the kitchen thanks to cAROL posting pictures of hers last year on this forum. I love it! My 85 year old Mom shuddered when I told her about it the first time...now every time I go to her house she has a ziplock bag of goodies packed up for my "babies". I ordered my bin from ebay but you can also make one from plastic containers very inexpensively.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cheap and easy worm bin

First, I messed up my post by somehow deleting a sentence or two, will let it go.

norabelle, I will check that out, google is my friend - sometimes.

Carol, this is a hoot, but I think I will do it. It will drive everybody crazy which makes me love the idea all the more!!! I'm already composting tea bags in the kitchen, they get like fruit flies so I have them well covered now, so why not a stacked container there with some worms?

And it doesn't necessarily have to be in the kitchen but might fit it in the back hall. Or someplace . . .in the house that is fairly handy.

Maybe I even have something on hand that could be adapted. Carol are your photos still up?

Wow, another idea, a worm farm. Even my DH is excited about our weekend plan - building a worm farm! I'll have a poop and he can take some worms for fishing... everybody happy....

A while ago, I casually mentioned to DH how some people on the GW have worm bins under the kitchen sink cabinet. WELL he didn't shake his head, raise his arms in surrender and walk away!
He looked me straight in the eye, and said"NO!"
oh well. lol I can't complain, I get away with so much already.lol

:) Laura

auntyyara, you made me LOL. That would probably be my husband's line in the sand as well. Truth to tell I can't see having the worms in the house -- we seem to have plenty in the gardens.

Caryl

YEAH worm poop!

I also feed worms directly in the garden. Last year I added scraps to one area all winter and when I went to dig there were tons of baby worms! It was great!

I always add a bunch of coffee grounds each season and it seems to attract the worms too. I love those fellas they are natures fertlizers and tillers :)

Karen

Hi every one,
Love this thread,
Aliska,I don't think my pictures are still up, I really would not know how to even check.But I will take some pictures later tonight,and post them( hope I remember how to post pictures here)I am on my way to get my eyes checked,so I will start a new posting later.

Mechele, do you have picrure of yours?I am so happy you are still enjoying your babies.It is so much fun,isn't it.
Later guys,
cAROL

Be careful that they don't escape into the night...Tried vermicomposting? I need HELP

Might also want to read all about it below. I once had a vermicomposting WHACKO offer to send me some free worms. I guess all forums have their enablers, huh?

Sue...who also wants a worm farm

Here is a link that might be useful: Vermicomposting Forum

I'm not getting the worms--I'm getting what they "leave behind" that's so good for the garden soil. There are plenty of worms in the soil here. Whenever/wherever I dig I see worms and everything I plant seems to thrive. I toss a handful of dessicated leaves in the hole after I fill it with water, then plant. Seems to be a good technique so far.

adding the leaves is a good idea! I am still jealous you are getting worm poop! That stuff is great! My only supply of their poop is from the worms I feed in the ground.

Karen

It sure caught me off guard when this woman started telling me about how she saves paper towel and TP rolls all year so she can winter sow. I know my jaw dropped when I realized I was standing face to face with another winter sower! She looked surprised too and that's when she told me she has a worm farm and will bring me the worm poop. I can't be certain but I think I kept my composure long enough to say 'thank you!' She said she's only interested in growing "unusual" plants so I asked if she had hairy balls. She said they're on her list to get. (;-p)

Carol, I hate for you to go to all that bother, but thank you. If you get to it and can't get them to post, I will try to help. Or you might still have my email addie; if not can contact me thru GW, and I'll send mine back.

If you get stuck, I'll try to help you remember how to get them to show somewhere. After all the times I've embedded photos, I still miss one little detail and takes awhile to figure out what I did wrong this time lol.

I built my worm farms for $0
All you need are two nested 5-gallon buckets. Look at construction sites for the larger buckets and the slimmer type that fit inside ones are sold at Lowes\Home Depot for a couple bucks if you can't find any free and\or can't find a lid for the inner bucket.

I built 2 of these nearly 3 years ago and they work GREAT in my basement. Carefree pets! Their diet consists primarily of coffee grounds and banana peels. ;)

The worms are red wigglers. I got them for free at a free vermiculture class offered at the University of Kentucky. Participants got to take home about a quarter cup of worms. Now I have two colonies of hundreds in separate bins. :)

The bedding is shredded junk mail moistened and wrung-out. {{gwi:360496}}From 050509

AWESOME!! Worm poop is the best!!

bencjedi, why 2 buckets? Do you drill holes in the top one? How do you collect the ahem poop?

I have buckets that are cracked from leaving them outside in the winter (went scavenging very late one night). I don't throw the cracked ones away because they're still useful.

They have orange ones at HD, but they cost. Would kitty litter buckets work? They stack and are a little smaller.

Do you think they would eat tea bags and, if so, would I have to pull them apart and just dump the tea? I don't drink coffee.

I have tons of apples that will be part rotted in spring. Will they eat those?

Maybe a bait shop will sell me some worms. Nobody will even know they are under my sink. That would be so handy.

aliska12000, two buckets so the outside one can catch the dripping liquid from the inside bucket (which has small holes in it). You can use that worm leachate to fertilize too. :)

Poop or castings are collected once a year for me. I dump the container out onto a large piece of cardboard and spread it out. I put a desk lamp at one end of the pile, collecting masses of worms to toss into the emptied-out bucket. The worms hate the light and will migrate into darker areas of the compost pile. I usually do a collection, spread it out more, leave 10 minutes, come back scoop more compost and toss more worms. Eventually the pile goes down and down til all worms are separated from their poop. It takes a little time, but it isn't hard and I only have to do it once a year in the size containers I have setup. I do miss worms and have to reclaim them from the sorted compost collection container. There's usually little egg cocoons too.. which look like the ear off a gummy bear. lol
Ya gotta put those back with the worms too.

Yep, kitty litter buckets would work equally as fine as long as there's some space between the outer and inner buckets to catch the worm leachate drippings.

Not sure about the tea bag being eaten. I would guess no. I don't give mine the coffee filter.. just the grounds, so I would do the same with tea.

They LOVE apples! Yes, give them apples!

You could do them under your sink in kitty litter buckets I think. I have 3 cats and always save their litter buckets too and believe the stouty containers from Sams Club cat litter would fit under my sink. I use an old plastic paint can with lid to connect the banana peels, apple cores, coffee grounds, etc in my kitchen right now. Then every so often I bring it into the basement and dispurse the organics inside to my worms. I also shred more junk mail, moistened it and add it to the worm's containers. They need the bedding too to live in.

Good luck! It's easy to do this. I don't know why everyone isn't doing it. lol

I am having computer problems,but as soon as i am able, i will post some pictures of my bin.
If you are going to make your own bin, which i think is a great idea, i would put a spout in the bottom container, as i get a lot of worm tea,i would think if your worms sit in this, they would drown.
You can add every thing to your bin, tea bags,coffee,bread,all veggig scrapes,all fruit scrapes,every thing execpt meat,& oils,leaves,clippings from your house plants,garbage mail,it is a great way to compost inside.
cAROL

bencjedi and Carol, that was really interesting. And worms don't freak me out handling them, not my favorite thing to do, mind you. I don't think I'm handy enough to put in a drainage spout but may figure out how.

After your explanations, I was thinking once I've gotten the leached stuff dripped into the lower bucket, I could put something in there to make the top bucket higher, whatever would fit under there, maybe some old jars or something. Although the garbage disposal and drain pipes on the other side may not give enough clearance in which case I think I can use the closet in the back hall to keep them out of sight.

Carol, I'll keep watching for your photos. I'm not going to rush and do it right away, and I've been saving up my tea bags. They are starting to smell bad, suppose I could dump them now in the garden. I wouldn't give those to the worms, just fresh ones. And not too many at once. And not too many apples at once, have 2 large bins of them squishing down, should still be good for worm food unless they've got mold on them.

Doggone, that would be good for those two overripe bananas, too. I'll probably throw them in a bed. It really helps not fill up my garbage with stinky stuff. For years I've been cutting up melon rinds and putting them on somewhere right away. I do use my garbage disposal but have to be careful because it eventually feeds in a 2" pipe in the basement and put beans in there once. I think I had to call Roto Rooter that time, sometimes I can ream it out with a hose. So I learned only to run small stuff down and plenty of water and dump some stuff down the toilet instead.

I made my own worm bin about 15 years ago, but the double bucket method looks much easier. Do you drill holes in the lid? Haven't "farmed" in awhile. My daughter treated it like a dirty family secret. She was mortified whenever I told anyone about it. You've inspired me to begin again!

I think i made it sound like you should NOT, add leaves and other goodies, what i meant,was, you can add Every Thing, Execpt,meat and oils.
Aliska,I don't remember what zone you are in, but you can freeze all you waste,til you are ready to add it to your bin.Either outside,or in your freezer.
Sometimes i will throw things into the freezer if my bin is to full,then let it thaw over night and add it.

bev,thats funny, your daughter treating it as a dirty family secret,ha ha
I had a garden walk last year,and the girls went crazy when they found out i had WORMS!!!!!!!!, IN MY KITCHEN,ha ha
I like the bin, for the very reason, you can not even tell what it is.
I really could use another one.

I got a composter tumbler, for Christmas,been throwing my goodies in there as well, every thing is frozen solid, but not for long, spring IS coming!
cAROL

No holes needed in the lid bev2009. I've never had an oxygen problem with the worms, even without removing the lid for a couple weeks. It's about time for me to start harvesting the castings from both bins. Maybe I will take some photos along the way.

Worm poop it THE SH!T!! LOL
Here's an experiment my wife and I are currently doing.. some bush beans started in an plain soil mix and one containing worm castings at the same time in identical conditions. Notice the difference? {{gwi:219911}}From Loris_Bio_Experiment-2010

I like to grow a lot of bush beans to freeze. I will be sure to put a teaspoon of worm castings in every bean seed planting hole outside now.

Wow,I'm getting excited about a worm bin again,Love the bucket bin.I have tons of buckets I brought home from work when I worked at the bakery.
Now I need to find a source for the worms,I could wait for spring and get some from the yard,but I really would like to get a leg up on it.
I have one question,for anyone that knows, aren't the eggs in the castings?Could you use castings to "seed" a bin?
Many years ago I bought worms,but when they arrived I think it was to wet, it was a moldy mess.
Wish me luck,
Gwen

Goodness, I've been debating on this for over a year now... and darn it if you haven't talked me into it! I just got about 25 kitty litter bins from a freecycler I had planned on using several as tomato pots this season. I can sure spare a few for this!

Only one problem... I also got an adorable rabbit recently from a freecycler. (for the poop or so I tell myself..LOL) Anyway.. 'Sir Galahad Poopypants' is currently residing in my kitchen in a small cage til we can get outside to build him a nice fenced in area. Sir Poopypants sure does provide the poop! lol My kitchen is going to turn into a poop farm and my SO sure is not very thrilled with the whole idea... :P Ah well.. to love a gardener is to love the poop that comes along with it! :)

Hugs,
Wendy / sassyb.

bencjedi,

that's a big difference! I never saw a side by side using worm poop. Thanks for sharing.
:)Laura

So bencjedi - if I use some of the worm poop I'm getting when I plant out my tomatoes, it should spell an amazing year for my tomatoes, yes? All other things being equal of course like the weather, sufficient sun, regular watering, etc. I've got some of those terra cotta plant nannies you can stick in the soil and upend either a wine or soda bottle full of water. The plant gets a constant slow supply of water right in the soil.
This could be a totally cool gardening season, with or without Ma Nature's cooperation.
This forum ROCKS!!!

Carol's worm farm photos! That's nice!!! You will have to explain how the stack works, where you got it, etc.

{{gwi:360497}}

{{gwi:360498}}

{{gwi:360499}}

Here is a closer view so you can read, if your eyes are pretty good, what the label says.

{{gwi:360500}}

aliska12000 - Thanks so much for posting cAROL's pictures! That's an amazing set up. Guess I need to do some research of my own and see what might work for me. Maybe I'll bring the neighbors in on it and make it a joint effort. We all love fresh vegetables and I have a neighbor just three houses up the road who's a beekeeper so I'm sure he'd be interested in The Worm Factory.
So many projects...so little time.

Thank you Alice,didn't she do a great job,I am having trouble with photobucket,and really wanted to post these pictures for you guys, Alice did it for me,thank you again Alice.

Soooooooooo, whatch think guys? This is my little worm farm.
Each terr has worms in it at this point,cause I need to separate them, they are very crowded right now,and eating A LOT.
The bottom tray, is where all the "liquid",goes,if you can't drain that off, your bins will become to moist,and you will begin to have problems, and, they will drown. I drain mine every two weeks,just put a clear glass jar,under the spout,turn it on, and out comes the "tea",the castings I will gather just as soon as the weather gets a bit warmer.

This is what is said about worm castings:
Worm castings are not like normal fertilizers with high levels of nitrogen,phosphorus,and potassium.In fact,worm castings have extremely low % of those three compounds,( typically less than 3 % of any individual compound).
One of the advantages of castings is that the available nutrients are in a form that is 97% utilizable by your plants and the castings have a mucous coating which allows the nutrients to " time release".
You can't burn your trees,shrubs,plants or garden by using too much casting material.
In fact,worm castings have been compared to caviar:Use as much as you can afford.

Maybe more important than nutrients,worm castings contain humic acid.Humic acid is extremely advantageous to plants in that it stimulates growth and controls plant pathogens,harmful fungi,nematodes,and harmful bacteria in the soil.

All good stuff.
Hope you enjoy the pictures of the worm bin.

Thanks Alice.

cAROL

Awesome,
I love the little tap for the tea!

:)Laura

Glad I could help. It's really a nice setup, well worth the effort to see it. I don't want to start a worm farm until I'm done WS'ing and want to be sure I can feed them enough each day and be prepared to do everything right.

It looks in that one photo that the castings are what looks a little composty with a little paper left. Do you have to add fresh paper? I'm guessing you do that when you separate the worms from the castings. Emptying the liquid every 2 weeks is not bad at all, and I sure don't want to drown any and sometimes forget things.

I'm glad I read the label, among other things, says 1 pound of worms need 1/2 pound of food per day, should be balanced diet for them, try to give extras now and then, not overfeed, chop things as small as possible, and other good info. Empty tea out of teabags, no staples. Glad I read that.

I was making a pot of tea a day in one of those glass carafes 3 tea bags per day clipped w/clothespin by tabs. Then I figured out I could get more mileage out of the teabags by using them twice, it saves quite a bit. Tea is quite a bit lower in caffeine than coffee. Guess worms like to get high on caffeine lol.

I think it best not to go overboard and just get one going. You have made a believer out of me how effective it is.

It looks like if you are going to be away, hospitalized, etc., if it isn't winter, you can spread the worms in the garden? During the winter, I guess one would have to hire a worm watcher/wormsitter. Maybe some kind soul will take it home and do it, just hope they do it right. I like to think things through ahead of time.

I wish I could show you right now, all the worm eating up a banana peel,hundreds,on it.
I do add cardboard now and then, not to much paper though, Well, i do save my used paper towels,if they are not messy with meat or oil,and I add them to the bin,like I said, once you freeze something,then add it,it ihas alreadt started to go through the breaking down cycle,so the food goes pretty quick.My bin is way to heavy with worms right now,
There is also, no smell!!!!! Really..none.
cAROL

In house worm farms, have red wiggler worms, not the same as out side worms.Two different kinds of worms totally.
When you are ready, just do a google search,and you will find all the information you will need, to set up,and be sucessful.
You will not be sorry.
cAROL

Hadn't thought of hiring a worm sitter when on vacation. That would be a deal breaker for me.

cAROL, how do you handle this when you are gone a week or so?

I've read reviews on the Amazon.com, most, very good. A lot of usefull info, for ex. no chopping, no microwaving. Also, if you are going to be away, give shreaded paper. One reviewer didn't think you can keep it inside - smell and fruit flies, well and other flies. I was about to make the "home made" one. But this one seems to be safe (no escaping worms) so I'm seriously consider ordering it.

cAROL, pls keep us posted.

HA,HA ,HA
You will not have to hire a worm sitter,worms will even eat their own castings, if they have to.But you can just throw in some damp cardboard,old lettuce,paper,leaves,what ever you have on hand,that you want to get rid of, not to worry, they will be just fine.Just lift the lid, throw in your scraps,and go on vacation.
Yep, it is as easy as all that.
cAROL

As cAROL stated they can survive for weeks at a time with no special trearment. They can maintain themselves on cardboard and scrap paper until it is totally used up. Biggest problem's is overfeeding beds then they will start to smell bad.
Months worth of reading in the Vermocomposting forum couple lines above Winter Sown here on Garden Web. jim

Carol,
Thanks for the heads-up.I probably knew at some point it's not the same worms,but I have slept since then.LOL
Thinking of swiping my husbands brewing bucket,it has a spigot!LOL
Gwen

I am too cheap to buy one, but will definitely try bencjedi's idea since I already have 40 - 50 5-gallon buckets. :-)
I have always wanted a worm farm, but didn't want to spend that much money for one. lol

bencjedi, I got 7 5 gal buckets from Jewel bakery today. I wondered if you have ever tried setting a new bucket in the old filled one to have the worms crawl up to the new one? Would it work just like the rubbermaid type that people use?

Curious minds want to know,
cAROL

gardenweed_z6a: Yeah tomato plants love worm castings! I used them last year. I had no trouble with the blight I heard so much about. Of course I raise my own seedlings.. they are mighty with the worm casts! :)

Nested 5 gallon buckets are super easy to use as worm bins. I forgot to put the lid on for a couple days on them and no worms tried to escape. They don't like light, so they dig down. No worries on that!

I have not tried setting the buckets to meet so the worms crawl up, but that's a great idea if we can figure out a way to allow drainage and contact to the bucket above. Maybe a tall dual open-sided cake pan to create an inner worm compound and allow air space around the side of the bucket for so the center of the bucket will be more like a core of worm composts and the worms work their way up to the top into the top bucket. Maybe a 3 bucket setup is what we need so the bottom-most bucket is the be-all-end-all to collect the drippings. Now I am really interested in trying this. It's a bit of a chore to separate the worms from the casts, so if we can figure out how to do this same thing "on the cheap" (it's already cheap if you get free 5 gallon buckets) this will be even better.

I recently emptied one of my bucket bins. Here's some photos: {{gwi:360502}}From 022810

One bucket after 1 year of constant feeding of primarily banana peels yielded 14 cups of casts! I have not harvested from the other bucket bin, but it is easily another 14 cups of castings! {{gwi:360503}}From 022810