Let's see your worm bins!

[badflash]

If you have some, give us some pics. If you don't they are easy to make. I have 3 in my basement in an out of the way corner. One I bought, the other two I made. They are easy to make.

Here is what I did. I got some bins from Walmart for cheap. Be sure to get ones with very tight fitting lids, or work out a way to make them fit tight with clamps or something. The worms will escape if you don't and your housemates will curse you when they step on a bunch of gooey worms in their bare feet!

In the bottom bin I put some stand-offs to allow for a place for the worm tea to collect, and to allow air to get into the worm bin. I used left over TREX runners from a deck project:
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c70/badflash/stuff/P1170012.jpg

I have a 2" hole saw and I punch one hole in the lid and a bunch of holes in the bottom of the 2nd tub. I line it with the plastic mesh cloth I get from the craft store they use to hook rugs with:
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c70/badflash/stuff/PA110017.jpg

I glue this in place:
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c70/badflash/stuff/P1170010.jpg

Do the same with the bottom of the worm bin.

Now take a bunch of black & white newspaper, shred it, and soak it in water. Let the excess drip off and fill the bottom of the tub about 3" deep with it. This should be fluffed up. I cover this with a mixture of compost, and coco coir. Wet this down well and add worms.

This is a peek inside my worm bin:
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c70/badflash/stuff/P1170011.jpg

I feed them a mixture of spent grain, coffee grounds, and non-meat table scraps and egg shells. The scraps and shells are run through a food processor first.

Add food as they eat it. Keep the dirt moist, but not wet. Fluff up the dirt before you add more food.

Here is the bin closed up:
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c70/badflash/stuff/P1170008.jpg

Mine never smells and doesn't get flies. Mites show up now and then, but they are easy to trap will mellon rind and the fry snap them up greedily.

[JeffW]

Nice worm condo..this is what I need to do I have not made my bin and it needs to get done. Thanks for the tip I think that screen is just the ticket.

[JeffW]

Your using 2 tubs then 1 is in the other?

I understand most of how you make them but couple of questions.

1. you have a bunch of holes in the bottom of the 2nd tub ok so second tub is the top
tub with the worms in it? And what does that screen do just keeps worms from falling
through all the holes?

2. how do you get the tea out?

I want to be able to have it like that fella had his where he turns a valve and out drains some
tea. I suppose I can make a bulkhead fitting and silicone a valve in.

[badflash]

Yes, the bottom bin is a normal bin. The stand-offs allow air circulation and a way for the water to drain. I don't use a spigon. I just lift out the worm bin and poor out the worm tea.

The screen keeps most of the worms out, but little ones go don't. When I dump the tea I put them back in the bin.

If you want a spigot you can buy one from http://www.USPLASTICS.COM and put your bins up on concrete blocks.

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/varian ... 5Fid=16490 (http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/variant.asp?catalog%5Fname=USPlastic&category%5Fname=41&product%5Fid=16274&variant%5Fid=16490)

[wolfracer]

Thanks for the pics and the narrative, that was pretty easy to understand. Seems like I need to stock up on that plastic mesh. You all are using it for everything from Bio filters ro worm bins. By the way what kind if glue are you using? Again thanks for the info.

[badflash]

I'm using hot glue, but aquarium sealand works too, it just takes longer.

I lay the plastic in place, then work the hot glue through it to make a secure connection.

[JeffW]

wolfracer I found that screen at a craft store called "Michael's" it is really cheap.

http://www.michaels.com/art/online/home

[badflash]

I get mine from walmart.

[Green Builder]

Who knew that Walmart was the aquaponics superstore!

[badflash]

They actually have most everything, or can order it. Walmart on line has a feature where you can buy it there and pick up at your local store. I got my fish food bins (dog food actually) that way.

[badflash]

It was time to thin the herd:
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c70/badflash/stuff/P6020005.jpg
The worm bins runneth over and the garden needs tea and castings!

My big score this month is Starbucks. Guess what they leave out back every night? Hundreds of pounds of coffee grounds! Man, the worms love them! It is looking like a mixture of newspaper, dirt and coffee grounds is all that you need. Of course the table scraps go in too, but for pure tonnage, Starbucks!

[JeffW]

Hey folks been busy and all that but not idle. Here is some pics of bins I am selling and a worm harvester I built last summer made from recycled parts, it runs off single cordless screw driver battery or a small lawn mower battery. Main thing is it works and I can make money harvesting worms and selling castings. I set up a POS system at a local store and sell bins there as well. Plus they sell my garden veggies like carrots and potatoes. I still have carrots in the ground and they are "sweet" tasting. They are covered with leaves so frost does not get to them and all I do is dig them up and eat them. It's hard times here so food is as valuable as gas. And I am not kidding it's REAL tuff here right now.

Peace out and pray for Haiti!

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[JeffW]

forgot to send pics of the bins..these are 5 gallon but I sell 10 also. These are educational as well as functional because a side cover pops off and you can peek at them. Kids love it so do the classes so teachers want them as well. This store is called wildoatsnaturalfoods..and no there are no worms in the bins I sell them with no worms (empty) at the store OR they can pre pay 50% and I sell them a pre-established bin so they can simply take it home.

JEFF[attachment=0:13v8dpp4]IMG_0024.jpg[/attachment:13v8dpp4][attachment=1:13v8dpp4]IMG_0022.jpg[/attachment:13v8dpp4][attachment=2:13v8dpp4]IMG_0020.jpg[/attachment:13v8dpp4]

[badflash]

Why a door in the side?

[JeffW]

its Plexiglas window, educational bins you can watch the worms

[JCO]

Hey JeffW....welcome back to the "SHOW" :D It's great to hear from you again. The pics are tremendous...keep em coming and don't forget to come back real soon :mrgreen:

[wolfracer]

Looks like you have been busy ! Welcome back.

[JeffW]

at 12:10 PM the vet came and put our Maggie to sleep, she was a german shepard and one of those that are full of loyal love. We just buried her next to Lilac tree which is by garden. IF we can make it through these days I swear we can live through it all. Yes we have been busy and I know that being busy is a good way to say away from self sorrow so I shall continue being busy.

The red worms above are 250 of about 300,000 we have now. I counted them and weighed them on a digital scale. We harvested the first culture from a farm last summer and since then they have multiplied and grown in size.

They love corn smash/fermented corn best..but they love anything toxic and smelly. Rotten food mixed with horse crap is a favorite. For bins I do not recommend the horse crap and rotten food though.

[badflash]

Jeff, sorry about your dog. 3 years ago we had to put down our dog of 15 years. It was the hardest thing I've ever done. I still choke up thinking about it. They really get to be part of you. We now have a 2 year old border collie hound mix. We love her too. Life goes on.

[JeffW]

Amen is does go on and thank you very much..I never had kids so these are my kids.

I wanted to say, I put her grave by lilac and garden and reason was that I want her DNA to become a part of the lilac and I see some roots in the grave so I Know that after the worms and compost kick in that Maggie will return to the Earth and the Lilac will have flowers this spring for Lyn and I to smell and celebrate with. Sounds heavy and it is but it is also real life and I like living in reality. To me this is what is so cool about quaponics, hydroponics and worms and on and on, that there is always a slight mystery to it all because it is life after all.

[JCO]

Just as long as you don't shave your head, start wearing a yellow sheet and dancing around in airports I'll go along with you. I've heard the calling too many times this year myself.. :lol: :mrgreen:

[JeffW]

it would be a green though :mrgreen:

[JeffW]

First is 55 gallon drum of castings from over winter harvest. next is BINS I was selling that had removable side cover so U can peek at em (like kids). Last is worms..red wigglers or tiger worms that I am training.. :mrgreen:
[attachment=2:slc24j0d]IMG_0008.jpg[/attachment:slc24j0d][attachment=1:slc24j0d]Picture 057.jpg[/attachment:slc24j0d][attachment=0:slc24j0d]IMG_0015.jpg[/attachment:slc24j0d]

[urbanfarmer]

I have a few bins. I found drilling 3/8" holes is small enough to keep the worms from even trying to escape, but it provides enough air. I just drill a bunch of those in some wally world bins, and I'm good to go. I drill a few on the bottom for drainage, but man I really have had minimal leachate (or as you called it worm tea) run off from the bin. From what I have read, a well balanced worm bin should not have that much runoff.

I will post pics next time I have a chance to snap a few, but rest assured they're quite ordinary.

[JeffW]

urbanfarmer yep but that was before now I am educated, we now better now so leach is no longer allowed coming out of the bins. If it is we find out what we need to do to change that and fact is I am producing bigger worms now and higher numbers because the bins (big or small) are being loaded with a balance of matter that allows for moisture (so worms can breath) yet not too much to cause "anaerobic" states. Matter a fact I will not use leach it is tossed on to the lawn/fence row. However do make "worm tea" from castings but it is made the same way I make compost tea.

We only make "aerated tea" with powerful blowers running them 48 hours. I use a 400X microscope to check the tea. Yes things are better and I learned by digging in and reading/testing and many many hours of intense research. Also I "question" facts and statements and back check the web (everyone is an expert see?). I am not so easy to say YES or NO anymore my views can change IF I see that I am wrong or I know better because people tell you things on web sites even universities yet I see worms laying cocoons below the frozen leaves at +20/F??? Well now that was a major surprise! Yes my belief is to be flexible or "research it your self" meaning don't take my word for it ;)

Going on year 4 now my knowledge of fungal tea bacteria tea and worm castings is at a higher level. No longer do I have to guess at it.

Can;t wait to see pics, I have about 3 million worms now and a 4x 10 hoop shaped worm harvesting bin for winter. It is getting cold here so I needed to take all my indoor and outdoor bins and consolidate them. We have a flow through bin now that harvest castings at bottom and castings come out but worms stay in, we only feed them NON GMO food meaning we never give the worms any "ag type crop food" with gentical evil or foods that were created by injecting hormones or anti biotics. So all our worm castings are 100% pure healthy and amazing in quallity. We test on farms here side by side against other GMO soy beans and the results are so out of this world! We get excited knowing we are on the right path.

Jeff

[JCO]

Jeff, I think it's high time you wrote a book complete with graphics including offering your worm harvester for sale. "NOW IS THE TIME FOR ALL GOOD MEN...ETC." Don't be such a stranger. There is a topic section for your worms. Load it up. :mrgreen:

[stucco]

+1 :mrgreen:

[badflash]

If you want the worms to breed you need to drench the bed and get the tea. Wet is when they breed. 3/8" is pretty big. My worms go through 1/8" squares, but it make it easy to harvest them that end up in the bottom.


I found drilling 3/8" holes is small enough to keep the worms from even trying to escape, but it provides enough air. I just drill a bunch of those in some wally world bins, and I'm good to go. I drill a few on the bottom for drainage, but man I really have had minimal leachate (or as you called it worm tea) run off from the bin. From what I have read, a well balanced worm bin should not have that much runoff.

I will post pics next time I have a chance to snap a few, but rest assured they're quite ordinary.

[JeffW]

I have about 6-7 bins ALL different, the one that produced the biggest worms plus many breeders was a 50 gallon metal lawn roller (old and worn out) so I mounted it in the ground outside and cut a door in it. This was then filled half full with organic food waste from a local family that juices. I get 15 gallons of the stuff each week given to me on volunteer basis. These people are richer than I but WANT me to teach them and keep up the drive to teach the public about soil qualities and how we are killing people by producing LOW qaulity foods and pumping antibiotics and hormones into the meat. I pick my battles and this is one of them I will DIE for to win...and I am dead serious :mrgreen:

there are 3 to 5K worms in the world and not all worms eat or live the same way, it depends and where you get them from matters too, domestic? Imported? red worms? Or are they from some other country? Our are from 4 miles down the road off a free range farm with cattle and chickens that are feed range and eat natural foods. So I am sure these tiger worms react as they would down the road see? So I remember that when I propagate them. Most of my reading comes from OLD books not facebook :lol: Worms need moisture to breath through the skin but they do not need it so wet it causes anaerobic states. The auto harvest flow through bin in my shop has millions of worms and no smell, no water drips out the bottom of the metal screen on bottom and almost zero fruit flies. Yet you pry back top 1/2 inch and WOW look at them go! :lol:

Got a call from a large "bulb and blossom" club to speak NOV 9 (get paid too) and I taught 18 people in a special class on worm bins last winter. People are hungry for the facts and the "truth" what is going into the foods and soil. Well thank God I found a farmer near by and we are now pushing TEA and CASTINGS as the sources plus modified tractor euipment to disperese tea as we pass by the crop with low cut chisel plow (he is master at building things). Funny we are not always same page on politics but when it comes to working together on some fresh ideas and goals we can NOT be taken apart and I love this guy's attitude. See we can ALL get along and make progress as long as we respect and do not put each other down, it works I know trust me it CAN BE DONE :D

[davidstcldfl]

Hi Jeff, I'm with JCO and Stucco... :D Keep up the great work...and would like to hear more. Thanks !

[urbanfarmer]

Oops, I don't know why I said 3/8" (I might have been thinking my 3/8" drill instead of my 1/2" drill, IDK)... but, I meant 3/32" drill bit... :lol:

If the area gets drenched for too long and compacted, they start to drown. I did this once when I had my first worm bin. They crawled out of it and all over the house. I have never kept them inside since :roll: They absorb oxygen through their skin using a mucus that sticks to it. I had worms living in my aquarium gravel for 4 months before I dismantled it. They're kind of like fish, but they don't taste as good... I kid I kid

Anyway, in my experience the worms breed as long as there is adequate moisture. Just like in aquaponics, you want the proper balance of things (pH, moisture, temperature, carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, aeration, etc). It does not have to be drenched, and to keep the anaerobic bacteria from stinking your bin up, I would at most just mist the top layer as you rotate the material. However, there is Truth to what you say. I have noticed a majority of the eggs are in the bottommost of my bins that I don't turn often. The bottom of the bin tends to stay very moist and sometimes a bit like mud, but I think that's normal and it does not smell. I have noticed as well sometimes the worms find these little crevasses just under the lid that fill up with water when I spray, and they seem to be "doing their business" in the pools. Anyway, that's my 2 1/2 cents...

P.S. Have you seen the bins the University of Hawaii uses at their aquaponic facility? I really like their design, I am going to try their setup.

[JeffW]

Thanks all...I am still getting use to glasses so my grammar is bad and spelling...I am sorry, if I had a secretary it would help :ugeek: but ya'll know what I am trying to say. ;)

I meet with a man today, he wants me to sell to him "whole sale" and I am not sure what to say or how to go about it. I am not great at marketing all I like to do is "make it happen" such as get the things I need and produce a product. There are good smart people around me so there is support for advice which helps. Anyway this is a BIG day for me and my vision. Started with nothing, still have nothing but I do have passion and feel optimistic about the future. Wife is tapping her fingers though so I need results soon! :shock:

[davidstcldfl]

Wish I could give you some advice about the worm sales......But I don't know either... :?
As far as your wife goes, start doing the dishes..if it doesn't make her happy, it'll at least distract her..... :P :lol: :lol: :lol:

[JeffW]

picture of nematode at 40x using a live web cam (camera) mounted on microscope, i can this results real time on laptop then either make movie or snap picture. Need 400X for the right job though.

Is anyone familiar with mycorrizae? The fungi that grows with plant roots? It is now discovered most of the humus in soil is made not just by worms but also Mycorrhizal Fungus. Now I find worm castings have the spores so when you incoculate soil with castings then plant your allowing for fungal conditions. Plants growing with that symbiotic relationship will grow better,bigger and fight of disease and pest far better than any other methods know to man. This is amazing what we are discovering now days. They sell the stuff in powder form in containers and now use it for hydroponic so I am wondering if it is able to grow in aquaponic as well. Maybe I will check and see what I can find out. The roots are longer with endomycorrical growing with the roots because the roots can uptake potasium and water much better and easier due to the hypha http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypha

[JeffW]

this winter will be interesting...I have a plastic ring 90 inch diameter and full of leaves and food waste from neighbor that does the juicer. It is cold at night and the temp on surface of leaves is warm to the touch. With this much mass and about 1 million tiger worms I should have about 3 million worms by April and it is Nov now.

I am getting good at managing the worms in large numbers so the size of this ring out in the
pole barn does not scare me, matter a fact it has NO BOTTOM it is bottomless like a dancer in Navy bar :lol: ...I laid down landscape blocks all leveled on the ground then a ton of leaves that were pulled of the brussel sproat plants after harvesting them (HUGE LEAVES) these were the bedding
then I put a layer of leaves on them. Next I dumped 15 gallons of carrots scraps,apples all the
stuff one juices with. This was for the WORMS but it also is my Nitrogen source and once
it mixed with the leaves the HEAT started to rise. Microbes and worms all having a feast!

The game plan is that the worms will have a warm bedding and a food source ALL winter
and this will all break down by spring, not to mention LOTS of worm castings and cocoons.

When I get my 20 foot "flow through" worm bin built it will sit right next to this ring so all
I have to do is "lift the ring" and move it away then with a flat nose shovel I can
scoop all this up and toss it into the new raised worm bin. Once the worms are in there it
will be the same as my present worm bin where I can harvest castings from bottom but
the worms stay in the bin above.

Just had to share this...because after 4 years I am finally getting some calls from real
businesses wanting my castings in large amounts. At $1.50 a pound this might be my
dream come true. AND I will NOT allow any worms to be fed with food that is GMO ;)

Quality castings is my number 1 goal see? I want to keep the track record good and clean.

JEFF

[commander]

Ok. here is mine. The worms arrived this evening and I got them all moved into their new home and put to bed (worm bed, get it. . ok ok ). We will see how it goes from here.

http://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj564/militiacommander/IMG_0029.jpg


http://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj564/militiacommander/IMG_0028.jpg

[Sequoia]

The liquid that leaks out of an over wet worm bin is NOT worm tea. It is called leachate, and it is not nearly as beneficial to your plants as true worm tea. Leachate contains only minimal amounts of microbial life, and some of that is anaerobic. Sure, water your plants with it and it won't hurt, but it's not that great.

Worm tea is brewed by placing worm castings in dechlorinated water. Often an air bubbler is added, but I've not found molasses to be needed. The air bubbler ensures that it remains aerobic, which is what you want.

A bin that is properly wet should not have water running out of it. You want the bedding to be about as moist as a wrung out sponge. A little wetter and the worms will be fine, but again, if water is running out that is too much water.

A flow through bin is also very easy to make, and I have found that my worms process more food in my flow through bin than in my standard tub. I think it's do to airflow, since the bottom breathes as well as the top. Just a hypothesis, though.