I rarely type comments on youtube ,probably twice a year. But your vermicomposting set up deserves a feedback. I watched so many videos on that topic and yours is by far the best,most logic worm bin. I'm stealing your design! Thank you for sharing!
It's taken me about 3 months of searching for a worm bin and casting removal process that is as efficient as yours. Every other video I have seen doesn't quite seem as efficient. Thanks so much for your video and your well thought out process. You got my subscription.
this is the most comprehensive video I've seen on an effective small-scale system that doesn't use trash cans or plastic bins. You nailed the harvest, and your sifter is the greatest little feat of engineering on youtube. Thank you for exactly what I was looking for and even some more!
This is what makes watching all those crummy RUclips videos worth it. Thanks for sharing you awesome worm bin and harvest setup. I was searching for an easier harvest method than using light. Although currently I am only using buckets as worm bins, I believe I will now invest some additional time and build a bin like this. As you have mentioned, I really liked some commercial setups I've seen, but didn't want to spend that much time until I could prove to myself that I could even keep the little guys alive. Best part of vermicompost is sharing with others that I have worms!Thanks for sharing and look forward to watching some of your other videos.
Great work Dan! I started my worm bin here in Miyazaki last year but did a tyre style bin. I recently harvested the bottom tyre and have another one half full. I might upgrade to something like your set up after I finish some other jobs around the house. I collected about 300 worms when they where migrating to god knows where over a period of 2 weeks out the front of my house on the road. They seem to be still enjoying the compost bin and other parts of my garden. The Moles are happy too.
I have composted in all kinds of contraptions and am currently using a modified Toter composting bin for my worms. The problem is the harvesting. it has brushes in the bottom, which eventually bend over and are ineffective. I really like this design. Kudos!
Hi! Salute from Brazil! Very Nice vídeos! Nice ideias! Thanks for sharing! I loved this bin of yours! Very practical. Is it working well? How long have you been using it?
An improvement to consider would be to make the conduit removable. They would slide out individually, for the purpose of harvesting worms when you need to feed the chickens. The design I have in mind is angle iron with a series of vees tacked onto the horizontal flanges. The conduit would rest in the vees. So the conduit pieces could be slid out and then slid back into place. You could keep a schedule to allow the area to repopulate, moving from one side to the other over time. As for the steel, I weld so this would be cheap. But if you had to pay someone to weld it for you, it probably would not be expensive to have done. Simple, short welds. Maybe the steel would best just be bare, not painted. Rub vegetable oil or Crisco onto it to inhibit rust.
I was going to use a short handled hoe I had laying around.... watching this I'll weld on some tines to draw out material between the bottom rails of my new bin. Excellent sifter.
Great video! Thanks for sharing this! I have a similar worm bin i just finished, I converted it from a raised planter box. I'm just waiting for the weather to warm up a bit to transfer the worms to their new bed. My question is, how long did you give it before you first harvested? A few weeks for the cardboard to start breaking down, or longer? 🤔
Hi - Once I line the bottom with kraft paper (cardboard takes too long to break down), I put a few inches of peat on top of that, then a couple inches of food for the worms. Manure or fresh compost is best for the first layer so the worms can bed in. The peat layer is there just to keep the worms away from the paper and eating through it too soon. Then I add a bit each week and watch for it to be eaten by the worms. The keep adding a bit at a time until the bin is 3/4 full, and that is when I start weekly harvesting. It takes about 60 days or so for the first layers to break down. then you keep adding a bit and harvesting a bit each week. That's continuous flow! Thanks for watching!
Do you need to shake the bin after each harvest to make the content on top fall down to the screen level to fill in the voids created by the harvesting? Or will it naturally do it on its own after a couple of days as you fill stuff on the top?
Hi Dan, I used your bin as a model for constructing my bin that I made last year. I wanted to see if you could please give me an idea of what you filled the bin with initially along with what you have been adding to it? I used coconut coir, and shredded newspaper to start, and have since added primarily newspaper, homemade compost, and veggie scraps. With that being said, your finished product looks completely different than mine (mine is similar to shredded newspaper muck). I would very much appreciate what your bin composition is made up of, thank you!
Hi Srinivasan, it is a continuous flow through system. The time it takes for the material to move from top to bottom is determined by the height of the bin, in this case 24" or roughly 60 cm, and you remove about 1" or 2-3 cm per week. That bin height ensures that the material has sufficient time to be biologically processed and matured. Thanks for your interest! Dan
Hi Dan, Thanks for the quick reply. I am working on setting up my first worm barrel using the 55 gallon food grade blue barrel with PVC pipes and harvestning rods.. So if the height of the material is around say 3 feet, as castings are created by the worms, do they move up? I am wondering if there is a possibility of castings on the top near the food source..Sorry i am new to this..hence the basic questions.
Hi Srinivasan, there are some very good resources online, for example redwormcomposting.com, and on FaceBook you can look for a group there called "Worm Farming Alliance". You will find a lot of help there. In general, the techniquoe I use is called 'flow-through' - you feed from the top and harvest from the bottom. Compost worms like to stay near the surface. As you harvest from the bottom and add fresh food on the top, the casting naturally move down over time. A different approach uses shallow trays or pails about 6" to 9", and you separate the worms from the castings manually or by mechanical devices - like the shaker-screen in my other video. Good luck in your new hobby!
A few suggestions for improvement: 1. Line the interior surfaces with 3 mil polyethylene sheets. The sheets can be stapled to the wood with stainless steel staples. Lining it with plastic would cut down on evaporation and the amount of additional water needed. By keeping the water from the wood, you'd also make the bin last much longer. 2. Construct a watertight drip pan to catch the leachate and funnel it to a bottle. Having a watertight pan attached to the bottom would also cut down on evaporation. 3. Add a handle and wheels/casters to give it mobility so that it can be moved outside in the summer to keep fruit flies away from the house. In winter move it back to the garage of basement in the winter. 4. If you leave it outdoors in winter, apply styrofoam panels to the sides, lid, and the drip pan panels to keep it warm in the winter. Depending on your climate, this may not be enough to keep your worms warm enough to survive, in which case you may need to add a heating blanket.
These are metal conduits, rather than PVC. They act as a slotted floor to hold the material in the bin until you rake it and some of it falls through. Thanks for viewing!
I rarely type comments on youtube ,probably twice a year. But your vermicomposting
set up deserves a feedback. I watched so many videos on that topic and yours is by far the best,most logic worm bin. I'm stealing your design! Thank you for sharing!
It's taken me about 3 months of searching for a worm bin and casting removal process that is as efficient as yours. Every other video I have seen doesn't quite seem as efficient. Thanks so much for your video and your well thought out process. You got my subscription.
^^^same!!!
This is the second video I found..I feel lucky
this is the most comprehensive video I've seen on an effective small-scale system that doesn't use trash cans or plastic bins. You nailed the harvest, and your sifter is the greatest little feat of engineering on youtube. Thank you for exactly what I was looking for and even some more!
Thanks for viewing and for your feedback!
Thank you for your feedback and for viewing! Visit michigansoilworks.com for more.
This is what makes watching all those crummy RUclips videos worth it. Thanks for sharing you awesome worm bin and harvest setup. I was searching for an easier harvest method than using light. Although currently I am only using buckets as worm bins, I believe I will now invest some additional time and build a bin like this. As you have mentioned, I really liked some commercial setups I've seen, but didn't want to spend that much time until I could prove to myself that I could even keep the little guys alive. Best part of vermicompost is sharing with others that I have worms!Thanks for sharing and look forward to watching some of your other videos.
It feels so great knowing all of you went through the struggle and endured the pain to finally find this perfect video.
Where’s your crummy video? To go with your crummy comment.
Fantastic. I love your bin and method of harvesting. Never seen it done with a fork before. Looks easy and very simple!
Good stuff. Love the style and simplicity. I know how I'm building mine!
Great work Dan!
I started my worm bin here in Miyazaki last year but did a tyre style bin. I recently harvested the bottom tyre and have another one half full.
I might upgrade to something like your set up after I finish some other jobs around the house. I collected about 300 worms when they where migrating to god knows where over a period of 2 weeks out the front of my house on the road. They seem to be still enjoying the compost bin and other parts of my garden. The Moles are happy too.
Finally a compost bin that makes sense
Wow... looks like that bin can produce a lot of vermicompost!
A lovely job, I hope to make some similar when get started.
I have composted in all kinds of contraptions and am currently using a modified Toter composting bin for my worms. The problem is the harvesting. it has brushes in the bottom, which eventually bend over and are ineffective. I really like this design. Kudos!
Really a great way of doing this…thank you sir!
Thanks for viewing! See more at michigansoilworks.com
Beautiful castings!
Hi! Salute from Brazil! Very Nice vídeos! Nice ideias! Thanks for sharing! I loved this bin of yours! Very practical. Is it working well? How long have you been using it?
Great video I'm almost done with my VB96 going to paint it in the next couple days
Thank you Dan
An improvement to consider would be to make the conduit removable. They would slide out individually, for the purpose of harvesting worms when you need to feed the chickens. The design I have in mind is angle iron with a series of vees tacked onto the horizontal flanges. The conduit would rest in the vees. So the conduit pieces could be slid out and then slid back into place. You could keep a schedule to allow the area to repopulate, moving from one side to the other over time. As for the steel, I weld so this would be cheap. But if you had to pay someone to weld it for you, it probably would not be expensive to have done. Simple, short welds. Maybe the steel would best just be bare, not painted. Rub vegetable oil or Crisco onto it to inhibit rust.
You have a great method here!
I was going to use a short handled hoe I had laying around.... watching this I'll weld on some tines to draw out material between the bottom rails of my new bin. Excellent sifter.
Best worm farm I have seen. Keep up the great work. Shalum,
Great video! Thanks for sharing this! I have a similar worm bin i just finished, I converted it from a raised planter box. I'm just waiting for the weather to warm up a bit to transfer the worms to their new bed. My question is, how long did you give it before you first harvested? A few weeks for the cardboard to start breaking down, or longer? 🤔
Hi - Once I line the bottom with kraft paper (cardboard takes too long to break down), I put a few inches of peat on top of that, then a couple inches of food for the worms. Manure or fresh compost is best for the first layer so the worms can bed in. The peat layer is there just to keep the worms away from the paper and eating through it too soon. Then I add a bit each week and watch for it to be eaten by the worms. The keep adding a bit at a time until the bin is 3/4 full, and that is when I start weekly harvesting. It takes about 60 days or so for the first layers to break down. then you keep adding a bit and harvesting a bit each week. That's continuous flow!
Thanks for watching!
Do you need to shake the bin after each harvest to make the content on top fall down to the screen level to fill in the voids created by the harvesting? Or will it naturally do it on its own after a couple of days as you fill stuff on the top?
What kind of pipes did you use to build the bottom screen? Galvanized steel pipes or electrical conduits?
@@stevestevie7193 electric conduit
do you do fertilizer drying after harvest
Hi Dan, I used your bin as a model for constructing my bin that I made last year. I wanted to see if you could please give me an idea of what you filled the bin with initially along with what you have been adding to it? I used coconut coir, and shredded newspaper to start, and have since added primarily newspaper, homemade compost, and veggie scraps. With that being said, your finished product looks completely different than mine (mine is similar to shredded newspaper muck). I would very much appreciate what your bin composition is made up of, thank you!
Thank you for the insight! I'll give that a try!
Great! I'll give it a shot, thanks again Dan!
What is the gap , thanks
The conduits are spaced to leave 2 inches (5cm) of gap between them.
Thanks for viewing!
Great video..How do you know its time to harvest ? Thanks
Hi Srinivasan, it is a continuous flow through system. The time it takes for the material to move from top to bottom is determined by the height of the bin, in this case 24" or roughly 60 cm, and you remove about 1" or 2-3 cm per week. That bin height ensures that the material has sufficient time to be biologically processed and matured. Thanks for your interest! Dan
Hi Dan, Thanks for the quick reply. I am working on setting up my first worm barrel using the 55 gallon food grade blue barrel with PVC pipes and harvestning rods.. So if the height of the material is around say 3 feet, as castings are created by the worms, do they move up? I am wondering if there is a possibility of castings on the top near the food source..Sorry i am new to this..hence the basic questions.
Hi Srinivasan, there are some very good resources online, for example redwormcomposting.com, and on FaceBook you can look for a group there called "Worm Farming Alliance". You will find a lot of help there. In general, the techniquoe I use is called 'flow-through' - you feed from the top and harvest from the bottom. Compost worms like to stay near the surface. As you harvest from the bottom and add fresh food on the top, the casting naturally move down over time. A different approach uses shallow trays or pails about 6" to 9", and you separate the worms from the castings manually or by mechanical devices - like the shaker-screen in my other video. Good luck in your new hobby!
Thanks Dan. I am looking forward to finishing my worm bin shortly. Will post a video when done. Appreciate your quick reply
Do you sell sifters
Yes! visit wormgear.com and look for Turbo Sift
Thanks for watching!
Interesting
Thanks for viewing!
Sir how to make the vermicompost box
You can purchase the plans online. Please see the link above in the video description. Thanks for viewing!
A few suggestions for improvement:
1. Line the interior surfaces with 3 mil polyethylene sheets. The sheets can be stapled to the wood with stainless steel staples. Lining it with plastic would cut down on evaporation and the amount of additional water needed. By keeping the water from the wood, you'd also make the bin last much longer.
2. Construct a watertight drip pan to catch the leachate and funnel it to a bottle. Having a watertight pan attached to the bottom would also cut down on evaporation.
3. Add a handle and wheels/casters to give it mobility so that it can be moved outside in the summer to keep fruit flies away from the house. In winter move it back to the garage of basement in the winter.
4. If you leave it outdoors in winter, apply styrofoam panels to the sides, lid, and the drip pan panels to keep it warm in the winter. Depending on your climate, this may not be enough to keep your worms warm enough to survive, in which case you may need to add a heating blanket.
güzell
++++++++++++++
What is the PVC pipes for that's what I don't understand
These are metal conduits, rather than PVC. They act as a slotted floor to hold the material in the bin until you rake it and some of it falls through. Thanks for viewing!