Time to Vote, I Need Your Help, & Storing Castings

Welcome to another issue of the WFR Newsletter the Poop Scoop.  Where its my ultimate goal to Teach, Inspire & Empower you to become the best worm farmer you can be...Plus a lot more!!!

In this issue...

1. It's time to vote on which worm farming systems you think is the best.

2. I need your help on which direction to take the website next

3. Storing Worm Castings Indoors/Outdoors


Please feel free to comment on WFR's worm questions, community help, DE pages, Property Clean Up and now Worm Farming Systems and any other pages at the site where you see the forms generally located at the bottoms of those pages. I don't have all the answers. So please help build the WFR community knowledge base when you can and feel free to share this email with others because when you do we all learn a lot more :)

1. It's time to vote on which worm farming systems you think is the best.

It's finally time to vote on which worm farming systems you think is the best. The voting is based on 4 key factors: Cost, Practicality, Most Productive, & Easiest to Build. I set it up this way because really each system has its good points and not so good points. Now I know that there are several great systems and no "one" system truly is the best.

We are all different and have different needs. I personally have different bins because it depends on what my goals are. Each factor is worth up to 5 points so the best possible score would be 20 points. If there is a tie then the community can decide which system they like best between the two. So with that being said Go Cast Your Vote Now!

2. I need your help on deciding which direction to take the website next.

Ever since I began publishing this website the focus has ultimately been on you and will remain that way. We are constantly growing everyday with new readers, visitors, subscribers, and contributors to the website. I never, ever, ever want to grow so big that it's not personable or about you anymore. That's why I always like to to hear from you about what you like to see or read about because only you know what areas you need to improve on.

We didn't get as many people to upload there worm farming system as I thought we would. That's because many of you said that you would rather not post your system until the event was over and that's fine for whatever reason. So now I need to know which direction to go now.

Over time, the upload-your-own system, (OYOS) will be VERY BIG! Giving people many ideas on how to build their worm farm (and all thanks to you) and spawning other great ideas too. It has got me extremely excited to take it to the next level and this is where I need your help again.

Many people are always wanting to share their thoughts and ideas which is why I would like to know what topic you would like to see people share with us next and I will start the ball rolling on that one. Here is a short list of topics to choose from and I'll do my best to make it easy to navigate.

Show us...

• How you harvest castings

• How you use castings

• How you make worm tea

• How you use worm tea

• What kinds of worm foods you use

• How you use manure and what kind

• Classroom worm farming

• Office worm farming

• Your results of using worm castings/tea

• How you get rid of pests

• What's your favorite bedding

• How you use minerals in the worm bin

• How you store castings

• How you worm farm in the winter

• How you worm farm in the hot summer

• Your hydroponic worm farm

• Gardening with the Garden Tower

The list is almost endless. Imagine being able to look at several people's worm farm systems all in one spot rather trying to do an entire Internet search. Let me know which topics and in what order so I can get the pages set up so you can start uploading your pictures, sharing your stories with us, and letting us glean from you. If you don't see your topic then just add it and let me know. Copy and paste the list above into the Contact Us form or you can make up your own list.

3. Storing Worm Castings Indoors/Outdoors

Indoor Storage
Although there are plenty of different ways to store your castings for the winter (unless you plan on using it for your fall planting) I will show you my preferred way of storing the cast.

If you worm farm indoors then chances are you will likely store your castings indoors but you can also store them outside, in the garage & in the wood shed as well. I prefer to store my worm castings in my old Rubbermaid worm bins. Remember the castings are living organisms so they need to breathe and remain moist for optimal use in the spring.

After you have harvested your mature worm castings and feel comfortable with the look and feel. It should go inside a container that is closed up but yet breathes well and one of the best containers to use is a plastic rubber tote or equivalent. They can hold a lot of material while remaining durable too. You can also choose the color you want but make sure it's still opaque to block out the light. Just like a worm bin make sure that the bottom and top sides have holes in order to allow for proper aerating/ventilation.

When storing/harvesting the worm castings for the winter it is a good idea to leave some worms and cocoons in the castings. Most of the mature castings will still have bits and pieces of compost in it even if you can't see any. The worms and the babies that hatch from the cocoons will continue to refine the castings along with helping to keep it aerated while the worm castings continue to sit over the months.

Here's the cool thing about the plastic bin storage. Once you put the lid on a plastic worm bin the entire bin becomes moist and therefore the worms feel safe crawling around on the top and sides of the bin. This is when you can just simply scrape them off the sides and top and put them back into your worm farming system. Ha! I bet you thought they were gone for good :)

So you see, you don't have to break your back or worry too much about being perfect when harvesting the worm castings.

Outdoor Storage
You can still store them in a plastic tote but always make sure that it's in the shade no matter what you use to store it with. Temps should not be an issue since we are talking about the fall, winter and spring seasons. Freezing is not an issue as they are microbes and will simply bounce right back during constant warm temperatures. But don't let the worm castings dry out. You will loose much more microbes and aren't guaranteed as much bouncing back when they are dead :(

When poop dries out it sets up like a brick. Cover the containers, spritz & mix them around once in a while to be certain they are not getting too dry. Come winter, depending on where you live and your particular climate, you can probably get away with very little attention during the freeze. You will just have use your best judgment at this point. Wal-Mart bags or any nylon/cotton shopping bag is good for storing worm castings.

Again, keep it covered with breathable material or even plenty of hay, straw, leaves, peat, coco coir, etc... just don't let it dry out. That's all for now I hope you are getting the information you want from WFR if not then please let me know by filling out the Contact Us form.
 

All the best and remember...What's in your soil?
~Pauly Piccirillo

To Teach, Inspire & Empower you to become the best worm farmer you can be...Plus a lot more!!!

Print out The 5-Step Success To Worm Composting Now!
Cheat-Sheet PDF Format

If you want an all-in-one "planter" and "worm composter" then get the Garden Tower for fall planting. You can Save $10 by entering  the coupon code upon checkout "WFRgardentower"
 

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