Every few months, my worms make enough compost- also known as worm poop- for me to harvest it. Many of you who have taken a worm composting class with the Worm Women of Westchester are no doubt at that stage right now with your worm bin. Here’s one way to do it.
Worms are not fans of bright sunshine. This is the key to harvesting worm compost.
Step #1 Dump all of your worms and bedding onto a plastic tarp or an open paper bag.
Piles of worm compost, worms are scurrying out of the sun!
Step #2 Make a few piles and pluck the compost off the top. The worms will scurry deep into the pile in an attempt to avoid the sunlight.
Step #3 Keep plucking handfuls or spoonfuls of compost from the tops of the piles, making sure there are no tiny baby worms in your pile. You may return the newspaper bedding to your bin or you might just add it to the compost. It will break down in the soil in no time.
YES, you will have to touch a worm or two with this method. NO, its really not a big deal once you’ve done it. Worms don’t bite, they are wet not slimy. I’d rather touch a worm than a slimy slug any day of the week!
Step #4 Once you’ve continued to pick off the compost and bedding, you’ll be left with a tight little pile of wriggling worms. Pop them back into your bin along with some fresh newspaper bedding and some new food. I took these paper bags and ripped them into strips for bedding, thereby cleaning up my mess.
Now you can use that nutrient rich worm compost in your garden to give your plants a mid-summer boost. You can also make a compost tea. Not for you to drink! it’s for your plants. You can put that tea into a spritzer bottle and use it as a spray for the leaves. Plants can soak up nutrients from their leaves. Compost tea sprays help to make your plant resistant to disease. Here’s a link on how to make compost tea
Worm compost on the left, worms and new bedding in their bin on the right.
