Let me say this about stinky!

You got a stink, you got a problem!

In the world of composting, there is more than one flavor of stink.  When you get the chance to smell them you will never forget and will be able to indentify them immediately, without a doubt.

First, there is the inevitable stink of rotting food.

Second, you have the smell of anaerobic bacteria.

Both smells develop because of the lack of oxygen.  If you were to leave your food waste bucket open to the air you would not have the stink associated with rotting food (except at the lower levels where the air can not reach).  However, then you would have to contend with the flies, maggots, fruit flies and all the other critters attracted to rotting food.

The stink of anaerobic bacteria is so foul and if present in a worm bin and left unaddressed will kill your worms.  If you have this kind of stink you have a problem which needs to be addressed immediately.  This is the reason I advocate stirring the bin on a regular basis – to incorporate air to the lower levels and to check the conditions of the lower portions of the bin.  Once air is present the anaerobic bacteria cannot survive and will die off.

In all of my bins that I have a catch tray and a spigot, I leave the spigot open at all times.  This keeps the liquid from building up in the bottom tray where the conditions can become anaerobic easily.  This liquid has a great deal of particulate matter in it which will continue to compost and if there is not enough air will go anaerobic.  My liquid drips into big 5 gallon buckets which use to get filtered at least twice.  Over the years I have found the balance with my bins and have very little leachate off my bins.  It is not a valuable enough product to spend my time on.  It gets dumped on the nearest plantings available which just happens to be a Silver Lace Vine covering the south side of my worm shed.   

The ideal process for the worm bin is to find the perfect balance of moisture for your worms without any leachate at all.  People who worm bin compost looking for the leachate are missing the value of the worm bin which is the castings.  The castings are at the bottom of your bin, which is the part that goes anaerobic if your bin is too heavily laden with moisture without the proper ventilation.  You risk contaminating your castings.  This is a crime!

Christy

Handle your organic waste the way Nature intended.
http://www.vermiculturenorthwest.com/