A Worm Farm

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Soil from a worm bin.

Mother Nature at work in the soil.

Sifted worm castings.

Soil from a worm bin starts as manure (cow, horse, pig, llama, rabbit, goat...), leaves, shredded newspaper, grass clippings, hair, coffee grounds, vegetable peels, tea bags, any food waste - virtually anything that has lived and died.

Provide proper moisture levels and control the temperature before you add your worms. 

• too wet the worms will die
• too dry the worms will die
• too hot the worms will die
• too cold the worms will die
   

Keep the worms alive and they will eat, poop, and make babies all day and all night.  Do worms sleep?  I don't think so.  Their job is to replenish the earth with bacteria and fungi that help complete the soil food web.
	Click to see the soil food web.

This soil from the worm bin also has naturally formed aggregate that does not compact and allows for the free flow of oxygen and water to the roots of plants and the life in the soil.  It also contains bits of organic matter that will continue to help feed the life in the soil.

Another way to add beneficial life to the soil or fight disease and pests on plant surfaces is to use Actively Aerated Compost Tea as a soil drench or foliar spray.

Most important in a homemade compost tea brewer is that there are no dead spaces where the air does not circulate.  Air is essential for the growth of beneficial microorganisms and to discourage growth of toxic microorganisms.	Good circulation of air and water around your compost is also necessary for extracting the beneficial microorganisms that are in the compost.  Using a high quality compost will ensure a wide variety of beneficial life in your compost tea.
Visit Pittsburgh Permaculture for a step by step demonstration of how to build and brew with this homemade brewer.

Food4Wealth

Our food supply is becoming more and more questionable.  Even when the label says organic it should be scrutinized carefully.  The only way you can be sure what is really in your food is if you grow it yourself, organically! 

Compost from a worm bin, or vermicompost, is the very best soil amendment you can use to help build your soil to grow bigger, more nutritious food without having to use chemicals, pesticides and herbicides.

This resource, Food4Wealth, will help anyone successfully garden organically whether you are a novice beginner or an experienced gardener.

You will find step-by-step instruction with clear illustrations to help you get started.  It is also provided as an Audiobook. 

There are 14 video tutorials with over 60 minutes of hands on instruction showing exactly what to do to have a successful organic garden on any scale.

The step-by-step project plan will help guide you through the whole process of how to start producing organic food.

Implementing this plan with your vermicomposting system will virtually guarantee your success in the organic garden and enhance your understanding of the ecosystem and how it works to sustain life on earth.
 

A worm bin will help turn your garden waste into beneficial soil amendment with more beneficial soil life than material left to decompose on the ground.  Every aspect of the organic garden and worm bin composting work hand in hand to help create that perfect, healthy ecosystem that will grow abundant food.

Worm castings in case you didn't know is simply worm poop. 

As you add material to your compost bin, whether it is a worm bin or a conventional bin, there are bacteria and fungi that go to work decomposing that material.  In order for this microscopic life to feed it must have moisture and oxygen. 

Too much moisture and not enough oxygen and the microscopic life that grows and feeds is toxic, to your worms and to anything else it touches.  This toxic condition is easily recognizable by it's smell or should I say "stink". 

If your bin is healthy the worm population will thrive and increase at an amazing rate.  The bacteria and fungi multiply as the waste is consumed and the worms eat the bacteria and fungi. 

As the material which the worm consumes works it's way through the worms gut the microbial life explodes and the resulting casting is rich with this beneficial life.  It is said that the casting has more bacteria and fungi than the in the worm bin and worm gut combined.  One instance when the sum of both parts is greater than the sum of both parts.  Go figure.  It's nature's way.

Worm poop is one manure that will not burn when applied directly to plants.  It also does not go by the adage that more is better.

I find the best use for my sifted castings is for my seed starting mix.  It's fine texture and rich microbial life is perfect for coaxing the seedling from the seed.  Or for blending my own organic fertilizer.