Wow, Jayne! Your Castings remind me of a "Flourless Cake" called Chocolate Sin! Of course, there weren't any worms in the batter!!!!😂😂 I hope you survive the summer ☀️ Take care ❤Peggy❤
Hi Peggy! That flourless cake wouldn’t last long enough to get worms in it in my house! Yum! I might even be tempted to eat it even if it did have worms! 🤣🤣 Chocolate is a big vice of mine. 😳🙄. Thanks for stopping by ❤️🪱
Your castings look fantastic Jayne. I don't know why, but my castings are never that dry, they just seem to stay really moist all of the time. The only dry castings I've had is when I put a layer of castings in a plastic box and let it dry in the sun. I'm following your process of moving worms around in various trays, trying to keep ages on roughly the same level. While fluffing up the CFT this morning to keep the ants at bay, (hardly any left now) I noticed some really big worms. When I say big, I mean at least twice the size of my red wigglers. They are about 4" long and a quarter of an inch in diameter. We'd call these lob worms are are used in fishing. I took about 2 dozen out of the CFT and I've put them in their own breeding bin.....we'll see what happens. Thank you again for sharing your time and experiences with us, it really is nice of you to do so.😊😊
My castings moisture levels vary a lot! Sometimes fate smiles upon me and the castings are beautiful and d siftable all on their own. Other times I can attempt to dry them down for weeks (!) with little success. 😡. I’ve learned to roll with it as best I can. I am trying to figure out how to get the more beautiful cast I gs on a more regular basis though and when/if I find some clues there I’ll be sharing with the Crew 😎. My next video coming out Friday shows me dealing with still quite damp castings so maybe that’ll help you with yours 😊. I’m so glad the ants are vacating!! Yea! It makes me very happy to hear everyone’s stories and how I may be helping a little bit in making worm wrangling a bit more fun and successful. ❤️ Oooh! Those worms sound like the euro branch of the Esenia species! So cool that you pulled them out for breeding 🤩. I look forward to hearing how that goes! 🪱🪱🪱
I always remove the majority of the worms from my bins and compost piles then dry castings in tubs. Castings only stay in tubs for a day or two then I dump castings and remaining worms on a 3'×2' sifter with 1/4" screen. Sifter is set on top of a completed compost pile the worms will migrate out of castings into compost. Then I sift castings. Thanks for all your hard work posting videos.
Hi Ric! You have an excellent way to manage the separation of worms and castings 👍. I hope other worm wranglers give it a try and see if it works well for them 🪱🤩. Thanks for sharing ❤️
Hi Jayne, Can I mix different worm species of "red worms". I thought I ordered red wigglers and called the Uncle Jim's customer service to verify my order but what I got was 3 smaller varieties of red composting worms, Eisenis hortensis, perionyx excatus and small variety Eiseneia Feteda. Now not sure if I should just dump all the little ones in the garden and start with red wigglers or if they all can co exist together in the same bin. I am looking to maximize worm castings for the garden. Your so knowledge, I thought I'd ask.
Hi! First off yes these 3 types of composting worms can co-exist in a worm bin. Eisenia fetida (commonly called red wigglers) and eisenia hortensia (commonly called euros) are closely related and hard to tell apart. My worms are all eisenia worms and I don’t know which subspecies any specific individual worm is with any degree of certainty. Perionyx excatus (commonly called Indian blues) is a different species and has a more limited temperature range than the eisenia worms. Some worm wranglers also say the Indian blue worms are more ‘temperamental’ and tend to flee worm bins more often. Some don’t claim to have any issues with Indian blues. They all are very good composting worms. A lot of worm wranglers, especially those new to worm keeping, have more success with the eisenia worms (both subspecies) as they are more tolerant of a wider range of bin conditions. If your main goal is to have castings for the garden I’d keep what you have and move forward. Keep the bin in decent conditions as to temperature, moisture, bedding and food and you and the worms will be fine. 👍 You say the worms are small/young. What you can also do is let them mature and once the clitellums are easier to see, you can start to pick out one species (I’d recommend picking out the eisenia worms) and start a new bin. This will allow you, over time, to have both a single species bin and a mixed species bin. This way you can choose to keep all the worms or release the mixed worms into the garden. Yes, I know I’m biased toward the eisenias! 😝😊. As your worms grow and mature we can talk again about how to separate the species 👍😎. Does this approach work for you? 🪱
Amazing, thank you for your help, with so much gratitude. A video idea might be the different stages of red wigglers, side by side and how many red wigglers by weight are roughly in each category; so when a newbie is comparing apples to apples (worms to worms) (castings to castings) we'll be better able to make better informed purchases. How many worms in a pickle barrel that Jayne picked...lol Or "How much is 2+2= ? , It depends:)
@@aml2196 Oh no! Not a pickle barrel 😱. I’m good at the number of cocoons and worms I pick on a regular basis, but a pickle barrel would be the death of me 😳🤣🤣. I have this video that might help a bit. I haven’t watched it a while so I don’t recall exactly if it’ll be of help. I do get your idea and I’ll definitely look into doing something along that lines. I’m always open to ideas that will help worm wranglers, especially newbies. That’s why I got into doing these videos! Thanks for the idea 👍😎🪱 Haha! Helps if I give you the video link 🙄. Here it is: Worm Lifecycle in a Bin Management System th-cam.com/video/FY4zrWSCOiw/w-d-xo.html
Hi Michael! I bought them online from CAL Ranch which is a west coast store chain. Unfortunately they stopped offering the sifter set a few months ago. Amazon has the sifter set. I routinely use the 1/8” and 1/12” mesh sifters for worm work. I occasionally use the 1/4” mesh sifter. I know lots of worm wranglers that almost, if not exclusively, use just the 1/4” mesh sifter. I think it depends on what you plan on doing. If you want to sift out cocoons from castings you’re definitely going to want a 1/8” mesh screen. If you’re more thinking you’re going to achieve a stable worm population and stick with that and harvest castings as your main goal then a 1/4” mesh sifter is probably enough. Stable worm populations self regulate their population growth and operate more on replacements of dying worms. Therefore they don’t make lots of cocoons. There’s simply less cocoons to worry about catching when sifting. FYI I did a deep dive search to find the CAL Ranch sifters at the great price they offered. I have not done such a search since so there may be other retailers that offer a good price on the sifters. You’d have to be willing to put some time and effort in to find out if such a deal exists elsewhere. If you do and find a great price, I’m sure everyone would be happy if you shared that info 👍🤩❤️🪱
Hi again. I did a little internet searching and found this store that gets great reviews and sells the stackable sifters online. While they offer multiple mesh sizes they have the 1/4”, 1/8” and 1/12” mesh stackable pans that fit on a 5 gallon bucket (like mine do) for $20 each plus shipping. So to buy the 3 most used worm wrangling sized sifters would be $60 plus tax and shipping. Here’s the link: highplainsprospectors.com/products/sifting-pan It might be worth checking out 🤷♂️.
Hi Sue! I do have a video on that 👍. Here’s the link: My Worm Chow Recipe for Happy Chonky Worms th-cam.com/video/nDIjqXjgte0/w-d-xo.html It’s more of a list of possible ingredients than a true recipe. Just about any dry, mostly grain based food makes a good worm chow ingredient. Please ask any questions you have after watching the video. I’m happy to clarify and answer questions 👍🪱🪱
Wow, Jayne! Your Castings remind me of a "Flourless Cake" called Chocolate Sin! Of course, there weren't any worms in the batter!!!!😂😂
I hope you survive the summer ☀️
Take care
❤Peggy❤
Hi Peggy! That flourless cake wouldn’t last long enough to get worms in it in my house! Yum! I might even be tempted to eat it even if it did have worms! 🤣🤣
Chocolate is a big vice of mine. 😳🙄. Thanks for stopping by ❤️🪱
Black gold the casting are nice work 🇳🇿🪱
Hi Jayne and camera man, the keep it moving method certainly works well. Another good video. Have fun, Mark : )
Hi Mark! Thanks for stopping by! I’m all about trying new things and finding what works in the easiest way possible 🤣🪱
Your castings look fantastic Jayne. I don't know why, but my castings are never that dry, they just seem to stay really moist all of the time. The only dry castings I've had is when I put a layer of castings in a plastic box and let it dry in the sun. I'm following your process of moving worms around in various trays, trying to keep ages on roughly the same level. While fluffing up the CFT this morning to keep the ants at bay, (hardly any left now) I noticed some really big worms. When I say big, I mean at least twice the size of my red wigglers. They are about 4" long and a quarter of an inch in diameter. We'd call these lob worms are are used in fishing. I took about 2 dozen out of the CFT and I've put them in their own breeding bin.....we'll see what happens. Thank you again for sharing your time and experiences with us, it really is nice of you to do so.😊😊
My castings moisture levels vary a lot! Sometimes fate smiles upon me and the castings are beautiful and d siftable all on their own. Other times I can attempt to dry them down for weeks (!) with little success. 😡. I’ve learned to roll with it as best I can. I am trying to figure out how to get the more beautiful cast I gs on a more regular basis though and when/if I find some clues there I’ll be sharing with the Crew 😎.
My next video coming out Friday shows me dealing with still quite damp castings so maybe that’ll help you with yours 😊.
I’m so glad the ants are vacating!! Yea!
It makes me very happy to hear everyone’s stories and how I may be helping a little bit in making worm wrangling a bit more fun and successful. ❤️
Oooh! Those worms sound like the euro branch of the Esenia species! So cool that you pulled them out for breeding 🤩. I look forward to hearing how that goes! 🪱🪱🪱
I always remove the majority of the worms from my bins and compost piles then dry castings in tubs. Castings only stay in tubs for a day or two then I dump castings and remaining worms on a 3'×2' sifter with 1/4" screen. Sifter is set on top of a completed compost pile the worms will migrate out of castings into compost. Then I sift castings. Thanks for all your hard work posting videos.
Hi Ric! You have an excellent way to manage the separation of worms and castings 👍. I hope other worm wranglers give it a try and see if it works well for them 🪱🤩. Thanks for sharing ❤️
Hi Jayne, Can I mix different worm species of "red worms". I thought I ordered red wigglers and called the Uncle Jim's customer service to verify my order but what I got was 3 smaller varieties of red composting worms, Eisenis hortensis, perionyx excatus and small variety Eiseneia Feteda. Now not sure if I should just dump all the little ones in the garden and start with red wigglers or if they all can co exist together in the same bin. I am looking to maximize worm castings for the garden.
Your so knowledge, I thought I'd ask.
Hi! First off yes these 3 types of composting worms can co-exist in a worm bin.
Eisenia fetida (commonly called red wigglers) and eisenia hortensia (commonly called euros) are closely related and hard to tell apart. My worms are all eisenia worms and I don’t know which subspecies any specific individual worm is with any degree of certainty.
Perionyx excatus (commonly called Indian blues) is a different species and has a more limited temperature range than the eisenia worms. Some worm wranglers also say the Indian blue worms are more ‘temperamental’ and tend to flee worm bins more often. Some don’t claim to have any issues with Indian blues.
They all are very good composting worms.
A lot of worm wranglers, especially those new to worm keeping, have more success with the eisenia worms (both subspecies) as they are more tolerant of a wider range of bin conditions.
If your main goal is to have castings for the garden I’d keep what you have and move forward. Keep the bin in decent conditions as to temperature, moisture, bedding and food and you and the worms will be fine. 👍
You say the worms are small/young. What you can also do is let them mature and once the clitellums are easier to see, you can start to pick out one species (I’d recommend picking out the eisenia worms) and start a new bin. This will allow you, over time, to have both a single species bin and a mixed species bin. This way you can choose to keep all the worms or release the mixed worms into the garden. Yes, I know I’m biased toward the eisenias! 😝😊.
As your worms grow and mature we can talk again about how to separate the species 👍😎.
Does this approach work for you? 🪱
Amazing, thank you for your help, with so much gratitude. A video idea might be the different stages of red wigglers, side by side and how many red wigglers by weight are roughly in each category; so when a newbie is comparing apples to apples (worms to worms) (castings to castings) we'll be better able to make better informed purchases. How many worms in a pickle barrel that Jayne picked...lol Or "How much is 2+2= ? , It depends:)
@@aml2196 Oh no! Not a pickle barrel 😱. I’m good at the number of cocoons and worms I pick on a regular basis, but a pickle barrel would be the death of me 😳🤣🤣.
I have this video that might help a bit. I haven’t watched it a while so I don’t recall exactly if it’ll be of help. I do get your idea and I’ll definitely look into doing something along that lines. I’m always open to ideas that will help worm wranglers, especially newbies. That’s why I got into doing these videos! Thanks for the idea 👍😎🪱
Haha! Helps if I give you the video link 🙄. Here it is:
Worm Lifecycle in a Bin Management System
th-cam.com/video/FY4zrWSCOiw/w-d-xo.html
Where did you get those sifters? What sizes would you recommend?
Hi Michael! I bought them online from CAL Ranch which is a west coast store chain. Unfortunately they stopped offering the sifter set a few months ago.
Amazon has the sifter set.
I routinely use the 1/8” and 1/12” mesh sifters for worm work. I occasionally use the 1/4” mesh sifter. I know lots of worm wranglers that almost, if not exclusively, use just the 1/4” mesh sifter.
I think it depends on what you plan on doing. If you want to sift out cocoons from castings you’re definitely going to want a 1/8” mesh screen.
If you’re more thinking you’re going to achieve a stable worm population and stick with that and harvest castings as your main goal then a 1/4” mesh sifter is probably enough. Stable worm populations self regulate their population growth and operate more on replacements of dying worms. Therefore they don’t make lots of cocoons. There’s simply less cocoons to worry about catching when sifting.
FYI I did a deep dive search to find the CAL Ranch sifters at the great price they offered. I have not done such a search since so there may be other retailers that offer a good price on the sifters. You’d have to be willing to put some time and effort in to find out if such a deal exists elsewhere. If you do and find a great price, I’m sure everyone would be happy if you shared that info 👍🤩❤️🪱
Hi again. I did a little internet searching and found this store that gets great reviews and sells the stackable sifters online. While they offer multiple mesh sizes they have the 1/4”, 1/8” and 1/12” mesh stackable pans that fit on a 5 gallon bucket (like mine do) for $20 each plus shipping. So to buy the 3 most used worm wrangling sized sifters would be $60 plus tax and shipping.
Here’s the link:
highplainsprospectors.com/products/sifting-pan
It might be worth checking out 🤷♂️.
What is worm chow made of? Do you have a recipe? No one explains this.
Hi Sue! I do have a video on that 👍. Here’s the link:
My Worm Chow Recipe for Happy Chonky Worms
th-cam.com/video/nDIjqXjgte0/w-d-xo.html
It’s more of a list of possible ingredients than a true recipe. Just about any dry, mostly grain based food makes a good worm chow ingredient. Please ask any questions you have after watching the video. I’m happy to clarify and answer questions 👍🪱🪱