More on “Wormy Compost”

The tough-but-lovable Danni asked the perceptive question:

So…I’ve not done container worming before, so I’m wondering – how does one go about getting the wormy compost for the garden out of the box without tossing the worms out, too?

Man, she’s on the ball.  That was the issue that I didn’t address because I didn’t want to go on too long.

Well, Donkey Princess, you have a couple of choices:

1. Add another container and stop feeding the one with all the worm turds in it.  Eventually, they’ll find their way from one to the other.  If you’re using the stacking tupperware, you can just load up a fresh one with new bedding, coffee grounds, etc., stack it on top of the old one, and they’ll work their way up into it over a few weeks (or longer, but, what’s the rush?)
2. A little faster method is to divide the contents of the bin into two halves.  Put clean stuff in one side and leave the poopy stuff in the other.  Stop feeding the fecal side and only feed the clean side.  They’ll naturally migrate from Dungtown to Freshville in a couple of weeks.
3. The fastest way, short of picking them out and moving them by hand, is to combine either method with light.  They hate it.  Either put the #1 dirty bin on top and leave the top off while you’re around and the lights are on and they’ll flee downward, or open the #2 top to cover the clean side and leave the dirty side exposed.  Same deal.  They’ll flee toward the darkness.  I’ve had this method work pretty well in a matter of a couple of days.  It helps to stir the exposed castings now and then to get it all exposed to light.

In any case, you are not going to get all of them out of the compost, and that’s “OK”.  There are going to be scads of worms and eggs in your box by the time it needs to be changed.  Just try to get most of them out.  The rest can be set free into the wild*.  You just want to keep your box working.

*Note: There’s some rumble as of late about these worms being “invasive” species– particularly in woodlands.  Now, I’m all for reasonable efforts to maintain native species and all, but if I dig up a shovel of soil in my yard, there are almost certainly going to be dozens, if not hundreds, of worms in it.  Not releasing some of these ultra-common critters into the soil is not going to make one iota of difference.  It’d be like not wanting to brush some salt off your plate into the ocean.

Thanks for the question, DK.