Harvesting Worm Castings From a Flow-Through Worm Bin

Back in October, I did my first conversion of a standard two-bin worm bin setup to a flow-through system.
When I did the conversion, I had a couple goals in mind.
First, I wanted to increase the air flow in the system to ensure that beneficial aerobic bacteria remain dominant. Though a standard 2-bin Rubbermaid setup has drainage holes that allow leachate to drain from the upper into the lower bin, the holes can get plugged with castings, resulting in excess moisture and limited air flow in the upper bin, especially at the bottom of the upper bin. This moist, relatively low oxygen environment can result in anaerobic bacteria becoming dominant, instead of aerobic.
Second, I wanted to make harvesting worm castings easier. Harvesting castings is one of the few garden chores that I really don't enjoy, and I knew from experience that harvesting castings from my Worm Inn flow-through system was much easier than harvesting from my 2 bin systems.

OYR is all about growing a lot of food on a little land using sustainable organic methods, while keeping costs and labor at a minimum. Emphasis is placed on improving soil quality with compost, mulch, and compost tea. No store-bought fertilizers, soil amendments, pesticides, compost activators, etc. are used.

[jimsmij]

Very interesting worm bin design. Thanks for sharing.

[McDowallManor]

Thanks Patrick.  This is one of those videos that makes me reconsider the standard approach to things - I love that.  My worm farm is very new (literally, a few days old).  I think I'll attempt a modified version of what you are doing (although I might wait until my worms are breeding nicely - just in case it goes wrong). My little mind is ticking and scheming. 

[Buzatesri]

Thanks, well done.  I appreciate especially the professional video work and narration which makes the content so much more watchable.

[jcjdvm]

Thank you for this, it is brilliant.  I think I may reproduce your work.  I love my worms, hate harvesting, I spend way too much time with tiny worms and egg casings. You could set two small litter boxes or aluminum baking trays in the bottom that would make it even easier to pull out the castings, as they would fit out your hole in the front. Because I don't like separating out the compost, I set two bins in my raised garden beds, one out of a five gallon bucket and one with 4" PVC, both fenestrated with many1/4" holes, it is amazing how much better the plants adjacent are doing than the rest of the bed.
   I have two questions for you. Is that pumice in your castings? I occasionally have trouble with worms crawling out my drainage holes in the bottom once my bottom bedding has degraded, I think it may be due to excess moisture and some clogged holes, I am unsure. Does this happen with yours? Thank you for your time.

[sfchemist]

This looks very interesting, thanks for sharing your modifications with us.  I just today got my first batch of worms and added them to the standard two-bin system but I'll give serious consideration to your method here.
Thanks, Wayne 

[jimkinson]

Greetings Patrick. Going to take the dive into worm farming. I have watched so many videos on this and I think I am going to go with your design. Thanks so much for all your informative videos. Blessings, Jim

[GardeningWithPuppies]

That method makes a lot of sense. I am finding that my worm bin gets a little more moist than I think is desirable. I am going to try your system. Thanks so much for the tip.

[lindalisting]

Brilliant! We just discovered anaerobic reactions in our bin and way too much moisture. Definitely a very helpful video.

[Lemonz]

Hi. :) I don't know if you've made a video about it before (I've tried looking, but can't find one), but do you keep tabs on how much food you produce each year? You probably don't need any more motivation, but I've found that it motivates me to weigh everything I harvest and write it down, to compare to the next year. I've just moved to a warmer climate, so I want to start gardening on a larger scale than before. However, I don't want to start with too much while I'm still new, as it could become more of a chore than a great hobby. Anyway, I've managed to produce around 22 kg of food in 2013, and I'm quite pleased. Hopefully I can double that in 2014! :)

[ThreeTeen]

I am glad that this worked out for you. I have the old style you had and everything that you talk about is true. I love this design. A must do for us.

[KFB]

Great video and worm bin set-up. How do you store your worm casting over the winter?

[ohhowhappygardener]

Early on in your video, it looked like you were using the Worm Inn flow through composting system.  How did you like that setup?  Why did you switch over to a Rubbermaid conversion?

[Viva_la_natura]

I'm sold - nice harvest too! I'm using the standard 2 bin system now, and I have the same concerns. I'm going to switch to this design....ASAP. Thanks Patrick.

[mrb]

I like that system Patrick. Great video.

[stevenfeil]

Split some poly tubing and slip it over the top edge of your harvesting hole to protect your arm.

I have read that 20 - 24" in depth is the de facto standard for flow through depth to keep worms out of the harvested material.

[BrightGreenPlanet]

Thanks allot 1YR, love the vids very cool, my garden is improving allot, you rock.

[Redarkrome]

You are a great!
I follow your channel and I learn much from your experience.
Thank you for sharing!
Greetings from North West Italy.
Dario

[SoWhyDontYou]

Great video, in the future would like to try building my own bins.  Will watch the other video on how to make one. Beautiful castings-dark and rich color.

[coffinshaker]

Beautiful chorus effect in the beginning

[mbharatm]

You could get all the worm leachate by having a sloping plastic bag tied to a glass bottle. All the leachate would collect into the bottle, and then when you are ready to harvest the castings, just untie the plastic bag, remove the bottle, and let the casting drop down.