Catmandoo,
How often do you have to clean out the old castings and put in new dirt? It's amazing that this little bin full of worms can consume a gallon of kitchen scraps a week!
Jersey,
Here is what we put in about twice a week. We put in all the non-meat food scraps from the kitchen.
This is about a handful turned over from the top couple of inches of my worm box. Currently there are thousands of worms in the bin, ranging from real small to somewhat bigger than those shown here. Many of the big ones get chosen as my fishing buddies.
The last time I put in scraps was 4 days ago. Except for a few scraps of corn husks, nothing much else is recognizable. The bucketful above will be unrecognizable in 3-4 days.
I filled a five gallon bucket with castings in about mid-June. I've also taken out several large cans of castings and worms that I've put into some big leaf piles I have. It is again about time to take out another five gallon bucket of castings. I take out about the bottom 4-5 inches from the bin, and it is very black and dense.
I no longer try to get all the worms out from the castings I remove. It is just too much work, and the worms grow back really fast. I just keep the biggest ones.
This time of year I add a small shovel full of dirt to give the worms a little grit after I remove the five gallons of castings.
What I'm amazed at is how the worms thrive whether the weather is 45 or 95 degrees. There are days I'll forget a small can of worms (half full of the castings) on the dock. I'll go back the next day, and they'll still be just as healthy after sitting in the sun for several hours.
I get all the fishing worms I need for the grandkids and me.
Good fishn'
Ken
