July 1st, 2017
The Worm Man BLOG
https://thewormman.com.au/the-worm-man-blog/
Hi everyone!
Wow – it’s been quite a busy time for me this last week.
I am working on THREE projects at the same time (whew!).
Two new ones are the new 3-tier half-barrel system which I talked about last week, my rebuild of my harvester (about the 7th one !) – and the Vermicomposting Planter project with Bentley Christie.
The Vermicomposting Planter Project (with Bentley)
You can read about the start of the Vermicomposting Planter project on my last BLOG post here:
https://thewormman.com.au/vermicomposting-planter-project-1-blog/
I got the planter fully built as I talked about in that last BLOG post.
I’ve added more “oversize material” from harvesting to it, which contains worms.
That’s what comes out of a rotating “trommel” harvester – the material which doesn’t go through the screen, which contains the worms.
It’s had a good feeding of the coffee and aged grass recipe that I’m pretty happy with (thanks to my fellow admin Larry Shier for that tip!)
I’ve had to delay the editing of the how-to DIY videos to finish the other two projects I needed to do.
Here’s some nice pics of the Vermicomposting Planter for you as promised last week (when we get ourselves organized I will watermark the pics with our new website name):
You’ll note that we designed a “harvest door” into the bottom of the worm area.
This is to make it easier to harvest some VC out when the worm box fills up.
This will be of great benefit – instead of having to remove the worms and the working layer of the worm box to harvest, you can just take some VC out of the bottom!
The planter areas are MASSIVE – 12 inches wide x 24 inches deep! You will be able to grow some SERIOUS produce in them.
I put a nice name plate on it. I like doing that sort of thing – and TBH I also did it to tease Bentley a little 😀
(C’mon Bentley, build one already – I finished mine a week ago – LOL ! )
So – more on the Vermicomposting Planter Project when I can release more to you guys.
The NEW Harvester Rebuild:
I’ve rebuilt my vermicompost harvester (or parts of it) about 7 times now.
I’m pretty convinced this is THE FINAL BUILD!
I have built into it the option of a handle (like in my old builds) but have also incorporated a snazzy motor.
The motor helps make me more productive (like for that big perpetual VC order I talked about last week)
I will be releasing paid-for plans to this unit – SO MUCH time has gone into it and it is such a good machine, that I feel I owe it to myself to charge a LITTLE bit for it.
But I’ll also be releasing a big new FREE e-book guide on harvesting as well.
You REALLY don’t need a harvester unless you are looking to sell the VC – or have a VERY big farm.
So I will be putting a lot of work into the FREE e-book to show you all how to harvest vermicompost “101 ways without a fancy harvester” (lol)
The bath tub worm farm and the half-barrel worm farm systems:
To read up on the start of the bath tub and half-barrel systems you can check out this BLOG post:
https://thewormman.com.au/vermicomposting-planter-wedge-more-worm-farms-blog/
The bath tubs:
As an aside to this, as I told you in the last BLOG post about my composting worm expansion, I have figured out my rebuild of the bath tub worm farm.
I will be able to rebuild the frame to incorporate the existing tub on the bottom and the new tub on the top – so, like the barrels, I will have a stacked tub system.
Pictures and possibly how-to videos coming (wow – I’ve got a lot to do !)
The half-barrel worm farm systems:
I have only gotten time and materials to build the “prototype”.
Since building that first unit I have bought the materials I need to make several more.
The advantage to these type of systems, over smaller systems like trays, is the size of them. The larger a system is, it is generally easier to look after.
The new barrel systems I am building now are a “quick and dirty” build – VERY unlike that first nicely finished and oiled two-barrel unit that you may have seen before.
I have decided I could fit in about 5 of these units now. I needed a little extra space for the harvester to be operated easily – so that’s why I reduced it by one set.
I decided to try to get 3 half-barrels into each frame to make extra use of the floor space I’m dedicating to them. So I should end up with 17 half-barrels (including the old 2 barrel unit).
I should be able to make some DIY videos available soon on how to build these quickly and easily.
You will note the barrels are fitted with a drain.
I will be using the same drainage system I designed for my bath tub worm farm that I’ve shown before. Details on that are here:
https://thewormman.com.au/bath-tub-worm-farm/
Here are some pictures of the first unit:
You can see a little of the leg of the previous two-barrel system in that photo.
In comparison I am using the same wood I used in the Vermicomposting Planter in the new barrel systems – untreated rough sawn pine, 6 x 1 inch planks. I split the planks in half to give me 3×1 inch timber. I’m not planning on finishing the timber in any way – it will be natural rough sawn wood – but it still looks pretty nice!
Here you can see the drain hoses I’ve inserted into each barrel.
I will be piping the leachate from them into a common bucket.
I will basically be placing 4 of these systems in a block – so the top 8 barrels will all drain into one bucket. Unfortunately the bottom 4 barrels will just drain onto the grass as they aren’t high enough to get a bucket under.
Anyway – so that ends my post today.
Thanks very much for reading my blog – and HAPPY WORMING.
(remember to subscribe to get a free worm feeding guide – signup link is below – and it now actually WORKS lol – thanks to those who reported the broken link to me!)
Regards,
Brian Donaldson
TheWormMan.com.au
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