Organizing your bin for your next feed and harvesting

We label our bin lids by number. The side that number is on denotes which side of the bin the food was added to last. We also keep the drainage bucket's handle on that side, a kind of double insurance. So the next time we go to feed the worms we first drain the liquid gold from the bottom bucket to leave enough space for the next batch of gold. (Its important to drain your bin so that it doesn't sit in liquid and become too wet for the worms.) We then switch the handle's side. (It is important to leave the side that was previously fed alone because the worms are very busy finishing off your scraps over there. That said, curious kids can take a look, just be gentle and always add new scraps to an empty side so as to not overfeed the worms.) This time, dig a trench on the empty side and pour your scraps in, carefully covering them with the peat moss that was pushed back.

Your worms will be ready for more scraps when the first side is scrap free. They work pretty quickly, but don't overfeed!

After 6 or so months have passed it is time to harvest your compost. The worm castings have to be removed from the bin and new peat moss added in to insure the worm's health (no one wants to live in their own, ahem, castings). The typical suggestion is to dig out the peat moss/castings and worms and pick out most of the worms. This takes surprisingly long :) Worms don't like to be hot or dry, so we use lamps to drive them underground. This approach takes a while too, but requires only a couple of minutes every half hour or so, versus crawling around after worms for the afternoon :) Its a good cold/hot weather activity when you are hanging around the house. But both approaches work.

Place a light just above an open bin (the clamp lamps sold at hardware stores work great). The worms will burrow down and after 30 minutes (or so) you can dig the top few inches of compost off - worm free. Repeat this process until you are low in the bin and there are tons of worms. At this point add new peat moss and feed one side of the bin and the whole process has begun again! The compost you remove can be added to your garden, to top dress your houseplants or donated to your local community garden.