Define Worm Castings

I have seen statements in this forum for several years now regarding the collection of worm castings. Typical statements read, "My worms castings are now ready to collect."; or possibly the question, " How do I remove worms from my worm castings". I must admit I am perplexed at what qualifies 'ready worm castings'. How would you define the term 'worm castings'?

hey morgan..
always enjoy your questions thoughts here.. im usually thinkin some of same..
for me.. "ready to collect" is im way behind in sorting thru my worm bins..and separating out worms from
castings.. LOL
when i feed bins and see most of the bedding is totally dark crumbly..i figure its castings..and the worms
are "thinking" when is this *&^%&* going to give us new bedding and feed us" LOL :)
the castings i use always give me a noticable positive in how my plants grow..fend off disease..overal health
i always find a little crawly or castings comming out drain holes so i know i miss some eggs..or tiny worms when
i separate my worms/castings..
but the worms seem to be happy campers.. when i find some on bottom of pots i just throw them back into one of
my 4 bins..
you stay warm up there morgan!!!!

dark and black media = worm castings! You know Dave I think that really defines it pretty well. I haven't changed my media in years. The media as I mentioned before is peat moss, but all I ever do is replace a small percentage of it each time I feed the worms. So the media I remove from the tops of the bins is worm castings according to this definition. I have no experience with the tiered-try method, but frequently I hear of removing worm castings from the 'bottom' of these. I don't know if that is the bottom tier or the bottom of each tier. But much of the removal of casting comments are comming from people who use this method. I would be curious to know if they would agree with this definition.

Before using I grate my 'castings' through a 1/4th-inch screen to get it as fine as possible without any clumps, twigs, or whatever. This material looks very similar to what I have seen for sale as worm castings in nurseries and garden stores. So my conclusion is it's the same. Since there doesn't seem to be a criteria as such for what worm castings is on their labels I presume this is the materila we are talking about. So know I'm wondering if anyone here has had experience with marketing this material.

i was looking thru my many seed/plant catalogs that are comming in now.. all of them are selling worm castings, and bags of castings to
make tea.. many sell their castings for as much as $6 a pound.. whew.. i started buying castings from sellers on ebay.. i got for alot less than
that.. but now with my 4 bins.. LOL i harvest an easy 30# every few months..
i wonder sometimes as easy as it is to raise worms.. why so many more gardeners dont...
are you getting any break in the cold up there morgan?

Not much Dave, but the sun did shine for a few hours yesterday and I finished trimming my rasberries and gooseberries.

Since your media of choise is choir Dave, do you have any idea how that compares with the Canadian peat moss for worm castings. DocGripe has posted the nutrient value of castings in an earlier posting and it's really interesting. Would not expect there to be a great deal of difference but maybe Doc has some ideas if he got his ears on here.

hey morgan..had some wet snow here yesterday..but warmed up.. lol.. 40s.. and melted..
its trying to be sunny out there today..but mor hazy .. oh well..
ya.. i use coir in my gardens..not in with my worms..i did start with it..but its pricy for that.. and takes longer
for the worms to go thru.. so in the bins just shredded cardboard..
thats a good question on comparison of peat/coir as garden soil additive... coir last longer than peat in the
soil. main reason im using it..but i also use peat.. our soil here in ut is on alkaline side..so the slight acidity peat gives
is a plus.. coir is pretty pH nutural..
you and i both know the great value castings are..in our gardening.. micro nutrients,retention of water,helping bioactivity
of the soil..(in aerated casting tea)...
hope your spring comes to ya soon !!!!!

Sun did shine for a while so I snuck out and did some late berry bush pruning. Just looking for excuses to be outside. Today I think I will go pick out rocks from the garden. It always fascinates me how rocks keep working their way to the surface over the winter. Can't explain that one. Have yet to try the worm tea project, but I did receive the aerator finally and anxious to try it out. Much to big for a 5 gallon bucket, but should work nicely with a 30-55 gallon bucket. Just have to figure out the air dinamics. Manufacturer says so many liters of air/min and I'm use to cu ft/sec, but that's no big deal to convert. Just don't think an aquarium pump will do the job and keep the solids in suspension. Too much air will definitely not work either. Figure my best bet it to purchase a air pump with a storage tank, and adjust the air feed accordingly. My big concern is that it will be too pricy to make it practical compared to other methods, although some of the catalog prices for tea makers are pretty stiff.

While on the subject of worm tea, I was wondering about adding beneficial nematodes to the tea mix. Like worms my garden could use these beneficial nematodes and it seems like a good way to apply them. Will post this question in another forum to see what ideas come back.

glad ya got some sunshine !!! its nice here today..i dragged out all my tropicals i have in pots.. my aching back..LOL
yea..same here on the rocks comming to surface of garden.. i think its a conspiracy..LOL :) ehheheheh
yea..it is good to be out on nice days.. i filled my 3 bird feeders in back.. i go thru 40# of blackoil sunflowers every 3 weeks.. they should
be nice and plump this summer!!!! :) one thing..i have found.. when i keep up with feeding birds during summer.. and im guessing bird population
in neighborhood is higher..from survival.. i have fewer bugs that summer...??? could be making this up..but seems so...
i know you'll figure something out on your project..you are a clever smart guy...
yea..i agree on the catalog castings tea.. no way would i pay prices they are selling them for.. my system is pretty low tech..but works.. :)
on nematodes.. i use shrimp..or crab shells on my lawn every 3 yrs or so.. you can buy a big 50# bag from peacful valley supply(its in cali)..
in the tea.. good question..dont know..
you stay warm up there.. hope spring comes soon for ya !!!!

Well, we are having good weather. Oh yea, that is usual.

I am with you Mraider, on the rocks. I dig up and separate the rocks and in no time they are back. AND on top of the soil.

I have two workers. Today and tomorrow. They were fascinated that everywhere they dug, besides rocks, all they found was worms. I told them I fed my worms and they asked how. I actually had two workers, both legal, one spoke English and one does not. They work for the landscape company that does the association and my landscape. I pay $10 a hour per worker but they are strong and work side by side with me and only stop when I stop. Occasionally I have to stop to give them a rest. LOL