What are worm castings? Quite simply they are the end result of worms eating, or worm manure. The differences between worm castings and other forms of manure are many.
Worm castings are coated with a calcium shell making them slow release
Worms have a "gizzard" like structure that allows organic matter to be broken down more than animals can.
Worms live in the ground and make the ground healthy, with their castings, by adding antibiotics and enzymes.
Castings are sifted with a 1/8 inch screen making them spreadable with a broadcast spreader.
Vermi-Compost is sifted with a 1/4 inch screen and will contain a larger amount of uneaten organic matter. This is good for very sandy or hard clay soils. It also makes for a good worm food to attract worms to your garden.
They are made of all the nutrients your plants need with 25% organic matter (which is exactly what is recommended for your soil.)
Worms are fed primarily vegetable matter (paper, cardboard, leaves, vegetable leftovers) so there is less possibility of harmful bacteria being on your vegetables.
Castings smell like soil because it is all dirt without earthworm castings!
250,000 worms eating trash in a 235 gallon stock tank. On the left there is a pair of jeans.
There are several ways to get castings. We use shaker boxes which are easy to use and inexpensive.
Worms leave very few leftovers. This picture shows everything left over after sifting.
Finally castings are dried to less than 40% moisture and bagged. Open your castings when you get them home. This allows the organisms to survive.
How does Arpeggio Farms, Inc. create worm castings?
It is a fairly simple process, however a process that is not done by most worm farmers. The primary goal of Arpeggio Farms is to reduce the of waste that is sent to the landfill. Most metro areas trash is made of 80% organic waste which makes for good worm food. The challenge is getting the proper carbon/nitrogen (C/N ratio) balance. Most of the waste produced is paper or cardboard, which is high in carbon. 7.5% of waste is leftovers from restaurants and homes which is high in nitrogen. This is not enough nitrogen for all the carbon thrown away, so Arpeggio Farms adds a special blend of high nitrogen organics to balance the C/N ratio. Each bin is started with ONP (old newspaper print) because of its low amount of chemicals and OCC (Old Corrugated Cardboard), again because of low chemicals and the worms love cardboard. Brand new bins also get a portion of food waste which is high in protein for the worms. Since food waste can contain meats and dairy, only new bins get food waste allowing time for the worms to completely eat all bacteria that might be present.
We do not encourage new worm farmers or backyard composters to use any meats or dairies! Problems for using meats and dairies improperly include, but not limited to; odor problems, rodent problems, fly problems and mainly harmful bacteria contamination of any edible plants!
After 3 months of feeding grass, leaves, cardboard and Arpeggio Farms Nitrogen Booster formula, then it is time to sift the into a container. Vermicompost is worm castings mixed with partially composted organic matter. The eat down sift is the most important part of creating a high quality castings. This sift is done with a 1/4 inch screen to allow some un-eaten worm food and worms to fall into the eat down container. The worms will be left alone for 1 month to allow them to eat as much food as possible, and allow for worms to grow up and be sifted out at the last sift.
Once the worms have eaten down nearly all the organic matter in the bin ( this also kills quite a few worms), its time for the final sift into the drying container. When worm castings are wet they will stick together making it difficult to spread with a broadcast. Castings hold a lot of moisture very well. This is due to the mucus the worms produce to keep them moist, which will make your soil retain more water dry times of the year. It takes upwards of 2 days of drying with no more than 4 inches of castings to take 50% of the moisture out. Once moisture levels are down to 35% from 70% (or more), then it is time to bag the castings and send them on their way.
Castings are now
available through the internet! We are making every effort to
increase casting production in order to have this fantastic product
available through the internet year round. Worm castings are
sold to markets in Des Moines, Omaha and Denver. Click here to find where worm castings are sold.
We do add labeling to our product with few instructions to keep costs
down. Arpeggio Farms All Natural Soil Booster is so inexpensive
compared to the national average of $.85 a pound, you can afford
shipping to your location! Some of our competitors are selling it
at over $2 a pound because it is that good of a soil amendment and in
such high demand. We will continue to provide quality castings at
the lowest possible cost.
