Harvesting Season: A New Method to Avoid Madness

Last Fall, a dear friend and newly initiated vermophile asked for harvesting advice. We started to paraphrase the glib, idealized processes described in various books and on-line resources:

Method 1: Start feeding a different part of the bin; allow sufficient time for the worms to migrate to that area; remove casting from the other side/bin.
Method 2: Open bin and place in sun; worms burrow lower to escape sun; skim off top layer of castings; repeat as necessary.

Then we got real and described how it has worked for us using a multi-tray worm bin:

• Stop feeding bin to be harvested;
  
• Wait for worms to migrate to other bins; wait some more; wait--perhaps months;
  
• Realize that worms are still fat and happy in all bins, merrily breeding to produce more wigglers among the compost, egg shells, and food scraps alike;
  
• Give up migration method and expose bin to direct sunlight;
  
• Wait and skim off minuscule layer of castings to find happy worms barely below the surface;
  
• Dump tray out onto plastic sheet and spread castings out from the center with a mound in middle for worm refuge;
  
• Wait the inordinate amount of time you think necessary for worms to move to sanctuary; finally begin skimming off a minuscule layer of castings; worms obstinately offer only rank & serial number despite hours of intensive sun treatment;
  
• Spread castings into a fine layer and manually remove the enormous number of worms that remain; marvel at the writhing masses you find huddled among the eggs shells;
  
• Sincerely thank the observing children for helping to encouraging due diligence by screeching, "Save the wormie!" at full volume and close proximaty whenever a pinkie is discovered desiccating among the distributed compost;
  
• Place saved worms in another prepared tray or fed section; pretend you do not see, and therefore cannot be expected to save, the millions upon millions of eggs scattered in the harvested compost;
  
• Freeze harvested castings, ostensibly to kill any eggs or undesirable vermin that remain--secretly, gloating that you may have bested a few stragglers;
  
• Pour a cold beverage; order take-out; and plan to harvest another bin as soon as you recover--maybe next year.

You might note this is a "12-Step" process. We acknowledge that we have a problem and accept responsibility for the solution.

This year, we are using a new, or at least modified, method. An empty worm tray is placed over one of the new bulk bins and handfuls of the compost from a full tray is placed into the empty one. Hand sorting is still required, but some worms are driven by their own initiative to escape into the lower bin through the holes in the sorting tray. We hope this trait translates to preferential breeding success and eventually results in a herd of self-sorting compost worms. For now, it is relatively easy to lift the remaining stragglers from the upper tray to the lower bin along with any remaining food scraps.

The process is not perfect, but it is less onerous. We still pretend not to see the plethora of eggs.