Join the Worm Farm Hangout here: 🔗 https://www.skool.com/live/zRBSzM3JjlB Our friend @Rick Redding had a great idea for creating a community hangout room, so I thought I'd give it a try starting July 1. This is a place for anyone in the community to hop on, chat, ask questions, share what you're working on, or just get to know other worm farmers. Whether you're brand new or have been worm farming for years, everyone is welcome. I'll jump in from time to time when I can, but this space is really for all of us to connect and learn from each other. Join the Worm Farm Hangout here: 🔗 https://www.skool.com/live/zRBSzM3JjlB Let's see where this goes! 🪱

Hello everyone, Ronald from California here! I wanted to give you all an update on my different worm setups. My main goal for the indoor bin is to double my worm population. I’ve been watching some videos that suggest using a smaller container; the idea is that it helps the worms find each other more easily, which should lead to more cocoons. So far, I estimate I have about 30–40 cocoons inside! My outdoor setup has a different goal—creating high-quality compost for my plants. Interestingly, the outdoor bin seems much more active than the indoor one, and I’m already seeing a lot of baby worms growing in there. Sometimes I see spiders and slugs that I keep in them in control for the outside bin. I’ve also noticed that the worms seem much happier and more active in a soggy, litle wet (when I tried to squeeze but by my hand it may be drip few water) rather than a mushy one. I did run into a small issue with the outdoor bin recently—it started smelling a bit sour and funky. I suspect I might have added too many coffee grounds and eggshells. I added more cardboard to balance it out, and that fixed the problem; it smells earthy and like real compost now. I do have a question for you all: I’m seeing what looks like little golden flakes or rust-like bits in the outdoor compost. Is this safe, or is it something I need to address? Since I’m still pretty new to this, I’d love to hear your thoughts. If anyone here lives in California and has experience with worms, do you find they are also happier when things are extra soggy? I have box of Lipton boxes that experid, can I add that to the bins? I’m very open to any suggestions or positive criticism. Thanks in advance!

I am overly excited about 200 grams of compost and tiny tiny worms (1-2 cm babies)😂 Correct me if I am wrong! I started a pre-compost two days ago and wrote about it in my first post here a few hours ago. It hasn't reached the heat we want yet, but as I said, I think I need to add more food waste and probably move it to a larger bin (which I actually just bought today!). Since my worms arrived today earlier than expected, I grabbed a little bit of that pre-compost to put into their new bin. Is that okay? 😬

I was looking in on my worms after ignoring them for 3-4 days (I'm getting better at that) and didn't even notice this while checking out my tower and the @Cherene Packard Nursery. Took me a minute to grasp all the color I was seeing in my breeder bin and what it was! Guess there was some active spores left in the substrate! Shot the video and then looked at the other nursery. That's the still photo! What an adventure!

This is something I think everyone should understand and then make their own educated decisions. A lot of us are taught that the drainage in your bins is “worm tea,” but it is not. It is leachate. These videos explain a little more about the differences. Ultimately it’s up to you and whether you want to use it or not. Just be aware of what it is. ☺️