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Place one of the feeding trays on the collector/base tray. Lay 4 sheets of newspaper (we recommend garden cloth, we believe newspaper has too much ink, chemicals) in the tray to cover the holes. Something that helps to keep the worms and castings from filtering down with the tea. The instruction book suggests using the cardboard (cardboard has glue) lid for this purpose, but we find that it traps too much moisture. Now scoop the coconut fiber (we like shredded PC paper better) out of the bucket in handfuls, squeezing out excess moisture, so that the fiber is about AS MOIST AS A WRUNG-OUT SPONGE. YOU WANT THE BEDDING TO BE DAMP, NOT DRIPPING WET.
Mix several handfuls of rich, dark soil and / or compost with the coir to seed the bedding with the microorganisms that break down the organic material, making it available to the worms. Place 2 handfuls of food waste on top of the coir NOW, so that when the worms arrive there will be food ready for them. Cover with 4 inches of shredded and dampened, not dripping newspaper. Remember all materials are a food source for the worms. So, allow time for the worms to work the initial bedding or buy more worms to start right into your food
stock. Important to remember you are creating the basis for your own food. Whatever you put into the worms may end up on your dinner table in the form of vegetables/plants. Consider what you would want to eat. Even if the worms can totally transmute it in to safe useable garden components.
1. When your worms arrive, place them onto the surface of the bedding, under the layer of shredded moist PC paper. They will quickly disappear under the surface of the bedding.
2. The bedding may reach the top of the inner ribs of the tray. Wait to put on the next tray for a couple of months. The bedding in the 1st tray will settle and become more compacted over time. If you put the next tray on now the bedding in the 1st tray will settle to create a gap between the top of the bedding in the 1st tray and the bottom of the 2nd tray. (Worms are lousy jumpers!) The bedding in the lower tray MUST come in contact with the bottom of the next tray up to allow the worms to migrate up to the food in that tray. If a gap develops between levels, just place several inches of shredded moist PC paper on top of the bedding in the lower level to provide a path between layers.
3. WHEN YOU SEE THE WORMS ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN THE WASTE THAT YOU PREVIOUSLY FED THEM, YOU MAY THEN FEED THEM MORE. DO NOT OVER FEED!!! Be sure to cover the exposed food in the uppermost tray with 4 in. of damp shredded PC paper. This layer of PC paper is very important for breeding, pest control, C:N ratio, and castings quality. The PC paper will eventually be consumed. Simply replace the shredded paper as needed. If leaving worms unattended, put 6 in. of shredded paper in bin; this won't heat up like food does.
4. Open the spigot in the bottom collector/base tray and keep a small bucket under it. By keeping the spigot open at all times you can collect the valuable liquid “worm tea” that will leach through the compost while promoting the oxygen flow through the system. This leachate can be used as long as you don't leave it for more than a day in the bucket. If it has an offensive odor, don't use it until you have aerated it with an aquarium air pump or poured it from one container to another several times to promote aerobic bacteria growth.
When the upper tray is converted to a mixture of vermicompost and castings and reaches 2 inches above the inner ribs of the tray then it is time to add the next tray. Scrape an inch of compost from above the ribs and place into the next tray making sure that the top of the bedding in the lower tray comes in complete contact with the bottom of the tray you are adding. Feed and cover with 4 in. of dampened shredded PC paper.
When the 3rd tray is full, remove and empty the bottom tray using the contents as 20% of any potting mix, soil or compost blend. The now empty tray will become the new upper tray.
Worms will migrate down if system gets too wet or hot. We suggest cleaning out the collector tray every other month or so, placing the contents (if any) back into the top level or spray with a hose over a flower bed so as not to waste any vermicompost or tea.
Do not pour water over your bedding. Condensation produced from decomposition provides enough moisture for your system. If you want more “worm tea” simply take a cup of well processed castings from a lower tray and steep in a gallon of water overnight and use within 12 hrs. to water plants.
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