Continuous Flow Vermicompost

The continuous flow vermicomposter creates compost in the rectangular chamber. A lid is attached to prevent exposure to sunlight, exposure to the elements, and rodents from getting in. It is continuous because the system will continuously provide us with vermicompost as long as the worms continue to be fed with greens and it is maintained.

Step-by-step process

*Building the continuous flow vermicomposter requires extensive time and a high torque drill.

Make the bottom frame using 3 of the 2x4’s. To do so, cut one of the 4 ft long 2x4’s in half. Use wood screws to fix the frame together.

Drill ½ inch holes 2 inches apart along the 4ft side of the frame, cut the PVC pipe using a PVC pipe cutter into 2 ft lengths.

Feed the PVC pipe through the holes and attach the plywood to the frame covering the holes.

Attach the remaining 4 2x4’s creating the legs for the box.

Attach any remaining wood as support for the end pieces of plywood.

Use the last piece of 2ftx4ft plywood to make a lid adding the hinge.

Use caulk to fill in any gaps between the plywood and the frame to create a watertight seal.

Create the rodent proof screen for the base. Using the 1in x 2in x 8ft furring board, create a screen, cut the board into 2 2ft pieces and 2 4ft pieces. Make a frame and staple chicken wire to cover it. Then, using the remaining wood, cut small pieces to act as pegs to hold the screen in place. Fix the pegs on the legs to allow space for the screen to slide into place covering the bottom opening.

Set Up

Before putting in any bedding material, a sheet of paper was placed all around the bottom of the system and was dampened. This sheet of paper prevents the leaking of bedding material. Next, the bedding was added. The bedding consisted of pre-made compost that was already in the garden, coffee grounds, store-bought raised bed mix, and ripped-up paper bags. The bedding was thoroughly mixed together and dampened.

In the 20-inch deep composter, the bedding was built up to about 5 inches from the top of the composter. The worms will only go about 12 inches deep.

Maintenance, Harvesting, and Use

Using the system is fairly simple. The worms do all the work of turning and processing. The job of the person is to maintain their environment.

The worms and compost are regularly monitored. The compost maintenance crew has been feeding the system an average of 3 compost pails full of veggies scraps and 1/3 of a compost pail of sawdust every week.

The colony will double in size about every 90 days. With the increase in the colony, their feeding habits will change and more food waste will need to be added as time goes on.

Harvesting

After 4-6 months, the castings will be ready to harvest. To do so, we will use a hand-held garden rake and scrape the castings from between the PVC pipes at the bottom of the design.

System Takeaways

Worm colony

This system has been continuously productive as the compost maintenance crew never detected a decline in worm population. It appeared as if the colony size did double in size after 90 days as intended.

Maintenance Complexity

The system is very easy to maintain. Little labor is required to maintain the system.

Moisture levels

Feeding with the 8:1 proportion of greens to browns does not negatively affect the system's moisture levels. Since the system has an abundance of bedding and depth, there is a lot of material to take in and absorb the moisture.

Aeration

The system has airflow due to the lid not closing the system completely. Air is able to enter in through the gaps between the lid and the walls of the system.

The maintenance crew believes that the system benefits from the air gaps as it helps prevent odors and allows for aerobic decomposition.

Design Flaws

A problem we encountered was that the lid to the system broke after a few months.

The screws in the hinge came undone and fell out, separating the lid from the back panel it was attached to.

The compost maintenance crew suggests that the lid, and perhaps the walls, be made more sturdy to prevent this from happening.

Another option could be placing the system closer to a fence or a wall so that when the lid is lifted, it can rest against that wall instead of falling all the way back.

Rodent Activity

A rat tried to climb into the system but failed. It climbed half way up the legs then gave up. This shows that having the system elevated does work well at preventing rats from accessing the system.

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