Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig.7.14:
Finishingthepre-compostforthewormbinusingequalamountsofshreddedpaperandpre-compost
and a couple of handfuls of worm castings.
First, collect equal volumes of bokashi pre-compost (drained of any excess bokashi leachate)
and a carbon source such as straw, dried grass, or shredded paper. Mix the two together along with
acoupleofhandfulsofwormcastings.Thenputthemixtureintoaplasticbagorbucket,sealit,and
let it sit out of direct sunlight at room temperature for a week.
The finishing will trigger some hot composting that will allow the pre-compost to mellow out
and return to a more neutral pH. After a week, the mixture can then be incorporated into the worm
bin. Just add it to one section of the bin, cover it with some bedding, and let the worms work into
it when they are ready. The key to this process is finishing the pre-compost, which will reduce your
chances of shocking the system.
Thatsaid,therearepeopleouttherewhoaddrawunfinishedpre-compost directly towormbins
without any observable extreme negative effects. I have experimented with this to try to get a feel
for the effects and haven't noticed any big issues. It seems that the worms naturally shy away from
the newly introduced raw pre-compost until it has sat for some period of time and they deem it to
be OK. I can't give you any more specifics than that, but I would say that the key is to only add a
small amount of raw pre-compost at a time, and only to one small section of the worm bin. When I
