how mysterious!
the lotus remains unstained by its muddy roots,
delivering shimmerimg bright jewels
from common dew 

- henjo

 
Gaiacraft Vermiculture 

here is another level of the Heart Gardens composting system an easy to make worm farm system that creates biodynamically charged worm castings and 'mugwump gysm' ultra fertilizer liquid biodynamic tea deep in the work as part of our Permaculture Certification Course Gaiacraft this module was set up an a permaculture education outreach opportunity to inspire people to set up functional composts around their own home the photographs in this section were all taken by Poxin thanks to lunaya for her help with this virtual class development The mission is to create a worm farm in a raised sink. Rainwater will drip through holes in the lid and percolate through the worm farm dripping down the sink hole and into a bucket below. Voila incredibly potent organic, biodynamic infused liquid fertilizer.

First step is getting a frame that can support a sink or bathtub. Mine is pretty fancy all finished with wood. around the edges, not neccisary for a home design. There must be a lid with holes to keep out the sun and let in a small amount of rain. I keep it locked to keep my tiny civilization of worms safe since it is in a community garden.

We start off with a few ingredients. Some newspaper, sticks, leaves, a bit of dirt and some worms.

Yup worms are our friends, they help to break down organic materials and transform them into rich worm castings that feel soil and plants.

Here is the view under the sink.

We start with our empty sink.

Next we add some sticks for drainage, mostly around the sink hole. Rocks would also do well for this.

Partially decomposed leaves work well for worm homes and add carbon to our fertilizer.

Newspaper is also great worm food and living medium. It will also deliver carbon and make sure the system does not get too wet. Remember worms like it damp.

Some dirt helps to make a familiar home for the worms and provides microbes and a whole ecology of helpful creatures for our composting process. They have a wonderful, safe and abundant home to do their work. Adding a bunch of soft, non-spicy greens is a great way to give them food. Adding this every week or two would keep them well fed.

Every season or so it is good to change the worm compost. Just spread it out over some tarp in the sunlight. Wait and bit and all the worms will go to the bottom, hanging out on the tarp.

Scrape off the top material for sifting into rich worm castings and put the worms back into the worm compost wtih your next worm farm.

Now every couple weeks depending upon rainfall you will have rich liquid fertilizer to use on your gardens. Dilute it with water so it looks light brown before using. If you really want your mugwump gysm to be the pure lovings, consider adding some plant materials to the bucket to steep during the process. You could just add some biodynamic super plants, kelp and cardboard to charge your fertilizer to fullfil all the nutrient needs of your plants. All these plants grow great here in the North West Coast.