The small amount of water I get doesn’t really smell bad. That’s why I thought there might also be an issue with over feeding or not enough bedding.

Over watering
Over feeding
Not enough bedding

(I know, it says, “Ask the Worm Dude”, not “Ask the Amateur”…)

Good? Bad? Ugly?

(mostly oak, but various kinds — from a school woodshop class)

I’m very relieved to hear you say things are okay for me, regardless of rookie mistakes I’ve made!

I’m using a plastic (not see through) rubbermaid bin for my worms. Holes in the side and top for air flow, and holes in the bottom for drainage. (I know now that a plastic tote is not a good way to go…)

There’s a small amount of water in the catch-bin (another lid from a different tote).
My worms aren’t trying to escape, and it doesn’t stink* (* = keep reading…)

They seem happy and healthy enough.

But I wanted my ”black gold” to be more pure, without the cow manure (aged, the kind you buy at Walmart in the bags), sphagnum peat moss, and garden soil (thought I needed this for ”grit”).

So…I got a screen — 1/4 inch squares — thinking I could screen out the soil and purify my castings (eventually).

But everything is far too mixed to do that. The bedding (torn cardboard, shredded newspaper, and corn shucks) is all mixed together with the dirt (which seems too wet to me, but the worms are digging through it like crazy).

I fear I can’t separate it without losing a large amount of my worm population (I bought ~2000 a few months ago).

So, here’s what I did (probably EXACTLY what I should NOT have done…)

I dumped it all — handful by handful — into another tote. The manure mix is definitely ”ripe” at the bottom of the tote, and FULL of worms!

I put about 6” of shredded newspaper (ran it through a paper shredder) and cardboard on the bottom, then layered 2” of soil mix, 6” of shredded paper, 2” of soil, etc until I had everything back in the tote (which is now about 80% full).

I figured I made my worms less happy, so I thawed a bag of pumpkin mush from the freezer, added a brown banana, and buried it in the corner of the newly done bin.

I misted the top layer of bedding fairly thoroughly with water, so they would be able to get a drink when needed.

I guess what my real question would be:
If I quit feeding them for a while, will they eat the manure/peat moss/top soil mix, and turn it to castings?

Or am I stuck with my own ”unique” version of a worm farm?

(not trying to sound like an expert here, since I’m a noobie, but that’s just what I’ve read…)

You’ll probably see me around here a lot, since I’m new to vermicomposting.

*** Soooooo glad I found this forum!!! Just reading through numerous threads, I’ve gleaned some very helpful tips!

My worms seem happy enough, but the bin is only about a month old.

Should I start over, or will it be okay the way it is?