Joe Richard, his brother, Bill, and their dad, Bob, have been letting worms do the work for them since 2000.

"Vermicompost means - it goes through the worm," Joe says.

Their business, Northwest Vermicompost, grew out of a need Joe saw in the community. Joe sells a variety of plastic tanks (ranging from 8 to 16,000 gallons in size), including ones made especially for brewing compost tea. When people asked for a good source of vermicompost for brewing this said "tea," an idea was born.

Joe and his dad went in together on their first 16-foot bin of vermicompost, which now resides in Bob's barn. Joe added a 24-foot bin when his shop was completed soon after and Bill has a 16-foot bin in his barn, as well.

"Our product is some of the best soil you have ever seen - rich in color and full of life," says Joe.

Uses

Vermicompost is used in most cases as a soil amendment. It also can be brewed into a nutrient-rich compost tea.

It only takes 2 pounds of vermicompost to make 20 gallons of compost tea which, according to Joe, can be used as a follicular spray on roses and other crops to prevent disease as well as feed them.

Similarly local growers have used it to recover failing berry crops when they use the compost tea through their irrigation systems, Bob says. Bill uses it to prevent moss accumulation on his lawn - with the added bonus that his lawn looks bright and green throughout the year.

Moss grows where soil is compacted, lacks oxygen, and pH is low, Joe says. Microbs in the compost tea percolate soil so water is able to soak in. This works the same for improving drainage for drain fields (tip: use a gallon or two every 6 months).

Adding a 10 to 15 percent mixture of vermicompost to potting soil will re-inoculate (revitalize) soil - making it healthier for transplanting.

Vermicompost defined

According to Wikipedia, vermicompost is the nutrient-rich end-product of the breakdown of organic matter by earthworms. It's used as a natural fertilizer and soil conditioner. (It goes by the names: worm compost, vermicast, worm castings, worm humus or worm manure.)

Red Wigglers (Eisenia foetida) and Red Earthworms (Lumbricus rubellus) are the type of worms to use as they are particularly fond of rotting vegetation, compost and manure piles. Yum!

It takes the help of "good" bacteria, beneficial molds, insects and other worm species to make up a healthy vermicompost system, but earthworms are the major catalyst for its decomposition.

Heating it up

To make vermicompost, it takes thermocompost - the kind of compost we think of that is done outside, requires heat and turning every 2 to 3 weeks with a tractor or pitchfork, adding water and oxygen to get it through its 'heat' cycle to break it down.

Vermicompost, on the other hand, doesn't require turning, but rather worms do all the work for you. (Now that's more my cup of tea!)

They use a mixture of straw, veggie produce, horse manure and dairy wash (solids separated from liquid). Cooperating with other small businesses, they sometimes exchange amendments. Due to thermal reaction, heat builds up in a compost pile. Water and oxygen - by turning - need to be added when necessary to keep it from going over 160 degrees - to keep the microbes alive.

Once thermal compost stays at a steady 130 to 150 degrees it sits for 3 to 4 weeks to kill germinating seeds in the pile. Slowly the temperature subsides to 60 to 90 degrees. That is when the composted mix is placed into the vermiculture bins. Periodically replacing what is removed from the bottom with a new layer of thermally composted mix on top.

How it's done

Each bin is 5 feet wide by 21/2 feet deep, with lengths varying. Since vermicompost has to be kept at 70 percent moisture (wet enough to ring drops of water out when squeezed with your fist), the wood sides are lined with plastic to keep them from deteriorating.

Vermicompost is harvested from the bottom of a flow-through system. Thus the bottom is made up of a heavy metal (2 by 4 inch mesh) screens. To do this an electrical-powered winch is attached at each end of the bins and a cutter bar is dragged across the bottom, cutting through the compost and dropping the finished product onto the concrete floor below.

The winch goes in both directions and each drag of the bin harvests about 1 to 2 inches of vermicompost or approximately 450 pounds on a pull, Joe says. This is done twice a week during good weather (between 70 to 110 degrees is preferable).

After harvest, a fan blows over the mixture till it gets to 40 percent moisture - necessary to keep microbs alive (clumps yet crumbles when squeezed) - and dry enough to ship.

Worm cuisine

Worms are typically fed an inch of worm food on the top of the bin every time an inch of castings are harvested off the bottom. A healthy bin will produce young ever 140 days.

All manner of kitchen waste can be thrown on the top of the worm bins - as long as it is not acidic - (no citrus fruits, meat, or cheeses, Joe instructs.) Worm cuisine consists of anything that rots: Fruit Loops, hamburger and hotdog buns, lettuce, coffee grounds, apple peels, mashed potatoes, or bread and the like.

"Worms don't actually eat what you put on top of the soil. They eat the decomposing bacterial and fungal species that are breaking down the food," says Joe.

Because they are surface dwellers, barely scratching the surface you can see little red wigglers at work. They are constantly moving towards a new food source, typically within the top 6 inches.

Lucky for them, this keeps them from becoming compost when the bins are harvested and eliminates the need to separate worms from the castings before packaging.

It takes approximately 8 to 12 weeks to be able to harvest the worm castings (by-product) from top to bottom of the bins in warm weather. The worms aren't as active during cooler winter months, so the process takes longer then.

To meet organic standards of Microbial Matrix and Soil Food Web, their vermicompost is tested on a regular basis to insure it is healthy and full of beneficial nutrients and microbial life. It is then packaged and sold in boxed quantity for 85 cents per pound.

For more information on Northwest Vermicompost and compost tea you may contact Joe Richard at 979-0166, Bill Richard at 990-1341 or Bob Richard at 926-3038.