Found a black gold mine, what to do

[mountainoutlaw]

Found this huge pile of ....once was compost, but now looks like pure earth worm castings.....

It has thousands of worms...i mean i grabbed a handful and 10 or more worms were in it.

 

[mountainoutlaw]

Close up of texture......

heres the ph and soil make up, looks like clay sand silt...ph about 6.

 

[mountainoutlaw]

Now fellow growers......heres my concerns,

There are plenty of microbes and small insects in it....i usually wrap my different soils in plastic and let the sun bake all the parasites out...and blend any amendments.
But in this case i dont wanna kill all the worms...should i pastuerize or leave as is, i dont wanna run risk of pest.

Also, should i apply a bit of baking soda wash or dolomite lime to raise ph a bit?

And finally, its very airy and lightweight, im not gonna add any perlite, but i got 6 cuft of organic promix....what would yall suggest i do

Think I could use as is?

Got alot of little girls needing to get in ground soon. Thanks for the tips!

 

[mountainoutlaw]

Oh! Its also covered with a light natural mulch, ill prolly rake it off, get what i need and replace it, i figure that natural degrading wood might invite problems

 

[troutman]

Leave the worms and keep feeding it the pile.
Then you'll have nice soil for life if you don't overharvest.

 

[Hash Artist]

If it were me I’d use 0.25in x 0.25in screen fixed to a 2x4 square wood frame to sift and use outdoor as is! Great find brotha!

 

[JK-AKKtions]

Jo Jo nice found

Leave the worms and keep feeding it the pile.
Then you'll have nice soil for life if you don't overharvest.

what pots you are using? Small Pots lower than 20L (5 Gallon), the worms will go away/die?
i would take the worms out. Do it like @Hash Artist.

If it were me I’d use 0.25in x 0.25in screen fixed to a 2x4 square wood frame to sift and use outdoor as is! Great find brotha!

or take a foil, spread it on the ground. (earth around that the worms can go away) and wait that until the earth dry out.

Now fellow growers......heres my concerns,

There are plenty of microbes and small insects in it....i usually wrap my different soils in plastic and let the sun bake all the parasites out...and blend any amendments.
But in this case i dont wanna kill all the worms...should i pastuerize or leave as is, i dont wanna run risk of pest.

Also, should i apply a bit of baking soda wash or dolomite lime to raise ph a bit?

And finally, its very airy and lightweight, im not gonna add any perlite, but i got 6 cuft of organic promix....what would yall suggest i do

Think I could use as is?

Got alot of little girls needing to get in ground soon. Thanks for the tips!

indoors?
if you add something, then dolomite lime or a bit of ash.
was it everything i want tho say...

 

[troutman]

I meant leave the worms in the compost pile.

 

[Tynehead Tom]

i was at the garden center yesterday grabbing 3 x 22 pound bags of steamed bonemeal and a couple bags of diatomaceous earth. What is this world coming to when 22 pounds of bonemeal is 38.00 dollars!!! (canukistani loonies)
The sifted worm castings were 78 dollars a bag. I think they are just under 20 kilos. 78 dollars a bag eh?
I'd say that castings pile the OP has found is a black gold mine indeed.
As others have said.... keep feeding that pile and only take from it what you need. Sift it to get the worms and things out and put the worms back in the pile. You could start a side business selling fishing worms hehehe

on that note... I notice lots of giant worms on my property and they leave castings that make me think a lot of my yard is worm shit. So I am going to start a worm farm so I can create my own castings. All the local fishing shops will be happy to buy my extra worms or I'll just hang a sign out front
i am not paying 78 dollars for a bag of worm castings, I'll make them myself for next year.

 

[madalasatori]

Hell yea a nice juicy lobworm is the ideal bait for a greedy perch

 

[40degsouth]

Hey everyone, l really hope you’re all well.
Mountainoutlaw, if you need the castings but want to save the worms my best idea for you is to get another truck load of manure, or some such thing and dump it on and next to, the existing pile.
Worms eat their own body weight in food every day so with that many in one pile, they’ll soon eat themselves out of house and leave home.
As for amendments, I’d probably look into micronised lime to bring the ph up to 6.5 and as for the rest it’s a bit like chucking darts at a dart board.
Cheers,
40.

 

[mountainoutlaw]

Got a major outdoor op going on ....so this is a huge money saver

 

[troutman]

What is this world coming to when 22 pounds of bonemeal is 38.00 dollars!!! (canukistani loonies).

To think of all those Moose bones left out in the forest.

 

[Mandocat]

Now fellow growers......heres my concerns,

There are plenty of microbes and small insects in it....i usually wrap my different soils in plastic and let the sun bake all the parasites out...and blend any amendments.
But in this case i dont wanna kill all the worms...should i pastuerize or leave as is, i dont wanna run risk of pest.

Also, should i apply a bit of baking soda wash or dolomite lime to raise ph a bit?

And finally, its very airy and lightweight, im not gonna add any perlite, but i got 6 cuft of organic promix....what would yall suggest i do

Think I could use as is?

Got alot of little girls needing to get in ground soon. Thanks for the tips!

Use it as is! That is living soil full of beneficial nematodes and probiotics!