Collection: Hiwassee

One pound of finished compost can become 4 to 10 gallons of liquid extract, and that is the job of the two Bio-Extractors: they wash the beneficial microbes out of compost so you can spread them through foliar sprays, irrigation lines and seed coatings. The worm composter makes the compost in the first place, with worms doing the work. Everything here is made in the USA.

How the Bio-Extractors work

Compost goes into a hopper, and a variable-speed auger carries it past water jets that rinse the microbes free; a sieve then separates the liquid from the solids. Auger speed and mesh size together set how concentrated the extract is and how much sediment it carries.

• Bio-Extractor X100: 6-gallon hopper, up to 250 gallons of extract an hour, needs a water supply of at least 4.5 GPM at 40 PSI.
• Bio-Extractor X150: 12-gallon hopper, up to 500 gallons an hour, needs 8.5 GPM at 40 PSI; bench-mount, stand or wheeled-cart model.

Both are hand-cranked, so they run off the grid wherever water pressure is enough. The X100 drill attachment and the X150 drill attachment replace the crank with a cordless drill that takes a standard ½" chuck. For the X150, a 120 VAC booster pump is the answer when water pressure sits near or below 40 PSI, a transfer pump for the stand and cart models moves finished extract into a tank or sprayer, and a hose sprayer handles the clean-up.

Extract is not compost tea. Tea is brewed with added microbial foods and air for 12 to 48 hours and has to be applied straight away; extract keeps for 2 to 3 weeks and carries close to the same mix of bacteria, fungi and protozoa as the compost it came from, which suits soil applications. If you brew tea as well, start with our compost tea recipe.

Continuous-flow worm composting

The VermiFlow Continuous Flow Composting System holds 14 cubic feet on a 2' x 4' footprint, small enough for a garage, a shed or a covered spot outdoors. Food goes in on top. Finished vermicompost comes out underneath when you run a blade across the aluminum grate, by hand or with a cordless drill, and drops into collecting pans without disturbing the worms.

Fed pre-composted material in good conditions, it takes 10 to 12 weeks to reach full production, and at full capacity it yields 20 to 30 lb of vermicompost a week. It ships without worms or bedding, weighs 90 lb empty and up to 700 lb in full production, and stands on adjustable legs. Keep the worms between 55 and 80°F, out of direct sun and rain. New to worms? Start with worm composting basics, and see Composting for smaller bins.