Composting with Worms

This is a great weekend project that will make you feel you have really accomplished something. I made mine with a friend and we chatted while shredding and fluffing newspaper (you’ll see where that comes in). It’s a perfect project for doing in front of the TV too.

Where did I get my information from? My university gives quarterly workshops on building worm bins. It’s a big agricultural school and people know what they’re talking about. They actually provided all of the materials for us as well.

Why should you have a worm bin?

· Worms are cute.

· You will put less trash in the landfills.

· You will get great potting soil.

· It will encourage you to grow exciting things like herbs.

· What do you do with all those credit card applications and letters with sensitive personal data? Tear them up and put them in the worm bin!

· You can stop feeling guilty when bread goes moldy in the fridge.

· You can do it in your apartment.

· There’s no unpleasant smell.

How to build the worm bin:

1. Collect your materials

a. Worms. You don’t want regular earth worms you want red wrigglers. I suggest contacting any community extension agent or community center that does composting to see if they sell worms. If not you can order them on-line. You might have to order a larger quantity but you can split the worms with some friends. To find the best deal or the worms closest to you search for “eisenia foetida for sale” on Google. I found one website where you can buy 500 red wrigglers for $16.95 plus shipping and handling.

b. Plastic bin with lid. Mine is rubber storage tote that is about 13”T x 13”W x 17”L. That is roughly the size you want for an apartment bin. The important thing is that the container is longer than it is tall. You don’t want a tall, narrow container.

c. Drill or pocket knife.

d. Old newspaper.

e. Large pair of tongs (optional)

2. Drill some holes (about 1/8” or 3mm) along the top length of your bin for aeration. I have 9 along each side. The holes don’t have to be fancy so if you don’t have a drill just bore some holes with a pocket knife or whatever you have.

3. Prepare the bedding. Worms breathe through their skin so they need an airy moist place to live. But if the bedding is too wet you will get anaerobic areas that will start to smell bad.

a. Shred the newspaper into long strips.

b. Wet it thoroughly clump by clump in a bucket of water.

c. Wring out the wet paper so you can’t get any more water out of it. The bedding should be about as wet as a wrung out sponge.

d. Now fluff the wet newspaper. The strips should have as much space between them as if you had crumpled dry paper.

e. Fill the bin about ¾ full of paper.

4. Introduce your worms to their new home.

Maintaining your bin

· What not to put in your bin

o Meet or dairy including bones

o Garlic and onions

o Spicy or oily foods

o Fruit pits like peach or avocado

o Limit citrus

· Good things to put in

o Fruit and vegetable scraps

o Eggshells add calcium but are best if ground or crumbled

o Moldy food

· Its best to burry food in the pile not just put it on top. I use a big pair of grilling tongs for this.

· Start adding food slowly until the worms get adjusted. You will get a sense of how much food you can add.

· If you have hard food or want your worms to eat faster chop food up before putting it in. Some people even blend their waste but that’s too much effort for me.

· Remember your bin is a mini ecosystem; so don’t worry if you have some mold or other critters. If you get fruit flies that bother you see troubleshooting below.

· You will need to continue adding paper over time. When you see water starting to condense on the top, add some shreds of dry paper or cardboard.

· The food you add will give your bin all of the extra water it needs. I’ve seen some sites say to water your bin but this necessitates a fancy draining system. My bin has always been plenty wet from the food I add and I generally need to add new dry paper every few days.

· Your bin should be kept at temperature between 50 and 80 degrees F. Just keep the bin inside. If it’s properly maintained it shouldn’t smell.

· If you are having issues with your bin here is a good troubleshooting site.

Harvesting

After several months you will notice a thick layer of castings (worm dirt) collecting on the bottom. This means you can harvest. Take the whole bin outside and dump onto tarp or trash bag. Brush away the non-decomposed matter. When you have just a pile of castings you can start brushing away the top layers. The worms will avoid sunlight so should be moving to the bottom of the pile. Make new bedding for your bin as described above. Return non-decomposed matter (and worms) to the new bin.

Worm tea can be a great natural fertilizer to use on plants. Put some of your castings in an old sock and tie it off. Soak the sock in a 5 gallon bucket of water for a day or so.