Making your Feed Work Better

One excellent tip is to freeze all food scraps in the freezer for a period of time and then allow them to thaw before adding to the worm bed.

Put all of your scraps in the deep freeze for a couple of weeks and then thoroughly defrost them prior to feeding. This starts the breakdown of the cellular structure and hastens the composting process.

Worms, after all, have no teeth, so their food has to be good and sloppy before they can slurp it up.

When you take the “fresh” scraps out of the freezer they are quite soft and soupy.

Just pour the liquid from the plastic bags right into the bin. Using this method, your bins will  remains quite moist, without adding any other liquid.

Alternatively if you don’t want to use space in your deep freeze you could mulch any large green matter (such as the lettuce leaves) before adding it to the bin.

A simple food processor will do the Job and a couple of pulses are all it takes.

Breaking up the larger leaves into many small pieces in such a way allows for a greater volume of surface area to be exposed and will again speed up decomposition.

You can also bury the material just under the surface of the bedding to speed the process up further still.

Of course, you could also simply break the material up by hand before adding to the bed using a basic ripping method, but the smaller the pieces of material, the faster they will decompose and become utilized by the composting worms.

 

The Ten Commandments of Vermiculture:

These Ten Commandments (or Tenets) of Vermiculture will show you the basic things you need to do/should not do with your vermicompost.

 

I. Thou shalt keep thy worms on dark, moist and cool locations.

II. Thou shalt create 8-12 holes underneath thy bin.

III. Thou shalt not feed thy worms with meat, pesticides, and other synthetic materials.

IV. Thou shalt not put non-biodegradable material in thy vermicompost.

V.  Thou shalt not put thy organic material on top of thy vermicompost.

VI. Thou shalt not keep thy vermicompost wet.

VII. Thou shalt not introduce thy other organisms in thy vermicompost.

VIII. Thou shalt not treat earthworms as cockroaches.

IX. Thou shalt not divide thy worms by brute force to have them multiply.

X. Thou shalt keep thy worms with tender, love and care everyday.

 

Vermicomposting Information

Are you looking for a natural way to garden and dispose of food scraps? Look no further than the lowly red worm! Vermicomposting or worm composting is the process of using worms and micro-organisms to turn kitchen waste into a nutrient-rich humus that makes vegetable garden plants thrive. Worm compost is a natural fertilizer and soil amendment or conditioner.

Vermiculture Facts:

Red worms or red wigglers are the best worms for vermicomposting. Red worms may be found in compost piles, rotting vegetation or manure. They are not the same as earthworms you find in the soil, although they are a species of earthworm. The various species of earthworms play a mighty role in nature.

To get started with vermiculture, get at least a pound of red worms. They can be purchased online, at bait stores, or sometimes at garden centers. Experts say that one pound of worms eat approximately 1/2 pound of food scraps daily! After taking the food through their bodies, the worms excrete it as vermicast (aka Worm Castings, Worm Poop, Worm Manure.) The process of producing vermicompost is called vermicomposting.

In a worm bin. This can be as simple as an old dresser drawer, trunk or wooden barrel. Basically, a worm bin is a box with a lid. It can be wood or plastic. If you keep the worm bin inside, you can cover it with burlap or plastic. If you use a plastic box and lid, don’t keep the lid clamped down – let it loosely rest on top to allow the worms and microorganisms enough oxygen to live. Allow for drainage with between 8 – 14 holes in the bottom, depending upon box size. Worms like cool, dark, moist places.

See the resources below if you want to build your own worm bin. Alternatively, you can purchase worm bins online or at many garden centers.

What can you feed the worms?

-vegetable scraps

-fruit peelings (make sure no pesticides were used on the fruit)

-leftover pasta

-bread and grains

-tea bags

-coffee grounds and filters

-well-crushed eggshells

Don’t feed them:

-Meat

-Bones

-Wood scraps/twigs, etc.

-Cheese or dairy

-Fat

-Grass clippings

-Banana peels (or anything else that might have had pesticides sprayed on it)

-no synthetic materials

What do you use for worm bedding?

-Shredded cardboard

-Shredded newspaper

-Any shredded paper

-Buy commercial worm bedding

-Shredded fall leaves

-Shredded dead plants

-Chopped up straw

-Compost

Your bin needs to be filled about 3/4 full with the bedding. Wet the bedding and wring out the excess. Allow it to dry some but not completely. Then put it into the bin and “fluff” it up. Keep your bedding moist by misting it with water from time to time. The key is moist bedding – not wet!

What is the Carbon to Nitrogen Ratio?

Balance your green matter (e.g. scraps) and your brown matter (bedding)in a ratio of about 2 to 1. Technically, that is called the carbon to nitrogen ratio. Bury kitchen scraps under the bedding to reduce smells and outside pests.

What is the best temperature for worm bins?

They tolerate 50 – 77 degrees. Bring your worms inside if it is going to freeze, or if it gets over 85 degrees F.

How do red worms reproduce?

Redworms are hermaphroditic. They produce one egg capsule every 2 or 3 weeks. The egg capsule usually contains a dozen babies. Your supply of worms will grow quickly and you may soon need to add more boxes, or get a bigger box!