Vermiculture-composting with worms is a fun and easy way to turn messy food scraps into rich and crumbly black compost.
Reasons to Try Worm Composting
- Worms work fast: Worms can convert most kitchen scraps into finished compost in less than 2 weeks.
- Worms work year round: You can keep your worm bin in a basement, garage or pantry (anywhere above 55 degress and below 80 degress) and your worms will keep making compost, so cold winter months won't stop your worms from working!
- Worm castings are rich: Using worm castings in your garden or house plants will enrich the soil with necessary micro-organisms, which improves root growth and boosts germination.
Browns vs. Greens
Just like using an outdoor composter, worm composters need a balance of carbon and nitrogen. Generally the carbon comes from the brown products and nitrogen from the green products; with worm composting the bedding material provides the carbon and the kitchen scraps provide the nitrogen.
The purpose of bedding mateiral is to provide a food source for your worms,
moderate moisture levels, control odor and ensure aeration. Shredded newspaper,
dry leaves and coconut fiber/coir make good bedding. Add a handful of bedding
every time you add scraps.
You can feed your worms andy kind of vegetable scraps (raw or cooked), coffee grounds and tea bags. Fruit will produce fruit flies and dairy products are too fatty for worms to eat.
Tips for Success
- Once your worms start to multiply you can start layering the scraps and bedding because the more worms that are present the more they can digest and compost.
- Keeping your worm composter in an area between 50-80 degrees you should never have problems with odors and your worms will be comfortable.
- Cut up your food scraps into smaller pieces so they can start to decay faster, then your worms can start composting quicker. And the food scraps will not rot.
- Use your finished worm compost to top-dress indoor or outdoor plants, blend it into potting soil or transplanting mix, or use it to make compost tea.
