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Hi, I'm Michelle, and I have worms.
A few weeks ago I made the decision to give vermicomposting a try. I live in an area that supports recycling, but we still have to take the items there. The rest of the trash costs us per weight, and ends up decomposing in a way that is not healthy. Why not reduce the trips to recycling, the money spent having someone else take away the rest of it, and end up with healthy compost for our plants? Hey, when it's January and you live in one of the coldest states, you start thinking about gardening so that you don't go all Jack Torrance.
I read a lot on the topic, including a lot of advice on making my own bin. However, DIY bins almost always involved work in getting your slimy friends to go to The Other Side of The Bin. I decided to make the investment and buy a stackable unit, because they're made and used in a way that the worms migrate up and leave the finished compost behind. I thought it was well-worth the money now for the convenience and the anticipated money saved.
Set up of this unit was very easy, and I choose to follow the advice of many to set it up a week or two before the worms arrived in order to introduce them in when the environment was ideal for them. Worms, come to find out, don't care about your rotting food and yesterday's paper so much as they care about the microbes that care about these things, and so setting it up allows those microbes to show-up and chow down. The kit gave everything I needed, including shredded paper, with the exception of table scraps and the recommended dirt to introduce grit and microorganisms. Dirt is not readily accessible in Minnesota in January, but I managed a couple tablespoons of mud. (Besides, when the worms showed up, they brought some dirt with them and I had some, er, well-aged scraps.)
Yesterday -1/27/10- the worms arrived and I introduced them to the bin. While they were well-packaged, shipped next day air, and held at the post office, they'd still been through a lot, and were initially sluggish (is calling a worm sluggish a mixed metaphor or just possibly defamatory?) but after a couple hours much more active. They're mostly the surface and do seem to be attracted to the areas with the scraps.
While it's early, and I intend to update this as the process continues, I'm quite happy with the bin and the very detailed instructions or setting up the bedding, etc. It's also very simple looking and attractive enough that, had I not a basement, it would be acceptable upstairs. A nice feature, and you can see it in the picture, is that the lid has quick guide to what scraps are best and offers some great tips.
I'm new at this, but I'll happily answer any questions I can in the comments about my personal experience or understanding of things. If you email me, I also might post that to comments -- referring to you as Ann on a Mouse, if you're shy. YouTube has lots of videos, but you will feel weird confessing to people that you've spent hours watching people fiddling with worms. (Trust me, I've been there.)
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2/3/10
Going well. Learning to not over -- overfeed, overworry, over-nose-around. The worms are still adjusting, but the environment seems to be working, and they're going at the scraps. Because I cook most nights, and make lots of veggies, I think it'll be a while before they'll be able to handle what I could give them, so I'm holding back.! There has been a day or two where I've not added to it, and let them catch up. Been grinding the scraps up in a chopper -- anything to start them out right. Also, upping the amount of fiber -- newspaper, mostly. Only 1 has tried to go "over the wall."
I continue to read up on the topic and my friends are either genuinely interested or humoring me until someone can show up with my injection.
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2/07/10
Hubert Hawkins: The pellet with the poison's in the flagon with the dragon; the vessel with the pestle has the brew that is true.
Griselda: Just remember that.
The Court Jester
A mortar and pestle is a great way to ground up dried egg shells. The worms use them for grit, which aids in digestion, it's a source of calcium which could help with reproduction -- or not -- and it prevents the soil from being too acidic. This is the one I have: Harold's Kitchen 3-1/2 Inch Round Mortar and Pestle, but I picked it more for looks than practicality. If you've saved up a number of shells, I've read you can use something like a plastic bucket, or dishpan, and a mason jar. A lot of folks just crumble by hand or toss the shells in whole.
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2/14/10
Happy Valentine's Day, and what's more romantic than a bin of worms?
Things are going fine. I've found a warmer spot in my basement, and now the bin is at about 65F, which is the best I can hope for this time of year unless I want to move the gang to the guest room. I've also ordered more worms. We're just creating too much waste right now and could use the help ... and I'm impatient. We have a freezer in the basement and I have a good size Tupperware container to freeze excess, but there's only so much room.
As kitchen scraps accumulate I use Norpro Ceramic Compost Keeper (in red.) It works well, and has a filter to stop your kitchen from smelling. The handle is shoddy though, and it arrived chipped -- I'll be honest and say I should have gotten a metal one. Whether you chose ceramic or metal, there are attractive designs out there though, that'll look okay on your counter. Compost keepers also allow scraps to age for a few days, which means they attract attention faster in the bin. Freezing scraps, or microwaving them, also breaks them down and has a similar effect, with the added consideration of killing off fruit fly eggs or mites that might have hitchhiked from the grocery store. Most mites are actually beneficial, but I think most folks are more comfortable not having stow-aways. One last note on the counter compost keeper: mix it up a little and be aware of how old the oldest scraps are so that you don't end up with a stinky mess at the bottom. After a week or so, maybe less, it's time to freeze or make sure the oldest stuff is what's for dinner in the bin!
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2/15/10
I should mention that the Worm Factory comes with a lot of stuff. There's coconut coir for the base bedding, and a lot of people swear by it and continue to use it. It's sent as a brick and you soak it in water until it's hydrated and smells like earth and clean soil. There's shredded newspaper, also for bedding, and other related materials. (Paper and cardboard serve as food & bedding, and the addition of them throughout the process keeps smells down, helps if you end up with extra moisture, and it vital to the process.)There's also a hand rake and a scraper. I've never used the scraper. There's also a thermometer which my husband wrote WORMS across so that there are no mix-up with the one in the kitchen -- I supported him in this. There's also a detailed instruction manual, which helped put me at ease. (This is what I received and what they offer currently -- I'd look at the product description to verify this is still accurate when you order.)
The WF (Worm Factory) is designed with a spigot to drain out extra liquids that might fall into the collection tray -- which is different from your working tray with the bedding, worms, and scraps. How moist a bin should be is the matter of some debate and nothing I feel experienced enough to speak to. There are also many discussions on what to do with this liquid -- which is called leachate, but some people call it worm tea. Most experts call worm tea something else -- a deliberate effort to create a mixture to pour on plants which I'm too early in the process to have done. I will say that my bin is moist, but not so moist that there has been drainage. I've rescued the odd worm from the collection bin, but not more than a drop or two of liquid. Since bins evolve, this might change. The design is also made for worms who fall down there to be able to crawl back up.
I'm adding updates enough to see this will get unwieldy before too long, so I'll announce them here, but place them in comments. :)
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Latest update, 10/26/10, see first page of comments.
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Worm Factory 360 WF360B Worm Composter, BlackComposting with worms allows you to turn kitchen scraps, paper waste and cardboard into nutrient-rich soil for your plants. The Worm Factory 360 composting system makes the entire process quick and easy. With a thermo siphon air flow design, the Worm Factory 360 increases the composting speed. Now you can produce compost much faster than traditional composting methods. Master Gardeners agree, worm castings are one of the richest forms of fertilizer that you can use. The Worm Factory 360 can be used indoors or outdoors allowing year round production. Now composting is no longer limited to backyards. The Worm Factory 360 is odorless making it great for apartments, kitchens, garages, porches and more. Simply add a handful of worms and your organic waste to the bottom tray. The worms will start processing the food. Once the bottom tray is filled add another tray. The worms migrate upward to the newest food source leaving the bottom tray full of nutrient-rich compost. As waste is broken down, moisture filters through the system, taking nutrient-rich particles with it. This makes it possible to harvest organic liquid fertilizer right from the spigot. 20 year warranty.
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