Worm composting is a great way to recycle your food waste into the soil, rather than burying its nutrients in a landfill never to be seen again. The red wigglers used in vermicomposting will eat their bodyweight in food scraps each day leaving behind nutrient-rich liquids and worm castings, both of which make great natural fertilizers. Compared to traditional heat composting, this method emits almost no smell because the worms consume the food before it rots. In other words, you can compost inside!
Pre-made worm bins are available, but a simple plywood box with holes drilled in the bottom will work perfectly–I built mine with scrap wood and a power drill in twenty minutes. Other than that, all you need is newspaper, dirt, food-scraps and worms.
The links below provide all the information you will need make your bin, buy your worms and start composting. For reference, here’s some important info garnered from the resources:
To correctly size your bin measure your total food waste for a week. Allow 1 square foot of floorspace in your bin per pound of food (if you produce seven pounds a week, you need seven square feet, so a 3.5 feet long by 2 feet wide bin is perfect). Whatever length and width, the bin should be 8-12 inches tall.- You need about 2 pounds of worms for every 1 pound of food waste produce per day. If you built your bin the correct size, it should control the population according to this ratio. If you can’t find or buy enough worms at first, grow the population by incrementally feeding them more until you’re able to put in all your weekly food waste without food rotting and getting smelly.
- Use either Eisenia foetida (commonly known as red wiggler, brandling, or manure worm) or Lumbricus rubellus
- Keep worms IN your bin! In many places these worms are an invasive species so place screen over drainage holes and separate out all worms when harvesting castings.
- To avoid smells, don’t overload your bin.
- Worms prefer to temperatures 59°-77° F and will tolerate 33°-86° F; Shelter them from hot sun and cold nights.
- Do feed worms vegetable and fruit remains; coffee and tea grounds and filters; moldy bread; grains and cereals.
- Don’t feed worms meat, dairy products, fats, oils, non-biodegradable materials or pet wastes.
Resources
General Overview:
- Worm Composting by Canada’s Office of Urban Agriculture
- Vermicomposting by Marry Appelhof (aka the Worm Woman)
- Worm Composting Guide
Step-by-step Guides:
- City Farmer’s Photo Guide
- Savvy Gardener Guide
- The Worm Guide for teachers (PDF, 48 pages)
- Classroom Activities (PDF, 34 pages)
- Classroom Activities (PDF, 34 pages)
Buying Worms:
Worm Bins:
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Anyway, you should do your best ;)…