I've got worms, dude!

On my 23rd birthday my wonderful father gave me the best gifts this burgeoning homesteader could receive: a composter and a worm bin. For a year I have had great success with both, but today I want to share a little information about vermicomposting.

For those unfamiliar with the term, vermicomposting is process of using various types of worms to create a rich mixture of decomposing food waste, bedding, and vermicast (worm poo). Vermicompost is a nutrient-dense organic fertilizer, soil conditioner, and even a great organic insecticide when sprayed on foliage.

If you have commitment issues, worms are the easiest and quietest pets you can have. They require even less care than a gold fish and can actually make you money if you sold the by-product of their waste (which is much more than I can say my furry pets). The initial investment is less than half of the cost of buying a new iPod and you can be sure it won't crap out after a few years of hard use (unlike most iPods I've owned). In fact, I have not needed to replace my worms and add any to mix since my dad gave me the first batch.

Here's the skinny (and I mean REAL skinny) on the worm situation:

The Composter: My dad bought me the Worm Factory, but there are many types out there. The one I have came with 3 stacking trays to add as your compost grows. The worms travel upward toward the food and you remove the lowest level of compost to use for fertilizer or compost tea. The Worm Factory goes for about $100.

The whole composter. Right now I only have the first try on. As I add more waste and bedding I will add another tray to the top.

Worms: Don't go digging around your yard for just any worm. A worm composter requires a special species affectionately known as Red Wigglers. You can get a pound of worms for about $25 from a bait store, a respectable nursery, or even online.

Bedding: Appropriate bedding for the worm bin can be shredded newspaper (black and white only), paper bags, computer paper (with black ink is acceptable), shredded coconut hulls, shredded leaves, aged manure, peat moss, etc. The point of the bedding is to add bulk that allows air through the compost. It must also be moist. That is a big mistake that I just learned I was making. What I do now is soak the bedding in water for 2-12 hours and then ring out the excess water. Worms need their bedding to be moist!! You can also add a handful of sand or dirt to help the worms digest their feed a little easier.

Photo of the beautiful vermicast mixed with new paper bag bedding

Feeding: So this shouldn't be stressful at all. I simply cut up any left over vegetables, grains, bread, or fruit and mix it in with the bedding. I try to avoid adding meat or fat because the scent of those compounds breaking down is just awful and I want to enjoy the presence of my worms not hate it. The scent of rotting meat and fat will also attract all kinds of unwanted pests to your bin that you do not want to deal with (trust me).

I feed the worms only as much as I think they can handle in a week or so. When you first get started that won't be a whole lot, but as your worm community grows in size you can start adding more food to the bin. I try to have a method in the burial of the waste. I will start in one corner of the bin and bury the day's or week's waste. Next time I will move the spot over to the left or right of the previous burial site, and so on.

A gourmet worm meal: left over black beans (a safe way to add protein to the bin) and artichoke leaves.

Harvest time!

Like I said, with the composter I have I will simply remove one tray at a time and use that compost. Most of the worms should have moved up toward the new food, so you shouldn't find too many (if any) worms in the lower trays. If you choose to build your own composter without trays you will need to dump the compost and hand sort out the worms if you want to keep them, or you can put them in the soil with the compost and buy new worms. That is totally up to you. Treat the vermicast as compost and mix it into the top soil rather than using it as straight potting soil.

You can make compost tea by adding two tablespoons of vermicast to a liter of water and let it sit for a day, then you can water your plant with it or strain and dilute the mixture more and add it to a spray bottle for an insecticide/foliar fertilizer. (Note: I've recently read that legumes do not take well to the foliar style feeding with worm tea, so just stick to feeding the roots instead.)

For more in depth information on the subject you can order this fabulous book on Amazon for cheap!

Worm's Eat My Garbage: How to Set Up and Maintain a Worm Composting System by Mary Appelhof