Worm Composting (Vermicomposting)

There are many ways to compost. One of the most beneficial is vermicomposting or worm composting with a worm farm composting tower. There are many prefab worm composters on the market. I chose the lowest maintenance one that I could find. The worm tower comes in pieces and you can add more trays as needed. Vermicomposting is fun and doesn't take much work once its set up.

First off, in the instructions it goes on about using coconut husks, small pumice rocks, and a precise mix of this and that. Most of which are "not" cheap or easy to find ingredients.

Forget those instructions. I have found that a mixture of kitchen scraps, peat moss, and shredded or cut up paper and cardboard works best. These are pictures of how I set up my worm tower around three or so months ago. You want to set up your tray a little ahead of when you get your worms. This saves time and has a home ready for when they arrive. I ordered both my worm tower and the red wigglers from Uncle Jim's Worm Farm. They are very knowledgeable and so far every worm has arrived alive and well.

1. First you put down sheets of newspaper on the bottom tray.



 



 
2. Set up the first tray using the materials they included, like the coconut husk and so forth so you may as well use those up. (It comes with detailed instructions.)
3. After you have set up the first tray, you can use easier to find materials. First I put in about a quarter of a tray full of the peat moss mixed with water and paper. It has to be moist, but not wet. The base tray has a spigot at the bottom to help drain off the liquids if it gets too wet.



 
4. The trays are designed for your worms to migrate upwards to the next tray and the next food source. You want to add food scraps around the outsides of the tray and in the center if you have only the the peat moss and mixed paper. You want to always have more peat and paper than food scraps. The reason being is the soil gets very acidic which will make your composting worms want to escape as this causes them pain! But don't panic, if you see the worms trying to escape just add more paper and peat moss. This helps absorb the acidity.
5. Add food scraps around the outside and cover them with peat and paper as well. I keep a small garden spade by my worm bin so I can move things around without touching rotting food. Another indicator you are adding too many food scraps too fast is smell. It's also another reason you want to cover your scraps with a thin layer of damp peat and shredded or cut up paper and cardboard. It shouldn't have an odor that is noticeable from a 2 ft distance.



 
6. Check on the progress of the scraps before adding more. I would say give it a week or two before adding more unless you ordered a lot of worms which are eating the scraps faster. Add scraps around the sides slowly until the tray gets to be around three quarters full. Then it's time to start the next tray!
7. If you have a large family and generate tons of kitchen scraps you may want to start more than one tray or even do duel composting towers. The resulting compost is almost black. It is rich with amazing gardening possibilities. The compost is very concentrated with beneficial microbes and should be thought of almost like fertilizer, a little goes a long way and is worth its weight in gold to a gardener! You are also cutting down on landfill waste.

Some say you should grind your food scraps up in a blender, because worms don't like large pieces of food. This is hogwash. The only benefit to grinding up the food scraps is that the worms break it down faster that way. With the paper you do want fairly small pieces as it's a bit slow to break down and needs to fit in the the trays.

The only work I have aside from moving some dirt around and putting in more food scraps about every two weeks or so, is cutting up or shredding paper. I have found it's much easier to do with help and fun to do sitting outside or watching TV. I keep a reusable shopping bag about half full of cut up or torn paper scraps. If you have a shredder then its even easier!

It is also important to watch your moisture levels. You don't want it too dry. They say you should be able to squeeze a handful of the paper and peat moss and get a few drops, but not a steady stream of water. I mix it in a bucket with water as I use or need it. If the decomposing food makes the moisture level a bit too high it's OK to add dry peat and paper to absorb excess moisture. Once the worm farm is up and running it only takes small amounts at a time so I mix water, peat moss, and paper in a small bucket and knead it a bit or mix it with the garden spade.

Acceptable Food Scraps:

• fruit scraps with pits (citrus is a bit too acidic for the worms and they don't go near it)
• veggies (all of them, even full cobs and avocado pits although these you may want to cut smaller and break into the pit so the worms can get into it easier.)
• crushed egg shells
• NOTE: DO NOT use meats! You will get maggots, mice, or raccoons. It also ruins the compost.

Acceptable Paper:

• newspaper
• cardboard
• toilet and paper towel tubes
• most cardboard boxes and packaging
• most junk mail (excluding envelopes with plastic windows unless you remove the windows)
• NOTE: DO NOT include photo paper or shiny/glossy ads. They don't break down well and have a lot of chemicals.

You want to place your vermicomposter out of direct sunlight. On a covered porch or in a garage is great. You don't want your worms to get too cold or too hot. Keeping a light on over the composter is a good idea when first getting started. It keeps the worms in the composter as they hate light. Vermicomposters are also great if you have chickens. The birds go bonkers for earthworms! We give them earthworms in the winter when pickings are slim for bugs.

This is the set up and progress of my worm composting tower. I have included pictures of the first tray which is full and almost black now and a new tray.