Worm Composting

Mini-composter

Worm composting recycles organic waste into an excellent soil conditioner. This process can either be carried out indoors or outdoors. You only need a small amount of room. Keep the worms and bedding in a small box or bin about 30 cm (1') high, 60 cm (2') and 90 cm (3') wide. Locate conveniently near your kitchen. Worms ideally prefer temperatures between 15° C (60° F) and 27° C (80° F) but they can tolerate from 5 degrees C (40° F) and 33° C (90° F). Keep the worms in your garage or basement.

Worms are not too fussy about their accommodation. Choose whatever suits you. If you build a box of the above dimensions use exterior grade plywood and building grade timber. Do not use pressure treated timber on the inside surface and the chemicals may be poisonous to worms. You can paint or stain the outside of the box but leave the inside untouched. Drill a minimum of twelve 25 mm (1 in) holes in the base for drainage.

Ingredients

Use shredded newspaper, cardboard, or white paper. Use only black and white print and avoid colour sections, as dyes may be poisonous to worms. Use a paper shredder or tear the newspaper along the centre fold and then continue tearing in 25 mm (1") sections. You will need about 4.25 kg (10 lb) for an average size box.

Place the shredded paper in the box. Add 4.5 l (1 gallon) of garden soil and 18 l (4 gallons) of water for moisture. Worms require grit to help their digestion. Bedding material should be moist but not sodden. Prepare moist bedding two days before adding your worms, giving time for the initial heat to cool.

How-to

Purchase worms from a fishing bait retailer or from a worm wholesaler. For every 375 g (1 lb) of kitchen waste use 750 g (2 lb) of worms, which equates to about 2,000 worms.

Feed your worms food scraps such as fruit and vegetable peels, crushed eggshells, tea bags, and coffee grounds. Avoid using meats, milk products, oily foods, and grains due to odors and potential rodent and fly problems. Lessen fly and odor problems by buying the food waste by pulling aside a little bedding, placing the waste and then covering with bedding again. Bury other loads in different areas in the box.

Just continue adding food up until after 2 1/2 months. At this stage, little original bedding will be noticeable and the contents will be earthy in appearance. Separate the worms from the finished compost. There are a number of ways you can achieve this. One way is to simply move the completed compost over to one side of the box and to add new bedding and food waste in the space provided. The worms will make their way over to the new area and the compost can be removed as needed.