Worm Composting

The Heart And Soul Of Composting

Worm composting is using worms to transform table scraps and kitchen leavings to a valuable soil amendment called vericompost or castings or vericast. Worms eat the compost and pass it through their body. Their digestive process takes a few nutrients and passes the rest out the tail as compost. This compost can be used to grow plants. The process is simple when you stop to think about it. We typically peel our fruits and vegetable prior to eating them. The peels contain the highest amount of nutrients. We throw those away. By feeding them to the worms, our worm composting recycles them and lets us use the product to grow more fruits and vegetables.

The container is the heart of the worm composting process. It can be made of wood, plastic or glass. The choice is a personal one and usually depends on what is available. Surface area is more important than depth. The worms are surface dwellers and tend to live in the top 6" of the soil. You should have a cover for the bin that will keep out most of the light and at the same time allow the worms to get air into the bin. Have holes in the bottom for drainage.

You will need moist paper strips for the worm bedding material. You can tear newspapers for this but with active worms this could become a full time job. If you have access to a paper shredder ask the owner if you can recycle their paper. remove any cd strips or paper clips before adding it to your bin.

If the container is the heart of the worm composting operation, the worms are the soul. These little creatures work around the clock taking in garbage in the front end and putting out nutritious soil from the back. The best worms for worm composting are the red wigglers and are available for sale in some stores and on line. You will need about two pounds of worm for each pound of garbage you use. Do not worry about not having enough worms for your garbage. Worms will expand their population size to handle the available food supply. You just have to be patient with their procreation.

The compost can be used immediately as a soil additive or planting mix. It can also be stored for up to a year if you are waiting for gardening season.