Thursday, January 20, 2011

Vermicomposting

My worms came today from Uncle Jim's Worm Farm. It was a lot quicker than I expected since amazon estimated delivery for 4 days from now at the earliest. So I spent about an hour tonight making my worm bin.



The worms I ordered came in a canvas bag full of dry peat moss.



It came with instructions for composting.



I used three rubbermaid containers and a drill with a 1/4 inch bit.



I drilled air holes around the top and drainage holes all over the bottom.



In the sink I shredded newspaper and magazines for the bedding. It needs to get soaked completely, then rung out so that it doesn't drip at all.



Worms love cardboard. I shredded some to layer into the newspaper bedding.



I mixed in a couple of potatoes and a few pieces of stale bread. Worms also need dirt or some other type of grit to help them digest their food so I tossed in a couple of handfuls of dirt.



A layer of wet cardboard.



A layer of dry cardboard to keep out the light and keep in the moisture.



I put the first container inside the others and propped it up to keep the air circulating and allow drainage of compost tea.

When the first container becomes full of compost, or worm poop, it becomes toxic to the worms. That's why there are three containers. I will put holes in a second container just like the first when the first container is full. I will fill it with bedding and put some food in it, and stop putting food in the first. I'll put it on top of the bedding of the first container and the worms will migrate to the new bin, leaving nothing but compost in the first.

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