Composting with Worms

Before you turn your nose up in disgust, you should know that safely tucked away in a composting bin, these wiggly little creatures are excellent at turning your kitchen scraps into a wonderful fertilizer.

A small worm bin in a convenient way to compost and can easily be made with something as simple as

A plastic garbage can with a few simple modifications. You can make holes for ventilation and drainage. Air can flow into the bin through holes in the lid, and water is able to drain freely from holes drilled near the base of the garbage can.

Creating your own bedding for your compost is as easy as mixing equal parts peat moss, garden soil and manure, soaking the mixture in water overnight. The next day just squeeze out any excess water and aerate the bedding mixture. You are now ready to use your bedding material and introduce your earthworms.

Purchasing your earthworms is as simple as driving to your local bait shop, or if you prefer you ca order your earthworms through an ever-growing number of online suppliers. Red wigglers are a good choice because of their healthy appetite. The general rule is that one pound of earthworms will eat one pound of food and produce one pound of compost every day.

Earthworms prefer a diet of fruits and vegetables served on a daily basis. Keep in mind that if you feed your earthworms more than they can consume in 24 hours you run the risk of your composting material over heating, thus killing your worms.

Place the food on top of the bedding, tapping it into the bedding material. After a few weeks your earthworms should be adjusted to their new home and be well on their way to enjoying a regular feeding schedule.

It is a good idea to keep a bucket in the kitchen to house your potential worm food. This is a wonderful way to reduce the amount of garbage your family produces. What can you add to your composting bin? Egg shells, dust from your vacuum cleaner bag, shredded newspapers, coffee grounds, cereal, bread crumbs, raw fruits and vegetables, and for an added treat corn meal.

What should you leave out of your composting bin? Cooked foods, meat, fish, and bones because of the unpleasant odor. You also run the risk of scavengers discovering your composting bin and using it as a convenient food source.

Within a few months you should notice the food scraps turning into a soil-like substance. Now is the time to harvest your compost.

The simplest way to separate the worms from the compost material is to push the compost to one side of the bin or garbage can before adding your fresh bedding. The next step is to add new food to the fresh bedding material only. The earthworms will migrate to the food, leaving behind the compost.

You are now ready to use your composting material. The compost can be added to your flower beds, hanging baskets, vegetable gardens, houseplants, or you can also use it along with a seed starter mix. However you choose to use your compost, worms can be a gardener's best friend.