Organic Fertilizer for the Garden and Yard

Do you live in an urban or suburban setting and have a garden? Whether you are growing flowers, vegetables, a lush green yard, or trees and shrubbery, vermicomposting with red wrigglers also known as Eisenida foetida) is the way to insure that your soil is packed with needed nutrients, beneficial bacteria, and proper aeration. The worms actually provide the basis for a set of complex interactions between a variety of bacteria that results in the breaking down of organic matter to a moist and lumpy, black and wholesome substance called castings that somewhat resembles caviar. These castings are directly mixed into the soil of plants needing high nutrition. Properly maintained, a bin of worms will break down organic material in about a month's time, which is significantly shorter than it takes for the traditional compost pile.

I've had my bin now for 5 months, and it has produced more than enough castings to treat the 12 or so square feet of soil I garden in front of my apartment. I bought a plastic tub from Wal-Mart and a roller pan. You can easily adapt many types of containers, as well as store them in a variety of locations.

Of course, you need a container made of something that isn't going to rot or mildew from exposure to moisture and soil. It also needs a lid and holes punched at various locations to insure air flow, which you can do with a drill (or a knife, like I did). Holes should be located on the sides, bottom (not necessary but helpful), and lid. They need to be small so nothing tries to get in.

For the least messy results, which is necessary if you keep your bin on the front porch, you'll need some kind of netting to put over the holes.This netting should only be used for the holes that don't open directly onto the castings. That'll keep the flies out.

Extreme temperatures are simply no good. You can keep the worms under your sink if necessary in a smaller box. The worms shouldn't create a stench. If they do, you've got ventilation problems. The bacteria that does much of the work is aerobic, meaning it respirates oxygen. These guys will make a hearty, earthy smell. Should less than enough oxygen be available, anaerobic bacteria will move in. These are the guys used to make vinegar and alcohol, and they can produce ammonia and other noxious gases.

So it's a battle, good versus evil. You don't need a fan, just consistent and evenly spaced small holes along the surface. another help for smell is to keep the altitude of your pile less than 6 inches. The more surface area per volume your worms have to play in, the more productive and less smelly they will be. I learned this all the hard way.

Worms love banana peels; an avacado seed won't be broken down but it will provide soil structure later on; a mix of mostly cooking scraps mixed with some greenery or dead plants from your garden is desirable; egg shells will be broken down more wuickly if you crunch them up good first. That being said, wash the protein matter off your eggshells first and don't put any meat, cheese (why would you!?), or other non-plant scrap into your pile. You'll want to put a thin layer of peat moss and/or garden soil without any commerical fertilizer additives. The worms are like little tongues and need that kind of moisture level.

Once you're ready to harvest that first month's worth of black gold, you'll need to move the worms to a new pile. I'm sure there are a million ways of doing this, and this probably isn't the easiest, but it works. Spread some new plant matter across one half of your surface and cover it with newspaper. Leave your container uncovered for a few hours, as the worms don't like light and will gravitate to their fresh food. When they've done so, lay down another layer of plant matter in the empty space, and let your worms get to work. Next month you'll do the same thing but the side you harvested from last time will be the side you feed this time. In this manner you can regulate how tall your pile gets.

It can be a rewarding experience helping make what is the best food out there for your plants. Also you'll be helping keep some meager amount of waste from going to the landfill and mummifying in perpetuity. Truly healthy soil has no need for fertilizers made from natural gas that has been stored under the ground for tens of millions of years.

I'll add some pictures of my bin sometime soon and talk more about the joys of worming then.