Worm Bins, Red Wigglers, Night Crawlers, and Castings!
Helping you discover your wormy side
The Wonderful World of Worm Composting Worms are natures best composters. They eat their body weight in food each day. Their digested food produces wonderful castings. These castings are the finest natural soil amendment in the world. Now you can purchase these castings, or you can make your own with a family worm bin. Let me share with you the easy steps you will take on your adventure into Vermiculture: Choose a shady location for your bin. Garages, porches, or kitchens are all great locations. If your bin is not raised please put it on blocks and a tray underneath to collect your liquid fertilizer. Gather newspaper minus glossy ads and tear into 1 inch strips. You will need approximately 8 inches in your bin. Soak your newspaper for 24 hours in water, and wring it out so it is the dampness of a wet towel. Add your worms: Red Wigglers or Giant Reds. You will need at least a pound depending on your bin size. Worms do not like light. Your worms will need to become accustomed to their new home. Use a light above their home for the first 48 hours to make sure they stay in their bedding. Do not feed during this time. Add kitchen scraps. Cover with 3 inches of bedding so you don’t attract fruit flies. Each time you feed put it in a different corner. This way you can uncover the food you offered them in the previous feeding. You will learn from this what foods they like and don’t like. You can also see if you are overfeeding. Feeding your worms too often or foods they are not fond of will result in a smelly and problematic bin. Mist and fluff your bedding to keep bedding moisture like a wrung out sponge. Harvest your castings when they look rich, fluffy, and black. You will no longer recognize the original bedding. There are two ways to proceed. 1. Move all castings and worms over to one side of your bin. Add fresh bedding and food into the other side. Over several days the worms will naturally move to the fresh bedding. 2. Dump your castings onto a plastic tarp or bag in a well lit area. Separate into 8-10 piles. The worms will crawl away from the light, as they do scoop the castings off the top. Eventually you will be left with your worms. Add them to new bedding and start the process again.
(your how to for economy or wood bins)
Tips for happy worms
Keep their environment stable. They like a dark, moist environment with plenty of air circulation, and a stable temperature of 60-75 degrees inside the bin.
Feed them fruits, vegetables, egg shells, coffee grounds with the liner, and tea bags. Do not feed them: orange peels, garlic, onion, too much coffee, meat, or dairy products.
Make sure to periodically give your worms crushed egg shells. It adds grit to their diet and helps them digest their food better.
