What is Worm Composting?
Another word for it is vermicomposting. You can use this process to turn your food scraps into a beneficial organic soil your plants will love. This process is an all natural way to recycle your waste into a nutrient rich compost. It can be exciting for the whole family and done inside any sized home. All you need are the right kind of worms, a bin to house them in, and to periodically feed them. Recycle your kitchen scraps and even paper and cardboard by letting your worms convert it into fertilizer the way mother nature intended. No harsh chemicals needed! Worm composting is user friendly and will not only reduce your household's kitchen trash when you feed your worms but does the whole planet a favor by reducing land fill waste, which in turn reduces air pollution (methane), ground pollution (land fill space) and water pollution. It takes Mother Earth about 1,000 years to produce fertile soil but you can do it in only weeks by farming your own worms! There are many species of worms world wide and right here at Austin Worm Farm we have the perfect healthy composter's that'll literally 'work' for you.
What do they need to live?
6 basic needs of keeping compost (red wriggler) worms
To keep your worms happy and healthy, they have a few needs. Once everything is set up properly, the maintenance is low. Provide the worms the following:
- A home; (compost heap / worm bin) create a habitat for shelter a living space.
- Bedding; It’s the life support system
- Food; It’s what you’ll periodically add/bury for feeding
- Air; We want aerobic, not anaerobic conditions
- Water; not standing but moist bedding, flushing through is okay.
What do the worms eat?
Essentially taking care of your worms is very similar to keeping a compost pile. It takes about the same amount of time and maintenance. You’ll feed them the same things that you’d toss in a compost heap. The worms eat decaying materials that are naturally broken down by bacteria and oxidization. They don’t have teeth so it is very small particles of food along with the bacteria that gets ingested.
Avoid meats, fish, and dairy products because these can cause odors and attract pests such as flies / rodents etc. However if you are going to try these, it may be best to do it in an outdoor heap, as opposed to an indoor closed bin.
The worms also will have a preference and avoid certain foods, some people claim that they avoid really acidic foods. I have noticed that the worms will avoid onions and orange peels but I think it is more to do with the chemical composition, for example onions release sulfuric compounds that are volatile to some bacteria and this repulsion from the bacteria slows the breakdown of the onion thus not allowing the worms to feed from it. It is not detrimental to offer these sort of items but the worms may not be interested for a long time and it may even start to grow in to a new plant. The worms don’t eat living material (except microscopic organisms you won’t notice with the naked eye)
These compost worms also enjoy a diet of manure. It is best to offer pre composted manure. Otherwise the nitrogenous nature of manure will cause the worm’s home to become too hot. Worms will not thrive in temperatures above 90 degrees. Some animals are given a de-wormer agent to protect the animal from parasitic worms and this makes for another good reason to compost the manure before allowing your worms to process it.
It is best to provide a balance of 60/40 of Carbon to Nitrogen mix. A 50 / 50 ration of Carbons to Nitrogen can work also. Using the coconut coir as a bedding to bury the food in makes it much easier to balance and provides the perfect amount of moisture levels for the material to breakdown in. Plus, the worms like to hide in it and eventually eat it too. It will also provide them a place to go when they are not eating and to lay cacoons in. The coconut coir is already a great soil amendment and becomes even better for your plants after it has had worms process it / live in it.
Worms will eat the following:
Examples of your Carbons: also known as "BROWNS"§ Shredded Newspaper § Junk mail (avoid the envelopes with plastic) § Napkins / Paper Towels § Brown paper bags § Cardboard § Saw dust § Leaves § crushed egg shells § cotton fibers § straw § wood chips § corn stalks § peanut shells § coffee filters § tea bags § Fruit Waste You don’t have to be obsessed with classifying the foods into the carbon to nitrogen ratio but just think of it as a guide. The components of carbon such as leaves, stems, nut shells, and/or wood maybe slower to break down because these contain cellulose (chains of sugars such as in fruits), and lignans (which are complex polymers). EXCESS OF CARBON = SLOW DECOMPOSITION. |
Examples of Nitrogen: also known as the “Greens”
§ Coffee grounds
§ Alfalfa § Garden clippings § Manure § Weeds § Spent flowers § Spoiled veggies § Vegetable scraps The nitrogen is a component of proteins /enzymes from green plants / veggies, including animal sources such as manure, and boosts microbial growth quickly and will stimulate growth in plants. REMEMBER, THIS IN EXCESS WILL CAUSE AN ODOR. So if your worm bin is smelly you’ve added too much of these “green” components and can usually be fixed with adding more “browns” moist shredded paper and cardboard. Now don’t go and get confused and think the manure is a brown, it is high in nitrogen! |
These red worms here at Austin Worm Farm really have an affinity towards banana peels, watermelon rinds, small doses of coffee grounds, and cardboard seems to really make them happy.
Worm Bedding
Bedding will be a necessary component in your worm bin system, not so much in an outdoor heap. An outdoor heap will take a little less maintenance because it’s basically just nature taking it’s coarse but if you are doing a worm bin you are essentially creating a controlled environment and you will need to start with making the bedding.
Reasons for bedding:
¨ Creates insulation from temperature fluctuations
¨ Retains moisture levels
¨ Provides air flow space
¨ Protection from light
¨ A separate place to go from the food
¨ Worms will mate in it
¨ They’ll lay cocoons in it
¨ It’s a place to bury the food
¨ They’ll deposit their castings in it
Prepare the bedding before adding worms. Here is a recipe for bedding that can last for several months:
These can be done in equal parts:
¨ Coir
¨ Shredded paper
¨ Brown leaves
Other things you can put through out the bedding is sawdust, cardboard, soil, dead plant clippings and more. Basically anything biodegradable that will not compact so much that no air space can go through. Eventually the bedding breaks down and is eaten, just not as quickly as the worm’s food. A 4-6” bottom layer will suffice and you can ad more as needed.
Adding crushed eggshell every month or so will help balance the pH, create a calcium source, keeps the bedding loose, and most of all provides grit needed for the worm to digest food.
Your goal when building the bedding is to create an environment not only for the worms but also for molds, fungi, and the bacteria they have a symbiotic relationship with.
Moisture is a vital importance in allowing the worms to breathe; they respire through their skin so make sure the bedding stays damp. Coir maintains moisture very well so you don’t have to water your worms as often. Too much water will cause an anaerobic environment and too little water will cause the worms to become dehydrated. To test the amount of water retained in the bedding pick up a handful and squeeze it. You want maybe only a drop or two of water to be able to come through your fingers and that should be fine. If you have more than that flowing through, you can just ad some more coir or newspaper in to help with absorption.
Reasons for bedding:
¨ Creates insulation from temperature fluctuations
¨ Retains moisture levels
¨ Provides air flow space
¨ Protection from light
¨ A separate place to go from the food
¨ Worms will mate in it
¨ They’ll lay cocoons in it
¨ It’s a place to bury the food
¨ They’ll deposit their castings in it
Prepare the bedding before adding worms. Here is a recipe for bedding that can last for several months:
These can be done in equal parts:
¨ Coir
¨ Shredded paper
¨ Brown leaves
Other things you can put through out the bedding is sawdust, cardboard, soil, dead plant clippings and more. Basically anything biodegradable that will not compact so much that no air space can go through. Eventually the bedding breaks down and is eaten, just not as quickly as the worm’s food. A 4-6” bottom layer will suffice and you can ad more as needed.
Adding crushed eggshell every month or so will help balance the pH, create a calcium source, keeps the bedding loose, and most of all provides grit needed for the worm to digest food.
Your goal when building the bedding is to create an environment not only for the worms but also for molds, fungi, and the bacteria they have a symbiotic relationship with.
Moisture is a vital importance in allowing the worms to breathe; they respire through their skin so make sure the bedding stays damp. Coir maintains moisture very well so you don’t have to water your worms as often. Too much water will cause an anaerobic environment and too little water will cause the worms to become dehydrated. To test the amount of water retained in the bedding pick up a handful and squeeze it. You want maybe only a drop or two of water to be able to come through your fingers and that should be fine. If you have more than that flowing through, you can just ad some more coir or newspaper in to help with absorption.
Adding Worms to your outdoor compost pile
Dig out a small area of your pile (as if you were doing a transplant of a plant with roots) and gently dump out your clump into the dug out. You may lightly cover them with moistened compost or place a dampened sheet of newspaper over them. This will protect them from birds which is a predator in the sense that they would love to snack on your worms if they see them. This will also protect them from the sunlight which can kill a worm from dehydration and harmful UV rays. Other than covering you don’t need to manually spread them out because they prefer to be together and will eventually disperse themselves where they want to go. Soon they will go exploring and this will aerate and turn the area.
You may be tempted to dump a clump in your garden to spread the joy. This is a good way to improve the habitat in soil especially in raised beds or to revitalize old ones. Just keep in mind they will need moisture in the soil, and protection from the sun and heat, so a good layer of mulch will be an important top dress for the worms and of coarse your plants. Another helpful way to ensure their health and the health of your soil and plants at the same time is to bury some organic matter in little pits or trenches around your plants. Try not to disturb any roots as you do this. The worms will respond best to organic methods on your part, so harsh chemical treatments and fertilizers can be detrimental to the life forms living in your dirt.
You may be tempted to dump a clump in your garden to spread the joy. This is a good way to improve the habitat in soil especially in raised beds or to revitalize old ones. Just keep in mind they will need moisture in the soil, and protection from the sun and heat, so a good layer of mulch will be an important top dress for the worms and of coarse your plants. Another helpful way to ensure their health and the health of your soil and plants at the same time is to bury some organic matter in little pits or trenches around your plants. Try not to disturb any roots as you do this. The worms will respond best to organic methods on your part, so harsh chemical treatments and fertilizers can be detrimental to the life forms living in your dirt.
Where should I locate my worm bin unit?
The unit your worms live in can be indoors or out. Consider the following needed factors:
Choose a spot convenient to yourself to access the bin and not forget about it for too long. Some ideas are the kitchen, pantry, in a cabinet, in the garage, or on the porch (avoid direct sunlight, full shade is needed). We have 3 of the factories along our dining room wall.
Reds can tolerate a wide range of temperature. It’s best to keep them in between 45-90 degree range. Extreme temps can kill them. Around 70 degrees is optimal for worms to happily breed and cocoons to hatch.
Ventilation is also a key component when deciding the placement of your worm bin. There needs to be some space for air to flow around your unit. Think of it as a living system where gas exchange occurs and evaporation happens. Worms breathe oxygen through their skin and give off carbon dioxide. The process of decaying vegetable matter also produces carbon dioxide which will displace oxygen. So if there’s no ventilation on and around the bin there will be a build up of carbonic acids leading to altered pH levels, and other problems for the worms so basically they need fresh air! Yes, Worms bury themselves, but they still get their oxygen from space in between tiny particles of bedding and compost. The skin of the worm acts as the same as our lungs and need slight moisture for the gas exchange to occur, this is why you need to make sure their bedding is moist, otherwise the worms can't breathe.
If making your own worm bin unit out of wood or plastic, you will need to either drill around the sides of the unit and/or place some type of air vents around the side walls so it can breathe. Air vents of various sizes can be found in the roofing section at hardware stores.
If using animal manure to be processed with worms, it is better to go with an open top system or an outdoor heap for more aeration. Decaying manure will exchange even more carbon dioxide then vegetation scraps, along with many other gases that will need to be released. The worms do love manure so if you have a closed bin, keep the turds on a minimum!
- Convenience
- Temperature
- Air flow / Ventilation
Choose a spot convenient to yourself to access the bin and not forget about it for too long. Some ideas are the kitchen, pantry, in a cabinet, in the garage, or on the porch (avoid direct sunlight, full shade is needed). We have 3 of the factories along our dining room wall.
Reds can tolerate a wide range of temperature. It’s best to keep them in between 45-90 degree range. Extreme temps can kill them. Around 70 degrees is optimal for worms to happily breed and cocoons to hatch.
Ventilation is also a key component when deciding the placement of your worm bin. There needs to be some space for air to flow around your unit. Think of it as a living system where gas exchange occurs and evaporation happens. Worms breathe oxygen through their skin and give off carbon dioxide. The process of decaying vegetable matter also produces carbon dioxide which will displace oxygen. So if there’s no ventilation on and around the bin there will be a build up of carbonic acids leading to altered pH levels, and other problems for the worms so basically they need fresh air! Yes, Worms bury themselves, but they still get their oxygen from space in between tiny particles of bedding and compost. The skin of the worm acts as the same as our lungs and need slight moisture for the gas exchange to occur, this is why you need to make sure their bedding is moist, otherwise the worms can't breathe.
If making your own worm bin unit out of wood or plastic, you will need to either drill around the sides of the unit and/or place some type of air vents around the side walls so it can breathe. Air vents of various sizes can be found in the roofing section at hardware stores.
If using animal manure to be processed with worms, it is better to go with an open top system or an outdoor heap for more aeration. Decaying manure will exchange even more carbon dioxide then vegetation scraps, along with many other gases that will need to be released. The worms do love manure so if you have a closed bin, keep the turds on a minimum!