January 15, 2008, Worm’s Eye View

Why do Red Wigglers sleep in? They hate getting out of a worm bed!!!

Vermicomposting is a composting method that uses Red Wiggler worms to facilitate the breakdown and decomposition of kitchen scraps and other organic household detritus. Since the worms perish in sub zero condition, the whole composting operation must be carried out indoors. The key to producing ordour free compost is to provide the worms with a happy home and nothing says “Home, Sweet Home” better to a worm than a plastic storage box.

Plastic storage containers are ideal for a number of reasons. They come with lids, are waterproof, are inexpensive to buy and come in a number of sizes to match each individual’s composting needs. The composter’s rule of thumb is you need one cubic foot of storage space for each 1 pound of food waste produced in a week.

Worm bedding is another important consideration in creating contented caterpillars. The bedding can consist of shredded newspaper, cardboard, peat moss, straw, leaves or a combination of the aforementioned material. The Red wigglers like it moist without being waterlogged, so it is usually necessary to add water to the mixture until it has the consistency of a damp dishrag. The worms do their best work at room temperatures providing the room is somewhere between 15 and 25 degrees celcious.

The food source is also important. Worms will crawl over a metre of broken glass to chow down on vegetable peels, fruit rinds, tea bags, coffee grounds, bread, cooked pasta and rice. Avoid composting spicy foods such as hot peppers and animal products such as meat fish and dairy products.