photo from Pragmatic Environmentalism
The following is a guest “Wednesday on Waste” post from Brenda Pike at PragmaticEnvironmentalism.com.
When I talk about my worm bin, people tend to be a) squeamish or b) fascinated. Either way, they have lots of questions. Here are some that I’ve gotten:
1. Does it smell?
No. Worms eat the food as it decays, so you don’t smell the rot. Instead, it just smells like dirt. You could theoretically overwhelm them with more scraps than they can handle, but they eat a lot (half their weight per day), so I’ve never had that problem.
Bonus FAQ: It shouldn’t attract flies, either, but fly eggs could come in on the scraps. To kill them, freeze the scraps first (defrost before adding to the bin) or microwave them.
2. Can I keep it in my apartment?
Yes. In our current apartment, the worm bin is in the basement, but in our old apartment it was just in a closet. The occasional worm does escape (if their bin is too wet or if they haven’t been fed for a while), but the poor things don’t get farther than a foot before they dry up.
3. Can I just dig up worms from my backyard?
No. Red wigglers are more efficient at processing scraps than earthworms, because the environment inside the bin mimics the leaf litter on the forest floor that they’re used to. You can probably pick them up at your local bait shop, or you can order them online.
Bonus FAQ: You should make sure there are no red wigglers in the compost before you spread it on your garden, because they’re not native.
4. What can I feed them?
All fruit and veggies are okay, as are most table scraps, coffee grounds, and breads. No meat or feces. Eggshells are fine, if you rinse them out. They don’t break down, but the calcium is good for the soil and the worms like to curl up inside them and make babies.
photo from Pragmatic Environmentalism
5. What do I do with the compost?
This isn’t really a question for people with gardens, but it can be an issue for apartment dwellers like me. You can add it to your houseplants, either in a layer on top or in 1/4 mixture with potting soil. You can also add water and use the resulting “tea” as a liquid fertilizer. This doesn’t come up as often as you might think, though. The worms reduce the volume of the scraps dramatically.
Any more questions? I’m happy to answer, since I’d like to think that all my trial and error (especially error) was worth something. If you’re really interested, I’d recommend reading a good book on the subject to save yourself some trouble. But it’s really remarkable how forgiving of mistakes a worm bin can be!
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Comments ( 6 )
[...] other news, I’ve got a guest post on Cheap Like Me: 5 FAQs about Vermicomposting. Thanks, Cheap Like [...]
Friday Green Links – 7/9 « Pragmatic Environmentalism added these pithy words on Jul 11 10 at 12:58 pm[...] Vermicomposting : It may not be pretty, but this form of composting using worms can be done easily. Cheap Like Me [...]
Project Management Training » 100 Simple Living Blog Posts You Can Incorporate Into Your Own Life added these pithy words on Nov 29 10 at 5:35 am[...] to safely return your household waste to nature at howtocompost.org. (Note from Cheap: Or check out vermicomposting for small [...]
5 Ways of Investing in a Cheaper, Cleaner Future | Cheap Like Me | Cheap Like Me added these pithy words on Apr 22 11 at 9:52 amI was always told to leave out citrus peels as the worms don’t like them- to acidic or something
Rob added these pithy words on
Jul 08 10 at
10:49 pm
There’s not much room in my apartment for a worm bin and if one were to escape, I wouldn’t want there to be a possibility of my rabbit eating it, but we have a large balcony, can the worm bin live out there?
Nicole added these pithy words on
Jul 15 10 at
10:24 am
hi,
i’ve been try to make worm compost for abt 3 month but not been happy with result as the worm population is not increasing and I cant see sufficient cast also
i”m using a Styrofoam bin (height 11″ length 18″ width 13″I would like to know why worm are not increasing and
does the pre frozen blended food result in heating bin if added little more that require as i dont have idea how much food i should feed a time?????some picture of my worms are
http://www.flickr.com/photos/65647313@N04/6079437085/sizes/l/in/photostream/http://www.flickr.com/photos/65647313@N04/6064155829/in/photostream
nitin added these pithy words on
Sep 23 11 at
1:25 am
