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Composting With Worms

WORM BIN COMPOSTING PROVIDES FOR
HEALTHY, NATURAL ALTERNATIVES

There are healthy, natural alternatives to chemicals. There are ORGANIC fertilizers that help build a healthy soil environment for plants to grow in, that leave a healthy environment for our children to grow in.

I have been worm farming for eight years and I am still awed by the magic of worm composting. To watch the raw material that is manure, newspaper, leaves, grass and food waste become the black gold that gardeners dream of is inspiring, and every bit as exciting as a seed emerging from the earth, a flower bursting into bloom, and that small swollen stem end developing into a luscious fruit.

At first I thought because of the cold winters of my northerly location I would not be able to grow worms. They like it warm, I thought. And they do. But composting by it's very nature produces heat. Thus, by planning the workings of my bins to match the season I actually have better results with my worms in the cooler months of Spring and Fall and indeed even in winter, than I do in Summer when the temperatures are really too hot for the worms to be happy. After a winter of layering on the raw material mentioned above, the bed has stayed warm enough for the inhabitants and they have left me with the rich earth filled with castings and bacteria that a healthy soil thrives on.

Getting Started

When you decide to compost with worms, that initial decision is the first of many. The many aspects of what you want to accomplish will have an effect on what you finally do.

• Will you compost outside with a conventional compost pile and add worms to that?
   

• Will you compost in worm bins?
   

• If you compost in worm bins, what size will they be?
   

• Are you composting to handle your organic waste, for the by product, or both?
   

• Do you want the bin in the house, the garage, or out-doors?
   

• Do you want a plastic bin, a wood bin or perhaps you want to be creative with something out of the ordinary.

Whatever you decide, there is a plethora of materials out there to use. I am a commercial grower and therefore my main bins are of commercial size. They are 4'x8' Fiberglas heated bins.

Anyone who is a serious gardener and recognizes the benefit of using worm castings in their soil building program must also recognize that anything smaller than a 4'x8' bin would be insignificant. A bigger bin is easier to work and produces a great deal more product. The Fiberglas are nice but expensive. You could build one out of plywood quite easily and coat it in paraffin wax to help preserve the wood. In this way you can customize the size to fit your needs and space requirements.

These can be made out of any plastic tote. It simply needs to be a solid color, not opaque as the worms do not like light and would not be happy in a bin that allowed light in all around. I like the attached lid of this bin and the hard plastic. Vents can be found at a builders supply store. Vents must be put in the top and the bottom as well as the sides. You can't have too many vents as long as you do not compromise the integrity of the tote. You need to be able to move the bin.  You also need to plan on a system of catching the excess moisture (worm tea) that will come from the bottom vents of your bin.  I use a strong tote of a larger size with short pieces of 2x4 placed across the top to place the worm bin on.  This allows air to circulate around the full circumference of the worm bin.

I have had people ask me about using old freezers, bath tubs, I heard of one person modifying an old phonograph to be a worm bin, and another had the bin in the window seat of the kitchen window. Really, you can use anything that will hold bedding material and will allow for the escape of excess moisture and the circulation of air. The less accommodating to these needs the more maintenance will be required.

FINDING A BEDDING SOURCE

• MANURE - This can be horse, cow, pig, llama, alpaca, or rabbit.  Manure is an excellent bedding source as this is the natural habitat for the worms.  One of the many names for composting worms is manure worm.  If you choose to use manure as your bedding you will want to have an area where you can store the manure so it can do some pre-composting before you use it. 
  
  If you are going to worm bin compost and you live in a condo or apartment or an area where you can't have a large amount of manure stored close by, you can still use manure if you can find a source where a supply of composted manure is available.  Composted manure does not smell and you can keep a bucket or two stashed to recharge your worm bin.  Note:  I don't advise using the bagged steer manure you can buy at the store as this has been sterilized and the worms don't seem to like it.
  
  I use manure as the major source of bedding material and add the following material in layers as I work the worm bin to provide an added source of nutrients for the worms and to create composting action beginning in the fall for the winter months.
   

• SHREDDED NEWSPAPER - Many people are worried about the ink in newsprint.  I have used shredded newspaper in my worm bins since I started worm bin composting over eight years ago.  My understanding is that the inks used in newsprint is soy-based because of the exposure to children.  You quite obviously don't want to use the slick ads and you might want to stay away from full page color newsprint, although I haven't worried too much about the colored ink.  The gut of a worm is a miraculous place where things happen that we can't begin to understand. 
   

• LEAVES - I use leaves in my bedding as an added source of nutrients and to help create some composting action in the fall going into winter so the worm bin is creating some of it's own heat.  Worms love leaf piles and is as natural a bedding as manure is.  However, the leaves do tend to mat together and will take some additional work making sure air is able to circulate into the bedding material.  You can run the leaves through your lawn mower or a shredder.  I don't bother.  I just take a great deal of care to break up the material as much as possible and turn the worm bin on a regular basis so I know that air is getting incorporated into the bedding for the worms.
   

• SAWDUST - I do not have any personal experience using sawdust as a bedding.  If I had it available to use I would use it like the leaves.  I would layer it on in thin layers in fall in preparation for the cold winter months.
   

WORMS

• RED WORMS - Also known as red wigglers, manure worms and composting worms, these worms thrive in organic matter.  Different from earthworms and night-crawlers which are soil dwellers, red worms need to be in organic matter such as manure and leaves as they eat constantly. 

SETTING UP YOUR WORM BIN

• LOCATION - Choose a location where there is protection from direct sun, wind, and uncontrollable moisture.  Protect from temperature extremes and make sure there is good air circulation on all sides.  If you live in a northerly location where you experience freezing temperatures you will want to be able to move your worm bin or be able to protect your worm bin from freezing.  An insulated garage, basement, insulated back or front porch, or laundry room is an excellent choice.
   

• BEDDING PREPARATION - Wet your choice of bedding so that you can just squeeze a couple of drops of moisture from it.  If you are using manure that has become dried out make sure the moisture is absorbed completely throughout the material.  Likewise, make sure shredded newspaper has completely absorbed moisture.  Surface moisture will quickly evaporate and leave the bedding uncomfortably dry for your worms.  Fill your bin about 3/4 of the way full and spread your worms over the surface and wait for them to dive into their new home.  If the bedding is different from what they are use to they may want to crawl.  This is normal and can be avoided by keeping a light on for the first night to keep the worms in the bedding.

WHAT TO FEED YOUR WORMS