Vermicomposting – Composting with Worms
When I first began gardening years ago, I thought choosing the right seeds, planting at the correct depth, and providing adequate water were the most important aspects for a healthy harvest. Of course I now understand soil management is the primary key for healthy plants and an abundant harvest.
Thinking back, composting with worms was something I wanted to do way back in 2012 when we lived in our townhouse in the suburbs. In fact, I thought it would be a great homeschool project for my 12-year old, although he did not share my enthusiasm.
I looked at the options for purchasing small vermicomposters to keep in the home, but that idea didn’t particularly appeal to me either. The retailers all claimed they were odor free and leak-proof, but I wasn’t convinced. And besides, where would I keep it in our tiny kitchen?
I never got around to using worms for composting, until my first year on our homestead. During my weekly classes at a local farm, one of our projects was to make a worm bin. It was simple enough to make, but I worried that I would kill the poor worms by:
- adding too much moisture and drowning them
- not keeping it moist enough and having them dry out
- forgetting to add new materials for them to consume
- allowing them to freeze in the colder weather
Well, it turns out, compositing with worms is not that difficult. After just a few short months, the shredded newspaper and kitchen scraps had been turned into a bin full of beautifully composted soil. The magic part is, I did almost nothing.
The worms did what worms do – they ate and they pooped, transforming my everyday kitchen scraps into rich soil for the garden. Making a DIY worm bin and composting with worms is one of the easiest things you can do to add nutrients to your soil, why not start now?
How to Make a Worm Bin
- Take a storage tote, and use a small drill bit to create air holes on the lid and on the bottom of the tote. Keep those holes tiny, because those worms will find a way out if they can!
- Use paper – newspapers, computer paper, anything that is not glossy and tear it into strips and soak in water for a few minutes. You need enough paper to fill about 1/3 to 1/2 of the bin.
- Add a few handfuls of soil and mix in with the wet paper.
- Add worms (mine were from the local bait shop)
- Remember to feed scraps to your worms every week or so – keep an eye on your worms to see how quickly they are digesting the wastes you provide – it will depend on the number of worms you have.
- Add moisture if the materials become dry and crumbly.
Tiny openings on the lid
Tiny openings on the bottom
Layers of composting materials – paper, leaves, kitchen scraps. I set my bin on an unused storage bin lid to catch leaking moisture, but never had any that I could see.
Beautiful soil for your flower and garden beds!
DIY Worm Bin – My Experience
I created my worm bin our first summer on our homestead and promptly forgot about it (bad homesteader, I know.) But the worms survived. Thrived actually, as I discovered a second generation of little wigglers after just two months.
The worms and I are on a schedule now – about twice a month I feed my worms a few handfuls of kitchen scraps – onion and potato skins, used tea leaves, coffee grounds, mushy fruits, etc.
I keep my worm bin under a covered porch on the east side of the house. They seem happy and healthy. The moisture level maintains itself without me adding water directly.
Once the bin is full of well-composted material, it’s ready for use. I add the entire contents of my worm bin, worms and all, to my garden, and then start over with a new batch of wigglers. It’s a great partnership actually – the worms get a safe place to live and free food, and in return, I get nutrients for my garden!
Composting with Worms
Vermicomposting is one tool for replacing lost nutrients and building a healthy soil. While this worm bin won’t produce enough for all our gardening needs, it is simply one more part of our expanding soil management plan which includes larger composting, animal inputs, mulching, cover crops, green manure, and crop rotation.
And it’s a great way to recycle those kitchen scraps.
Have you tried vermicomposting?
Why or why not?