Worm poop on Valentine's Day

Last Saturday I started my very own worm composting (or vermicompost) bin and so far my adopted worms have been alive and wriggling around happily. For some reason, the green to brown ratios of traditonal compost piles have always made me nervous, so I decided to ease into composting via a more passive and forgiving practice. There are some food to worm ratios included in setting up a compost bin, but I figured I would just eyeball it.



For my bin, I used a 5 gallon opaque plastic container (worms don't have eyes, but they still can't tolerate light) that I bought at Walmart for $3. After drilling some holes into the top, bottom, and sides for air circulation and drainage, I pushed some screening into the bin to prevent any wayward worms from escaping. I then made sure to shred a couple pounds of black and white newsprint to make the bedding since the metals used in colored ink can be toxic to worms. After the bedding was shredded, damp with water, and fluffed nicely in the bin, I tossed in about one handful of garden soil and two handfuls of red wigglers.

As for the red wigglers, I adopted them from my friend Jodi who is a horticulture teacher and has two bins in her classroom. For people who don't have a friend like Jodi, I assume they either buy their worms at a bait shop or dig for them in a nice fresh pile of manure. They do not use the worms in the garden, because those worms are typically nightcrawlers which don't thrive in composting bin conditions. There are a few different types of worms that can be used, but I think red wigglers are the most common worms used for composting.

On Sunday I fed them some mushed up banana, apple, crushed egg shells, and tea bags. I will probably feed them some potato and carrot peelings again this weekend since already most of the food is gone and rich brown soil (well, worm poop) has taken its place. In a couple of months the entire 5 gallons of bedding and worms will have been turned into a beautiful compost that I can use to nourish the soil, grow more veggies, and begin the whole process again.