Worm Composting Project

The first thing you need to do if you are interested in worm composting is to get your wormery ready. There are some commercial ones available, but we chose to make our own. You need a pail or bin at least 24 inches tall with a tight fitting lid. With a drill or hammer and nail puncture several small holes in the bottom and sides of the bin for aeration. Place your bin somewhere that will stay between about 50-75 degrees. For the winter, we have our on our laundry room porch, which is heated. In the summer you will need to keep it in a shady area outside. Place some shredded newspaper or dry leaves on the bottom to about 1/8-1/4 full. Place some dirt on top to about 1/2 full. Moisten and then top with table scraps such as fruit, vegetables and crushed egg shells.
Next you want to obtain your red worms. Regular worms you find in your garden will not survive in these bins. We bought ours from Gardens Alive! but there are many other places to buy them through the Internet. They cost about $50.00 for 500 worms, which is what you will need for this size bin.

Feed your worms vegetable scraps at least once a week. Feeding lightly and often will produce more worms (which is good when starting a new bin) and large amounts fed less often will fatten your worms (good for fishing). Add more cardboard, shredded newspaper, hay, or other fibrous material once a month, or as needed.

It varies how long it takes for the worms to make it all into compost -anywhere from 1-6 months. Check on its progress regularly. When you feel it is time to take out the rich soil, simply push the contents of the bin all to one side and add fresh food, water, dirt, and bedding to the empty space. The worms will slowly migrate over on their own.