Earthworm Composting

Vermiculture, which is earthworm composting, is a convenient way to get rid of organic waste while providing a good fertilizer for your garden. All you need to get started is some worms and a container with some bedding.

The worms you need to get are red worms. Don't go collect wild night crawlers because they won't be able to eat on your vegtable waste. If you know of any stables in your area, you can go ask the stables if you can gather red worms from their manure piles. If that sounds like too much work for you or if you think that's just a little too gross for you, you can purchase online at Planet Natural. You want to obtain about two pounds of worms for every one pound of waste per day that you produce. The worms do reproduce about every 90 days, so, you can actually start off with fewer worms and let them populate accordingly to your waste.

Earthworm bins can be built out of wood or you can use Rubbermaid bins. Planet Natural also sales bins specifically made for earthworms. You want the bin to be around eight inches to a foot deep and can be in any length and width that you choose.

Once you have your bin, you want to place it in a dark place. Earthworms love the dark and moist but not wet soil. The bin should be kept around 40 to 80 degrees fahrenheit. The bin should also be placed in a quiet and usually undisturbed location.

For the bedding, you can use shredded up newspaper or carboard that has been soaked and fill the bin about half full. Don't start off with or use any manure or garden soil to begin with; this will cause gases and heat up the bin and can kill your worms. Fine sand, leaves, egg shells, and/or saw dust should be added on top of the damp shredded newspaper or cardboard. Earthworms don't have teeth and need the gritty stuff to help digest food.

After you have the bin set up, add the earthworms about half way down into the bedding. You then want to put a lid on the bin to keep out the light. Leave the worms alone for a week and let them start working on their bedding.

After the first week is over, it's time to start adding the organic waste. Fruit and vegtable peels, coffee ground, tea bags, and egg shells can be added to the bin. Avoid putting in animal remains and byproducts such as dairy into the bin; this will cause the bin to smell. Don't add too much food or the food they the worms don't eat can start to rot and also cause a smell. If given the right amount of food, the bin shouldn't smell at all.

You will know when to add the compost from the bin to the garden when you realize that there is no original bedding left. When this happens, you need to make a new bin and transfer your worms to it and transfer the contents of the old bin to your garden.