[Dryerase] AGR Worm Composing

[Shawn G]

Asheville Global Report
www.agrnews.org

Start Worm Composting

By Shawn Gaynor

Asheville, North Carolina, Sept.4 (AGR)— By now it seems like most people 
know about recycling.  This by now means is to say that everyone recycles 
everything that is recyclable, but rather that it is in the mass 
consciousness of our culture that recycling is generally a good idea and a 
benefit to the environment. It reduces the amount of garbage that ends up in 
landfills, reduces impact on forests and mines, and saves fuel by having to 
put less energy into processing raw materials.
Likewise, composting seems to have largely entered the mass consciousness as 
a way to reduce waste. However many people, although they know that 
composting and building soils from your food waste, helps make the world 
more fertile,  reduces our dependencies on the chemical industry (who 
provides ‘fertilizers’),  and counters the massive top soil loss happening 
worldwide, still don’t do it. Of course they have all kinds of reasons; 
however, one that seems to come up often is that they have no space for a 
big pile of compost in their apartment, or small yard.  Well, if you’re one 
of these people, worm composting is for you.  In just a few easy steps that 
you can take on any evening of your life, you can begin worm composting.
You’ll need a few things to start.  First is a bin.  It should have a lid 
that sits on it, but is not airtight.  I recommend the retail shipping bin 
myself.  It has a hinged lid and is about two feet by two and a half feet by 
one foot deep--the perfect size for an apartment worm compost. They are the 
milk crate of the new millennium. Plastic makes it easy to clean, and it 
needs only one major alteration—that a few dozen ¼ inch holes be drilled in 
the bottom for it to drain.  Drain?
Your worm compost is going to produce worm castings. As fertilizers go this 
is top notch. It should be diluted before using on your house or garden 
plants.  To catch the castings, you will want to elevate the bin (with 
bricks, tin cans, other post-industrial ‘waste’) and have a tray beneath 
that catches the castings. A worn out Tupperware dish or baking sheet should 
work fine.Before adding your worms, the bin should have  some starter soil 
(maybe an inch of it) in it and some bedding to regulate moisture.  Old card 
board or newspapers shredded up works just fin.  The bedding should go on 
top of the dirt and fill  the bin more then halfway.
Now time for the worms.  Lots are better.  Some sources say about two 
thousand for a box this size, but you can start with a couple of containers 
from the local bait shop.  Red worms are the ones you’re looking for.  They 
are common and voracious eaters.  Adding new bedding every so often will 
keep the box from smelling.  It can be kept beneath a sink for easy access, 
or in a garage, basement or other underutilized space.
Now its time to feed the worms your garbage.  Don’t put in dairy or meat, as 
these will attract pests, bugs, smell and a general aura of evil.  A bin 
this size should be good for a household, however if you started with less 
worms, you need to let them multiply by feeding them steadily without 
filling up the bin.  The food waste should be mixed in.  One worm composter 
I know blends the waste for faster consumption by the worms.  Worms like it 
between 40 and 80 degrees and moist but not wet, so make sure they’re 
getting what they want.
For more information on worm composting visit look up worm composting on the 
Internet, or in your local library.  The following Internet sites will be 
very useful: www.cityfarmer.org/wormcomp61.html, 
www.cfe.cornell.edu/compost/worms/basics.html, 
www.uky.edu/OtherOrgs/AppalFor/bins.html or your local library. Also the 
book Worms Eat My Compost by Mary Appelhof provides many helpful insights 
and facts.




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