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food per square foot of surface area in your bin. One
pound of food waste fills a 16-ounce plastic cup.
Appropriate worm food is anything that does not smell
bad when it rots. Do not feed meat, dairy, oil, or
grease to your worms. Keep in mind that microorganisms
decompose the food to a certain extent before the
worms can digest it. Hand washing is strongly
recommended after feeding or handling the worms.
Cover the box and set it on a surface that can collect
liquid that may leak out of the bin. Keep your bin in
a dark, dry place that is convenient for you, like a
basement or garage. In order for the worms to eat your
food waste at maximum speed, the box needs to be kept
at a temperature that is comfortable to humans,
between 40 and 80 degrees Farinheit. If it gets too
cold, cover the bin with a blanket and/or a tarp. 
A full vermiposting cycle takes two to four months to
complete. This is apparent when the original bedding
material is absent, and a brown, earthy-smelling
substance replaces it. It is now time to harvest the
castings. If you have helpers, (e.g., anyone who likes
bugs), dump the whole bin out on a tarp and pull out
as many of the worms as you can by hand. Otherwise,
scoop all of the castings to one side of the bin. Add
damp bedding material to the vacant side and begin the
whole process anew. Worms will gradually move to the
unfinished side, and you can skim finished compost as
they go.
 When conditions are too wet inside the bin due to
overfeeding or lack of aeration disagreeable odors
occur. To fix the problem, reduce the amount of food
waste you feed the worms. Also check the aeration
holes to see if they are blocked. It may also be
necessary to drill more holes.
For further information as well as suggestions, find
the book Worms Eat My Garbage by Mary Appelhof. It’s
well-written, authored by one of the world’s leading
authorities on worm composting. The Madison Public
Library System has several copies in circulation. 
	The author can be contacted at
ginnygold103 at hotmail.com


--Sidebar--

Suggestions for your very own vermiculture:
1.  Compost used coffee grounds with the filter, as
well as tea bags, in the worm bin.
2.  To keep yourself cleaner when feeding the worms,
use a small garden fork to bury the food waste.
3.  Old coolers (with lots of ventilation) make great
worm bins.
4.  If the worms appear to be trying to escape, try
feeding them less citrus peel.
5.  It is possible to carefully rinse oil/dressing
from fresh veggies to feed worms  
6.  Chop food waste into tiny pieces (or use a food
processor to puree it), the worms will eat it much
faster.
Most importantly, be creative when making and using wormbins!

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