Vermicomposting (Worm Farming) - The Care and Feeding of Worms.

   I wanted to write this on Sunday after I did my worm feeding for the week, but that turned over to Monday - where I found out my new neighbor was moving in and their help for the day had failed to show up, Tuesday - my Wife's birthday, Wednesday - ANZAC day (Australian veterans day of remembrance, which I observe being an Australian veteran myself). Thursday... I thought today was Thursday, but it's Friday, and I spent it fixing the bathroom that adjoins the master bedroom. We now have a working sink and toilet - but the shower still needs to be torn out and replaced.

So, Friday. A nice sunny day - and a couple of hours dealing with some garden stuff, and I can settle in to finally pen this article.  This is gonna be a LONG one - so strap in and get a coffee.

So, you want to start a Worm Bin?

We covered some things you'll need and some things you'll want in the last post. Your outlay could be as little as 30 or so dollars just for worms - or up to around 100 dollars (my start point) for a cheap worm tub and some starter worms, upwards to who knows where. I've seen some people online pay ludicrous amounts of money to buy or build massive systems, or fall for some snake oil - internet BS and pay for things such as 'breeder stock worms'. There is no such animal. My worms are the same as your worms, are the same as the worms at the farm I bought them from.

Now after saying 'worms are worms' I'm going to contradict myself.  There are different varieties of composting worms - the European Red Worm (aka the Super Red Worm at Uncle Jim's Worm Farm) which IS a slightly different animal. They are bigger and apparently like to burrow a little deeper, and some sources have said they enjoy paper goods a little more - I bought 250 to put in my second bin to test this claim (as I take very little as 'gospel' on the internet unless there is overwhelming evidence or scientific proof to back it up).
They can co-exist with normal red wrigglers with no problems according to my dealer.  If you have questions about species and performance - ask your worm dealer directly. If they don't answer you, use another dealer. I've sent questions to Uncle Jim's Worm farm several times and always received a quick, courteous and informed answer - I can't recommend this guy enough.
99.9% of people are just going to go for 'the red wriggler' - tried, true, no nonsense, composting worm - and everything I just said can be safely ignored.

An obvious point: Make sure you buy, build, order your worm bin first and wait for it to arrive. THEN order your worms :)  Sounds obvious but in the heat of the moment I had to hold myself back from the 'well they'll all arrive around the same time' mistake.

When they arrive you'll want to get them settled.. set up some fresh bedding (most worm bins you buy come with a brick of coconut coir - hydrate it and lay down some of that). A couple of inches will be fine. If you didn't read my spiel on the benefits of coir - or just plain ignored it - some shredded moist paper will do fine.
Empty the worms on top and leave the lid off your bin. Worms don't like sunlight and they'll burrow down into the bedding over the space of 1/2 hour (they're probably going to be lethargic after being packed up and shipped).
What I do at this point is check the moisture and sprinkle some corn meal over the top for them to eat.  I let them settle for a few days before feeding them proper.

During this time your worms may come to the surface or try and escape out the top. All these things I'll cover in 'problems' again - but for now there are more than likely only 2 things you need to do to control this till they settle:
1. take the top off the bin till they burrow down away from the light.
2. check the spigot for runoff of excess moisture. Worms like damp, but aren't fond of swimming.

I've observed this 'new worm escape' even in an established bin, and I think part of it is the worms adjusting to a new environment.  Once settled, and you find your groove with maintaining the environment for them - they'll happily live in there and not want to leave.

 What to Feed Worms.

I touched on this on my introduction post - and it it's worth remembering: Worms don't eat the trash per se , rather they live on the microorganisms that occur as the trash breaks down.  This is why if done right there is no funky smells.  So keeping this in mind - it's important not to overfeed the worms to maintain this.  Now this isn't terribly hard, but sometimes when you start out you can get a little overzealous.

There are lots of foods worms like:

• fruit vegetable scraps, stems, peels
• egg shells
• grains, cereals, bread, corn meal
• beans, rice, pasta
• coffee grounds & filter
• tea bags (remove staple first)
• dead or wilted flowers
• dry grass clippings & leaves
• newspaper & junk mail
• cardboard & paper egg cartons

There are some things they especially like.

• watermelon
• cantelope rind
• mango skin
• banana peel
• avocado skin
• corn on the cob
• pumpkin

And finally some things you shouldn't put in at all:

• meat, poultry, seafood, bones
• dairy products (butter, sour cream, whole eggs, cheese)
• oily or salty foods (peanut butter)
• acidic foods (pineapple)
• sauces or processed foods
• citrus (lemon, lime, orange)
• onions & garlic
• spicy foods & chili peppers (jalapeños)
• plants or grass that has been sprayed with pesticides
• poisonous plants
• soap
• glass, plastic, tin foil, metal

I use a general rule of thumb:  No dairy, no meat, no overly processed and nothing absolutely stupid - but some people have a strange definition of stupid so we add things like 'pesticide' to the list. Whoever even asks if it's ok to put pesticide into a living environment we're trying to create is a bonafide dumbass.

Now - some clarifications, and some tidbits you may find interesting:

Eggshells .  I put them crushed in my bin - they pass through to the bottom and I put the in the top again. They eventually go away but very slowly. Some say 'they get eaten really slowly' but I'll put forward another idea:  Worms like a fairly PH neutral, coolish environment, but the process of organic breakdown creates heat and of course acidity in soil - lowering the PH.  Eggshells contain calcium carbonate - the same thing you find in seashells and is used in common aquariums to buffer the PH of the water.  Calcium carbonate dissolves in an acidic environment, bringing the PH back towards neutral.  Thus this 'slow eating' is probably due more to them maintaining the PH level of the environment.
I put them in whenever I feed mine scraps.  I give them a rinse (because they technically follow the 'dairy' rule - and I want the shell - not stuff inside) - then I put them in a ziploc bag into the freezer.  Frozen eggshells break up VERY easily.  Another trick is to put them in a stackable plastic cup (out of the freezer) and put another empty cup inside to help crush them.

Citrus skins and onions - I actually put them in mine, but in LOW quantities and always with eggshells - I've had no side effects doing this as I think the eggshells help neutralize the citric acid content.

Corn on the cob.  I pop one or two halves when I get them in every level of my bin. I find it's one of the things I sort out at the bottom and put back in the top - I've had one in there for 12 months now gradually getting smaller and smaller. The first time I found one had traveled from top to bottom I was tempted to throw it out - I found under the castings lots and lots of worm cocoons.  As much as they liked the corn, they provided an excellent place for them to lay eggs.  So now I make sure every level has one or two.  Anything that maximizes the amount of cocoons that return to the tub is a good thing.

When feeding it's a good idea to try and keep a nice balance of 'green' scraps and 'brown' scraps - oversimplified we can say that scraps and other food that breaks down is 'green' and paper, cardboard goods are 'brown'.  Yet another mention for coir - technically green though we use it in the same way we use brown goods.  This is not an absolute - this is a guideline to keep a nice balanced environment for them.

How To Feed Worms.

When you're starting out you'll want to follow these guidelines until your worm bin matures.  It's really really simple.  Look at they surface area as quadrants.  Pull back the bedding on a corner, put in your food scraps, put the bedding back over - add a little more on top (coir, moist paper), and that's that.  If you find yourself a bit forgetful, put a sticker on the corner you just put food in.
Next time you have scraps, check the progress of the first corner - if it looks like it's doing well and getting eaten, add to the next corner. Add a little more bedding on top when you're done.
Work your way around the bin from corner to corner - ideally when you reach the first corner the food will be mostly gone, and you continue along, slowly building up your bin.

When you reach about an inch or so from the top, pop another level on, put down a layer of bedding as if you had just started that bin, and continue.  The worms will travel up to the next level in search for more food.

You'll eventually get to a point where the population multiplies to keep up with your food scraps.

Doing this also helps us keep up with our 'green/brown' ratio without even paying attention.


Now that I've said this - I'll totally break all those guidelines and tell you how I feed my worms.  Remembering that I have a family of 5 and that getting rid of my trash is every bit as important as the castings.

I put all my veg scraps and food for the critters into a bowl that's kept in the freezer - I do this as soon as I'm done with my veg (cut off some tops, peel some carrots, straight in the bowl in the freezer - likewise eggshells).  On Sunday I get the bowl, get out the frozen puck of worm food and break it up into the top of the bin, cover it with paper goods and water it down with a watering can. Not much - just enough to moisten the new bedding.

The frozen food thaws, cooling down the bin a little, the worms eat it.  Several times on Sunday I'll check the spigot and drain off the fertilizer I'll use that afternoon for the garden.

Wednesday I do a light cover of bedding and another water down, drain off for my mid week fertilizing.

Now - I wouldn't recommend doing that method unless your prepared to check on your worms a fair bit, or have had your bin running for at least 12 months. That's strictly a 'power use'. My primary (first bin) has run this way for nearly 7 months with no visible downside and a monthly harvest of castings.

This article is getting longer than I intended, and I still have much more I want to discuss on the subject - so upcoming articles will be about procuring food for worms and of course worm bin problems.