Vermicomposting

Vermicomposting is a composting technique to use (mainly) live worms (and other critters that will take up shop in your worms' maintained home) to decompose organic matter into beautiful, nutrient rich compost. I've been doing both regular composting and vermicomposting for over 7 years now. Both are ridiculously easy and fun!

I find it heartening to see organic matter like ends of the stalks of celery or broccoli; the core of an onion, apple, or cabbage; the root of a leek; potato skins (for those who don't make them into tasty snacks on their own); or the stem of a pepper go to my compost instead of the local landfill.

Composting (both regular and vermicompost) requires little maintenance beyond maintaining a healthy balance of 'greens' and 'browns' and different amounts of water, depending on climate and type of compost you're doing. Regular composting also requires turning the 'waste' as well. Although, here we turn the waste into useful products that can either be applied to our own garden (super-nutrients). Compost (and especially vermicompost!) can even be used in the spawn run when growing edible gourmet mushrooms like shiitake or oysters! Portabellas and various hericium species (Lion's Mane) also benefit from this nutrient-rich material.

Between 2 people, we have enough organic matter that weighs approximately 22 kg (8.8 kg of which are probably coffee!) per week. No need to create unnecessary waste when, with a little (easy) work, you can turn that waste into $$$ (if you think that saving $$$ is the same as earning it in terms of not having to buy fertilizer or not having to buy other materials used in other projects you have).

This doesn't even begin to account for all the spent grain that I have leftover from brewing beer. Waste not, want not!

In this post, I will specifically focus on how to vermicompost, as this can be done in your home, backyard, or even apartment balcony.

The Ecosystem

In a worm compost, the majority of your critters are your red wriggler worms. The history of these worms date back to early Egypt and has seen a resurgence in the modern day permaculture community.

The Egyptians were one of the first cultures to recognize the soil amending properties of the earthworm. Under Cleopatra’s rule, the removal of earthworms from Egypt was a crime that could have one killed [Edit to add: Dead link -- originally found here : http://greenliving.nationalgeographic.com/ancient-composting-20323.html]. Worms have been observed by such scholars as Aristotle and Charles Darwin as organisms that decompose organic matter into rich humus or compost[12]. It is believed that the mother of modern day vermiculture is Mary Appelhof. As a Michigan biology teacher, Appelhov wanted to continue composting in winter months even though she lived in a northern climate. She ordered worms from a bait shop nearby and set up one of the first indoor composting systems[12]. She found her composting system to be a great success. She published two brochures titled “Basement Worm Bins Produce Potting Soil and Reduce Garbage” and “Composting your Garbage with Worms”. Her work was featured in a New York Times titled “Urban Composting: A New Can of Worms”. This inspired many people to partake in vermiculture, especially urban apartment dwellers[12].
Source

In addition to the red wrigglers, one can have other similar species of worms that thrive at different temperature levels and humidity content. Having numerous species of worms can be more beneficial when the weather changes due to seasonal fluctuations.

But worms are not the only critters that will live in your vermicompost! Other species include red mites, rolly pollys, pot worms, millipedes, centipedes, black soldier fly larvae, and much more.

The Good Guys

Most of the other bugs found in your worm bin are beneficial to the composting process and do not harm your worms. If you see these guys in your bin, don't worry, be happy!

Black Soldier Fly Larvae

These are probably the most useful other critter that I know that will live in your bin. These grub will eat up to 2 times their body weight in food. Monitor them closely if they get out of hand as they can compete with your worms for some of the food. Fortunately, you can feed these larvae to your chickens (if you have them) or grow harvest them and trade them with your neighbor who does for fresh eggs! The chickens love these larvae!

Here's some BSFL I found in my outdoor vermicomposting bin. They probably got in to the bin by laying eggs on food scraps that I leave outside in a bucket before I bring it to the worm bin every few days and then hatching inside of the bin after I fed the worms. Alternatively, there are some small holes that are accessible to determined flies looking to lay eggs through near the ends of the zipper on my worm bag. These are nearly impossible to completely close up, but there is no way the worms are escaping and very few other creatures are determined to find their way in.

You can barely see these larvae that are squirming around in my bin.

Millipedes

I've found a few millipedes in my indoor worm bin before. Fortunately, these guys don't do anything to the worms but will actually compost scraps themselves! Beware to make sure they are not centipedes, as these bugs prey on worms (see below).

Millipedes have two pairs of legs on each body segment and are round-shaped in their body.

Red Mites

The information that I have found varies with respect to red mites. Most sites state that red mites are not particularly harmful to your worms. However, a large number of them can be a sign of too much acidity in your vermicompost. Monitor these guys carefully! You can remove them in a number of ways. Place some item that the red mites will migrate to in the top of the worm bin. This can be a melon rind, juicy fruit cores, or even newspaper placed directly over the swarming masses of mites. The next day, remove the object that the mites are now on. You can wash the object and wash the mites go down your kitchen drain. Don't worry, they won't survive outside of the composting bin. Put the item back in the bit. If it's newspaper, shred it and add it in as some additional bedding. Repeat until you are satisfied that the mites are under control.

Earwigs and Springtails

I have not seen any of these in my composting bin, but, apparently they also contribute to the decomposing process!

The Villains

Certain bugs are detrimental to your worm bin. Either they are predatory or their presence indicates signs that certain conditions are poor for your worms.

Centipedes

Unlike millipedes, centipedes are quite harmful to worms. They are predatory and will hunt and kill your worms. Centipedes have long and skinny flat bodies and 1 pair of legs on each body segment. Remove them immediately if you see them in your bin!

Earthworm Mites

Earthworm mites are not to be confused with red mites (or maybe they are!?). They are reddish brown in color and compete with your worms for food. Earthworm mites will swarm the food, and then your worms will refuse to eat with all the mites in the way.

Use the trick outlined above for red mites to remove these pesky critters.

Ants and Cockroaches

Although, not entirely detrimental to your worm population, the presence of ants and cockroaches usually indicate too dry of bedding. If you see these in your bin, add some water to your bin. Don't drown the worms. Slowly add enough water over a few days so that the bedding material is spongy but doesn't drip water when you squeeze it.

Worm Container : Worm Bins vs. Worm Bags

Choosing the house that your worms live in is a big decision. When I first started, I bought 2 plastic tubs from Home Depot and cut the bottom out of one them and stapled a mesh to form a bottom. This worked but is a short term solution as you quickly run out of bin space soon. After returning to the States, I purchased two different 'worm housing units' (for lack of a better word) : plastic worm bins and breathable worm bags.

Plastic Worm Bins

Plastic worm bins are low maintenance housing units for your worms. The ones I ordered could be stacked to as many 7 different bins. These bins operate by preparing bedding material for your worms (see next section), adding your worms, and then adding food scraps. As you add more organic 'waste', the first bin will begin to fill and then you repeat the process with a second bin (minus adding in new worms, stacking it on top of the first.

The idea is that the worms will migrate upwards in search of the food in the top-most bin. By the time all 7 trays are full, the bottom tray should be fully decomposted and you can 'harvest your vermicompost' by removing any worms in the bottom tray and putting them back in the new bottom tray.

The problem that I encountered with these plastic bins was a lack of air flow for the worms. Wrigglers need plenty of oxygen flow and the enclosed plastic causes pockets of aneorobic bacteria to produce harmful gasses. This caused my worms to stay in between different trays. You can alleviate this problem by stacking an empty tray in between two full ones. I didn't try this myself, but opted for a different design with a worm bag.

Worm Bags

An alternative to plastic worm bins are worm bags that are made of a breathable fabric. Shredded cardboard is put in the bottom to cover the hole that is zipped with a drawstring, other bedding material is added with the worms, food is placed towards the top, and more cardboard is placed to cover the food. The worm bag is sealed on the top with a zipper and has a cover that is a fine mesh.

The advantages of the the worm bag are phenomenal. With increased airflow, you don't have pockets of anaerobic activity, and your worms are much happier! In other words, they compost and breed faster. Productivity (in multiple ways) improves!

Bedding Material

You can use any number of items for the basic bedding material that your worms will live their happy lives, eating the food you provide, depositing their beautiful 'waste', and leaving you with more worms than you know what to do with.

Your choice will depend on access to local pet stores, old cardboard boxes, or newspaper clippings. The following items, mixed in with a little dirt (often this is unnecessary, depending on how you received your worms), make the best bedding:

1. Coir or Coconut Fiber
2. Shredded Newspaper
3. Shredded Cardboard

A mix of all these is good as well. Wet these materials to make them damp, but not sopping. If you squeeze them and water comes out, they're too wet! Once you're satisfied with your base bedding, add it to your bin or bag. Throw in the worms, and prepare to add in your 'waste' food scraps.

Food Types

Red Wriggler composting worms actually do not eat the food itself. Rather, they eat the bacteria that causes the food to decompose.

A few basic rules to remember with respect to feeding your worms :

Do NOT feed them :

1. dairy,
2. meat or grease,
3. citrus fruits (oranges, lemons, etc.),
4. salty foods, or
5. pre-packaged foods with preservatives.

Do feed them :

1. paper
2. coffee grounds,
3. banana peels / overripe bananas,
4. eggshells,
5. bread,
6. teabags,
7. grains,
8. pasta, or
9. squash.

Every kilogram of worms can eat about a kilogram of food 'waste.' You can either feed them once a day or every other day. Don't overfeed your worms as this will cause imbalances in the bin. In addition your worms will be sluggish and won't reproduce as well.

With proper maintenance, you can expect doubling in your worm population every 3 months.

The Payload

You should be able to begin harvesting your vermicompost within 6 months. Fortunately, this is a continual process, and you can grow your operation by asking for organic scraps from your friends, relatives, or even neighbors. Offering a jar of finished vermicompost can act as an incentive for others to save their 'waste' for you.

Other options for increasing yield are to go to local food stores and talk to their manager about using their food waste for your worms. Depending on the store's policy, or how flexible the manager is, will determine whether or not this can be done at any given store. If you strike out at the first store, try another!

Take The Plunge

Worm composting could not be easier. When maintained properly, the worms do not smell. Remember when we said the worms actually eat bacteria that is growing on the decomposing food? That's the same bacteria that makes food smell rotten! No wonder vermicomposting doesn't smell bad!

Here are my suggestions if you are interested in vermicomposting yourself:

1. Buy from a reputable source, such as Uncle Jim's Worm Farm. Avoid companies that offer quick-rich schemes by offering contracts to purchase your newly farmed worms, which they in turn will sell to others. The terms are not favorable to you. Plus, this is a hobby, right?
2. Use a worm bag and not plastic worm bins. Check out The Worm Inn. I suggest purchasing the pvc stand kit.
3. Buy compressed coir for the bedding. This material is by far the cheapest and most effective as it retains water and is very airy. Worms need lots of oxygen and water for their conditions. Supplemental bedding material, like shredded cardboard or newspaper, can be used as a cover to help water retention as well and also for blocking out any light.
4. Use a mixture of foods to find out what works best for you and your area. Humidity and temperature play a big role in maintaining worms. The types of foods that you put in your vermicompost will decompose faster or slower depending on your local conditions. If you live in a drier area, use more juicy fruit cores or other water-rich organic matter. I've found that as long as you have a diverse diet, then your organic scraps will as well, which makes for a more balanced vermicompost.

Happy farming!