Below is a brochure regarding
worm composting. Please do not hesitate
to contact me should you have any questions,
or experience any problems with your worm
farm.
After you have unwrapped your worm farm,
you need to remove the top bin. In the
middle bin, you will find a tub containing
the worms and bedding. There shouldn’t
be any smells coming from it. If there
is a strong smell, you need to give the
contents a gentle stir to get some air
/ oxygen, through it.
Leave them in the box and allow it to
air.
Now you need to get a few newspapers
so that you can prepare the bedding. Shred
the newspapers into 6 cm long pieces and
put it in a bucket with water. Let it
stand for 10 minutes or so, and then drain
the water. The shredded newspaper now
needs to be wrung out till only a drop
or 2 comes out.
You need to place the shredded newspaper
into the middle tray. It should completely
cover the bottom, and should be fluffed
out, and preferably 6 – 8 cm deep.
Now you can take the box with worms and
gently tip the container over onto the
bedding. Spread it evenly over the surface.
After all the worms have disappeared
into the bedding, you can cover them by
putting a damp (not shredded) newspaper
over them. Leave them for 24 hours just
to settle in before you start feeding
them by placing food underneath the solid
newspaper.
Where to keep the bin: your earthworms
do not like light and or heat. Find a
nice shady, sheltered area, preferably
close to the kitchen. They work best if
temperatures are between 18 and 26ºC.
Keeping them in the garage is not a problem,
as long as you are sure that it does not
heat up in summer.
WORM COMPOSTING IS NOTHING NEW
With worm bin composting you allow
thousands of red wrigglers to consume
your organic waste. You provide them with
a home, bedding, moisture, food in the
form of organic waste, and offer them
protection from the elements. The worms
break down the waste in less time and
space than traditional composting methods
and provide a superior end product in
the form of castings or vermicompost.
Conditions in the bin must be monitored
to assure that the moisture, pH, and temperature
are maintained within an acceptable range,
and periodically the material in the bin
must be changed over to fresh bedding.
Other than that the worms do all the work!
Worm composting is nothing new. It has
been going on since the lowly worm first
made its sojourn onto dry land. However,
as the landfill crisis continues to grow,
worm composting is being tried, tested,
and successfully utilized to stop the
flow of organic waste from being buried.
(Burying of our organic wastes creates
a toxic condition in the soil and is very
unfriendly to the Earth). In addition,
the byproducts are being proven to be
far superior to any other soil additive,
including conventional compost.
ADD THE BEDDING MATERIAL
The easiest for you will be by using finely
shredded damp newspaper, black and white
print only. Many different materials will
work - manure, straw, shredded newspaper,
peat moss, shredded cardboard, leaves,
and a product called coir. Coir is a replacement
for peat moss. You may not have thought
about this but peat moss is not considered
a renewable resource as it takes so long
for a peat bog to form. Therefore, I do
not recommend peat moss. Coir on the other
hand is made from coconut shells. This
is a renewable resource and the physical
properties of the coir are very much like
that of peat moss.
You can use anything that provides the
worms a moist environment, has enough
fluff to allow air to circulate, and that
the worms can eventually eat and break
down. Where I live composted manure and
straw combination is a favorite because
it's readily available, breaks down easily
and provides plenty of air circulation.
It is also a natural habitat for your
worms. Why do you think they call them
"manure worms?" I believe that
manure is the most natural environment
to put your newly purchased worms in to
help them feel at home. The chances of
you being able to provide them with the
same material they were harvested from
will be slim. Consequently, any bedding
you put them in will be foreign to them
and they will stress to a certain extent.
In addition, the manure has nutritional
value beyond the bacteria, fungi, and
other microscopic life the worm will feed
on.
Shredded newspaper is a favorite for
adding with fresh organic waste, and also
supplies the bin with carbon. I like to
put my organic waste in a thin layer on
top of the existing bedding and add a
nice layer of shredded newspaper on top
of it. Leaves are good to add in thin
layers, as they become matted down if
applied too thickly. Cardboard and peat
moss (if you decide to go ahead and use
this product) should both be soaked a
full 24 hours before being used for bedding
to insure adequate moisture up take. Otherwise
your worms will be robbed of precious
moisture.
Spread the worms on the top of the bedding
and spread them out over the surface,
gently separating them so they aren't
all clumped together. Leave them for about
15 minutes and when you return all of
the worms should have worked their way
down into their new home. Any worms left
on top are probably dead . If just a few
remain don't worry about them, they will
contribute to the system by decaying and
providing an additional food source.
Lastly, you want to cover the bedding
surface to keep the environment dark and
to help keep the surface moist. The worms
aren't going to come to the surface to
eat if there is light. Worms hate light.
Light causes them to become disoriented
and they literally don't know which way
is down. Use layers of un-shredded newspaper,
burlap, heavy black plastic, or a piece
of carpet under felt.
ABOUT THE RESIDENTS
Your worms will take a few days to settle
in and won't eat much to begin with. Once
you see the worms at the surface of your
bedding material start feeding at a rate
of about 100 grams per bin. Increase the
feed rate as needed to keep the worms
fed but not so much that the food waste
rots before the worms get into it. Keep
watch on your food supply to ensure you
are not feeding too much to start. If
all goes well you will soon have more
worms than you started with and will need
to divide the bin and start a second,
or you can let the worms work the casting
to their purest form and many of your
worms will die. At that point harvest
and start all over again with fresh bedding.
(The harvesting procedure is covered more
completely later.)
The worms you will be using are not soil
dwelling worms. They are composting worms
(Eisenia foetida), also called manure
worms, red wrigglers, and redworms. They
live on fresh, decomposing organic matter,
and do not burrow like night crawlers.
The earthworms in your garden keep deep
burrows in the soil and come out at night
to eat decomposed organic matter. For
this reason many expert gardeners will
advise against tilling as this disturbs
your natural soil dwellers.
You find red wrigglers in compost bins
and manure piles, and can tell them from
earthworms by their colour (red) and their
frantic activity. They wriggle like a
fish out of water. This wriggling action
is what makes a red wiggler a good bait
worm.
Worms eat anything organic, anything
that has lived and died, with a few exceptions.
It is advised not to add meat, bones,
or fats and oils to the worm bin. Not
only do they take longer to break down
which in turn creates an odour problem,
but they also attract rodents and other
undesirables. You'll enjoy your worm composting
experience more if you try and avoid putting
these items in your worm bin. Likewise,
avoid using domesticated animal manures
(dog and cat), as pathogens are a major
concern. Remember, you will be using your
finished product to grow your vegetables
in. Citrus fruit has been found to not
be a favourable addition to the worm bin
in large quantities.
Add the food by burying it in different
spots of the bed each time or in a strip
down the middle, with fresh carbon material
layered on top. If you have enough food,
and enough worms to eat it, spread the
food over the entire surface of the bin.
Keep the feed together enough so the worms
have a nice feeding site, but not so much
that air can't get into the pile. Always
add water whenever you add fresh carbon
material.
You don't have to process the food in
any way, however, the smaller the pieces
of organic matter are the faster they
are going to decompose and the sooner
the food will be available for the worms
to eat. For that reason, I usually use
a butcher knife and cut up any overly
big pieces of food waste. In other words,
a whole apple is going to take longer
to be available as a food source for your
worms than if you chunk the apple with
your butcher knife.
HOUSE CLEANING
Here's where we separate the wormers from
the regulars. From reading in the different
forums and talking to different people,
some people have a problem with creepy
crawlies. Well, by the very nature of
your compost bin, you're going to have
them. And really, that's okay. Every critter
in your worm bin has a purpose and does
it's part in the composting process and
contributes to the end product. There
are some critters you may have which will
be indicators that you need to make some
changes in your procedures.
You should not have a problem with flies,
maggots, fruit flies, ants, roaches, mice,
etc. As mentioned in a previously, you
should not be putting anything in your
bin that would attract rodents. If you
are properly burying and or covering your
food waste then the flies and fruit flies
should not be a problem.
It's good to get into a schedule every
couple weeks where you stir the top 10
– 15 cm of bedding material to aerate.
If you're a true wormer you will be poking
around in the bin almost daily, and you
will hardly be able to wait to get in
there and really get a look at what's
going on. Take any fresh bedding and feedstock
off the top and set it aside. This material
should be full of a majority of your worms.
Use some rubber gloves and stir the next
10 – 15 cm of material gently with
your hands. The worms will go down into
the bedding when disturbed.
Dig down to the bottom of the bin so
you can get a good idea how wet it is
down there. Get your nose as close to
the environment as you can master and
get a good whiff. What does it smell like?
If it is "stinky" then you will
want to stir the entire contents of the
bin. Get air down there and mix the super
wet stuff up into the bed where it is
drier.
Well, if you managed to do all that I
hope you're a happy wormer right now,
because that means you have a happy healthy
bin with lots of happy healthy worms and
you can't wait to do that again. You'll
start seeing mating worms (which is really
cool), worm eggs, and baby worms. Your
worm population will explode and double
in as little as six weeks! Be ready!
Harvesting your Worm Castings
This is where a few people normally get
stuck! You have two options of separating
the worms from the vermicasts, all depending
how you are operating the system. Running
one bin at a time, with the top one empty,
is generally the easiest, and most women
prefer this method.
One Bin System
Once the middle bin starts filling up,
then stop feeding it. Now you need to
start placing a few heaped portions of
food in the top bin. Ensure small heaps,
not more than four, and that the majority
of the wholes should be open. Now cover
the food and all the open holes with a
layer of not less then 6 cm with shredded
damp newspaper (6 cm long and not wider
then 2 cm pieces). Make sure that it is
fluffed out. For the next week you will
not be adding any food to either bin.
Within 14 – 30 days up to 95% of
all worms will be in the top bin. Remember
they do not burrow, and live in the top15
cm of the forest floor and manure piles.
They work their way up after the food.
Now you can start placing food on top
of the newspaper bedding, and as usual,
cover it with a damp solid newspaper.
The middle bin can now be removed from
the system. This should contain mostly
worm castings. If any old pieces of newspaper
and food still be visible, then remove
and place in the it in the top bin with
the worms.
For the best results, allow the castings
to dry out for a few days till it becomes
loose.
Two Bin System
You can also operate both the middle and
top bin together (two systems in one).
Once you have enough worms, normally after
month 3 to 4, you can take half of your
worms, and place them in the top bin.
Just remember to put the bedding down
for them as described earlier. Take note
that you cannot feed the same amount of
food as before per bin. You need to observe
your worms for a week or two while you
are feeding them each a handful every
second day. After week two you should
know how fast they are feeding and should
adjust the feeding accordingly, in either
by feeding more frequently or slightly
more every second day.
Once the bins start to fill, you would
need to decide on separating the worms
from the castings. You will need a big,
thick piece of plastic, and a bright light
or you can do it outside in full sun.
Spread the plastic out over a square meter
surface, in bright light or direct sunlight.
Gently tip one bin out on top of the plastic.
Now leave it for about 15 minutes. During
this time, the worms will dive about 15
cm deep to escape the bright light / sun.
After 15 minutes, scrape the top 10 cm
or so to one side, away from the rest.
Leave for another 15 minutes, and repeat
the process till you get to the plastic.
Here you will find all the worms clinging
together.
While you were waiting for the worms
to dive down, you should prepare the bin
again. First clean it out, ensure that
no holes are blocked, and spray clean
with water.
DO NOT USE ANY DETERGENTS TO CLEAN IT!
Scoop them up, and place the on top of
the bedding in the clean bin. Place bin
on top of the others, but do not cover.
Allow the worms to dive down first.
